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some i met

On the streets of Glasgow often I meet people who ask me what and why I’m photographing. Some assume I’m from TV. Others accuse me of terrorist activity. Mostly I listen while they tell me their life stories. Here are some of those people.

Young guy dishing out flyers on Govan Road
Brian McQuade
Kerry and Mark kiss and make up
Young visitors to Crookston Castle
Man working in a skip
Tommy, Sunny Govan Radio
Man collecting bottles to pay council tax
Guy waiting outside Buchanan Street Subway Station
Two men outside bar, Paisley Road West
Mark smoking outside bar, Paisley Road
In the subway
Father and daughter
On the way to Duncolm
Young guy at Buchanan Street
Frank Mahon – fount of local knowledge at Carmyle Fords
A young guy looking for directions in Kinning Park
Seven guys I met on the path to Duncolm
Jim, Buchanan Street
Two guys posing for a picture in St Enoch’s Square
Jim busking, Buchanan Street
Ricky’s bling and smoking hand
Outside Sunny Govan Radio
Feeding the pigeons
At Eglinton Toll
Ricky, Buchanan Street
Two men outside bar, Paisley Road West
Tony McGee, Steeplejack
Andy, George Square
Man waving from car, Saltmarket

my places

Glasgow is where I was born and raised. Sadly all of the places I lived, studied and worked in have been demolished or altered beyond recogition. Never has a city shapeshifted more. (back to top)

The original gatepost at Paisley Road Toll
South Rotunda, Govan Road at Paisley Road Toll
Pollok Community Centre I once – only once – attended Scottish Country Dancing
Entrance to Govan Town Hall, now Film City Glasgow
St Margaret Mary’s School, Stanley Street. The playground was on the roof
Ex Gray, Dunn factory, Stanley Street. I used to beg for broken biscuits outside
Caged CCTV on Shaw Street, Govan
Burrell Museum, Pollok Estate
Scottish Poetry Garden, Queen’s Park
Building, Milnpark Street, Kinning Park
The Angel Building, Paisley Road Toll
Ex-Turner and Newall factory, Admiral Street, Kinning Park where my father worked
Govan Cross. Due for redevelopment
Scotland Street School. Where my mother attended in the 1940s
Lyceum cinema, Govan. Surreal reproduction of itself on banner
Govan Bus Station, Govan Cross
Admiral Street, Kinning Park
Dougrie Road, Castlemilk
Demolition near Crookston Castle, Brockburn Road, Pollok
Security sign, Seaward Street, Kinning Park
Ornate gate posts at the Govan Road entrance to Elder Park
Harmony Row, Govan
Janitor’s house, Lambhill Street Primary School which I attended in the early 1960s
87A Linthaugh Road, where I lived from November 1966 to October 1977
Pillar, Lambhill Street Primary School, Kinning Park
Cambridge Street Car Park
Wine Alley, Govan – the Potheid Building
Entrance, St Enoch’s Square
Donald Dewar statue, Buchanan Street – now on a raised plinth after being vandalised
Council-sponsored fly-posting sabotage at the Trongate
Old sign off Paisley Road West
Old insignia above ex-TSB bank, now a bookies
Water Treatment Plant, Seaward Street, Kinning Park
Ex Howdens Engineering Works, Scotland Street where my grandmother and mother worked
Glasgow SPT Subway train
Old light on the Renfrew Street side of the Glasgow Film Theatre
Grand Ole Opry, Paisley Road Toll. Used to be the Birds and Bees disco in the 1960s
View from Crookston Castle
Stanley Bar, Milnpark Street, Kinning Park
Site of M74 completion in June 2008
Off Ardencraig Road, Castlemilk. I believe I met Fred West here
On the way to the Barras
Orkney Street Police Station cells at Wine Alley aka Broomloan Road
View from Crookston Castle. Taken shortly before demolition

harry’s places

A writer and lay archaeologist, Harry Bell was my inspiration. I followed in his footsteps in search of the many sites mentioned in his book, Glasgow’s Secret Geometry: The City’s Oldest Mystery. (back to top)

