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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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