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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.

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

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

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

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

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