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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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

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)

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