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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.

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

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)

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

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

Detail, ex-British Linen Bank, Govan Road
Christian Association, St Andrew’s Cross
Detail, Christian Association
Mercury’s head, old Glasgow Herald newspaper offices, Buchanan Street
Detail, Pierce Institute, Govan
Cosmo Chicken Bar, Govan Road
Angel/cherub on tombstone, Govan Old Parish Church
Elderpark Library. Opened by Andrew Carnegie
The Castle Bar price list
Insignia and motto, Clydebank
Schipka Pass, off Gallowgate
Custom House Bowling
Val d’Oro chip shop
Carlton Place
Statue of industrialist John Elder, Elderpark
City Chambers, George Square
Derelict shop, London Road
Signs off Tontine Lane, Trongate
MacKinnon’s Bar, Gallowgate
The Mercat Building, Trongate
Plaque, Trongate
Laurieston Bar
Detail above entrance to shipyard offices
Detail, Brunswick Street
Old road sign near Tinto Hill
Detail, ex-Trustee Savings Bank, Govan Road
Statue of Lady Elder, Elderpark
ex-Govan Shipyard, Govan Road
Detail, Brunswick Street
Detail, Pierce Institute, Govan
Disused church, Bowling
Govan Milestone by Helen Denerley
Detail, Corinthian Bar, Ingram Street
Pierce Institute, Govan
Govan Road
Sign, Virginia Street
Gartloch asylum
Statue of James Watt, George Square
Close entrance, 59 Shaw Street, Govan
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
Utopia, off Pollokshaws Road. Now available for rent
Looking north from the Arc Bridge
A new development on Pollokshaws Road
New houses at Gartloch Village – alien brick arrives in Scotland
Another New Gorbals housing development
Tait’s Tower recreation – it never worked
Farmfoods, Silverburn. Earmarked for closure, along with the Gala Bingo and the Credit Union
Clyde Auditorium, aka the Armadillo. Generic silver-clad construction now seen in most cities
Glasgow Science Centre
Silverburn Shopping Centre, Pollok
Rear of News International, Middlesex Street. Conspicuously heavy on security
Shields Rd Subway car park, Scotland Street
SMG Building, Pacific Quay, Govan Road
A New Gorbals housing development
Clock outside Buchanan Street Bus Station
New apartments on the Clyde – many now to let
Detail of a New Gorbals housing development
Digital Media Centre, Pacific Quay. Subsidised offices for TV/Media companies
Side street at Glasgow Fort
Sheriff Court
New building in New Gorbals
Side elevation of the SMG/STV Building, Pacific Quay
M74 Completion Roadworks – driving its way through south-side Glasgow communities
The SMG logo as street furniture, off Pacific Quay
The Arc aka The Squinty Bridge, Govan Road. Closed for 6 months due to bad construction
Glasgow Fort Junction 10 off the M8
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