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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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