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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.

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

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

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)

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

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)

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

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