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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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