Ornate chimney stack, Ross Hall
Carron Bridge near the Fords
Headless angel, Necropolis
Bell Tower, Rutherglen Old Parish Church
Crookston Castle
Tombstone, Renfrew Old Parish Church
Govan Old Parish Church
Bonnyton Mound aka The Devil’s Plantation
Boulder marking at Camphill Earthwork
Paisley Abbey
Site of Nether Pollok Castle, Pollok Estate
Tombstone, Necropolis
Bonnyton Moor
Renfrew Old Parish Church
Tinto Hill in alignment with Duncolm
Victorian relief of Christ – ‘It is finished!’
Water Tower near Cochno
Carron Fords from the Bridge
Humbie Road
Necropolis
View from Necropolis looking south-west
Broken monument, Necropolis
Carmyle Fords
Castlehill at sunset
Boulders at Camphill Earthwork
Woodend Loch looking north – now a SSSI
Site of Old Cathcart Castle
Dumbarton Rock from the path to Duncolm and Loch Humphrey
Provan Hall from the gardens
Broken statue at the Necropolis
View from the Tak Ma Doon Road Car Park
Rutherglen bell tower
The top of Tinto Hill – aka – Tintock Top
Ross Hall
Stanely Castle
Carved tree at the Ringwork, Pollok Estate
Gallowflats Mound
Indents on Bonnyton Mound
Ringwork in the North Wood, Pollok Estate
Sundial on entrance arch to Rutherglen Old Parish Church
Tower, Cathkin Braes at sunset
Interior, Crookston Castle
Argyll Stone and St Conval’s Chariot, off the car park at the Normandy Hotel
Duncolm Hill
Greenside reservoir near Duncolm
View from Crookston Castle
Seraph, Allen Mausoleum, Necropolis
The Craw Stane near Eaglesham
Dunwan Hill Fort
Dumgoyne
Site of Castlemilk House
Cast iron gravestone, Renfrew
Remains of Roman Fort at Antonine Wall
Carron Fords
Railway Bridge at Carmyle Fords
Tinto Hill seen from Garf Water
John Knox Monument, Necropolis
View from Cathkin Braes
Plastic wrapped boulders at the Ringwork, North Wood, Pollok Estate
Rutherglen Old Parish Church
Monument, Necropolis
Detail of entrance to Provan Hall
Monument with Egyptian carvings, Necropolis
Humbie Road at the Devil’s Plantation

old places

Glasgow – the dear green place – has a habit of disappearing. Here are a few of the old places photographed on my travels – some of which have since been demolished. (back to top)

Signs off Tontine Lane, Trongate
Laurieston Bar
Close entrance, 59 Shaw Street, Govan
Statue of Lady Elder, Elderpark
Pierce Institute, Govan
Christian Association, St Andrew’s Cross
Val d’Oro chip shop
Detail, ex-British Linen Bank, Govan Road
Detail, Brunswick Street
The Castle Bar price list
Insignia and motto, Clydebank
Old road sign near Tinto Hill
Govan Milestone by Helen Denerley
Gartloch asylum
Custom House Bowling
Detail, Corinthian Bar, Ingram Street
Detail, ex-Trustee Savings Bank, Govan Road
Detail, Christian Association
Detail above entrance to shipyard offices
MacKinnon’s Bar, Gallowgate
Derelict shop, London Road
Schipka Pass, off Gallowgate
Statue of industrialist John Elder, Elderpark
Mercury’s head, old Glasgow Herald newspaper offices, Buchanan Street
Cosmo Chicken Bar, Govan Road
Carlton Place
Statue of James Watt, George Square
Detail, Pierce Institute, Govan
Govan Road
Detail, Pierce Institute, Govan
Detail of derelict building, Govan Road
ex-Govan Shipyard, Govan Road
Sign, Virginia Street
Disused church, Bowling
Detail, Brunswick Street
City Chambers, George Square
Plaque, Trongate
Elderpark Library. Opened by Andrew Carnegie
Angel/cherub on tombstone, Govan Old Parish Church
The Mercat Building, Trongate

new places

Glasgow is a work-in-progress, not all of it progressive. Gone is the red and blonde sandstone, replaced by brick, glass and steel. (back to top)

The SMG logo as street furniture, off Pacific Quay
SMG Building, Pacific Quay, Govan Road
Clock outside Buchanan Street Bus Station
Another New Gorbals housing development
New apartments on the Clyde – many now to let
Detail of a New Gorbals housing development
Clyde Auditorium, aka the Armadillo. Generic silver-clad construction now seen in most cities
Side elevation of the SMG/STV Building, Pacific Quay
Digital Media Centre, Pacific Quay. Subsidised offices for TV/Media companies
Glasgow Fort Junction 10 off the M8
New building in New Gorbals
Rear of News International, Middlesex Street. Conspicuously heavy on security
A New Gorbals housing development
New houses at Gartloch Village – alien brick arrives in Scotland
Glasgow Science Centre
Sheriff Court
Shields Rd Subway car park, Scotland Street
The SMG timeline runs out at 2007
Utopia, off Pollokshaws Road. Now available for rent
M74 Completion Roadworks – driving its way through south-side Glasgow communities
Silverburn Shopping Centre, Pollok
Farmfoods, Silverburn. Earmarked for closure, along with the Gala Bingo and the Credit Union
Looking north from the Arc Bridge
Tait’s Tower recreation – it never worked
A new development on Pollokshaws Road
The Arc aka The Squinty Bridge, Govan Road. Closed for 6 months due to bad construction
Side street at Glasgow Fort
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