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

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)

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

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)

Monument, Necropolis
John Knox Monument, Necropolis
Rutherglen Old Parish Church
The Craw Stane near Eaglesham
Railway Bridge at Carmyle Fords
Site of Nether Pollok Castle, Pollok Estate
Monument with Egyptian carvings, Necropolis
View from the Tak Ma Doon Road Car Park
Dumbarton Rock from the path to Duncolm and Loch Humphrey
View from Necropolis looking south-west
Crookston Castle
View from Cathkin Braes
Castlehill at sunset
Gallowflats Mound
Provan Hall from the gardens
Ringwork in the North Wood, Pollok Estate
Humbie Road
Ross Hall
View from Crookston Castle
Dunwan Hill Fort
Remains of Roman Fort at Antonine Wall
Govan Old Parish Church
Bonnyton Mound aka The Devil’s Plantation
Cast iron gravestone, Renfrew
Carved tree at the Ringwork, Pollok Estate
Boulders at Camphill Earthwork
Tinto Hill in alignment with Duncolm
Seraph, Allen Mausoleum, Necropolis
Sundial on entrance arch to Rutherglen Old Parish Church
Bonnyton Moor
Woodend Loch looking north – now a SSSI
Headless angel, Necropolis
Ornate chimney stack, Ross Hall
Greenside reservoir near Duncolm
Carron Fords from the Bridge
Victorian relief of Christ – ‘It is finished!’
The top of Tinto Hill – aka – Tintock Top
Carron Fords
Tinto Hill seen from Garf Water
Carmyle Fords
Tower, Cathkin Braes at sunset
Humbie Road at the Devil’s Plantation
Site of Old Cathcart Castle
Broken monument, Necropolis
Boulder marking at Camphill Earthwork
Detail of entrance to Provan Hall
Plastic wrapped boulders at the Ringwork, North Wood, Pollok Estate
Necropolis
Tombstone, Renfrew Old Parish Church
Stanely Castle
Argyll Stone and St Conval’s Chariot, off the car park at the Normandy Hotel
Dumgoyne
Tombstone, Necropolis
Bell Tower, Rutherglen Old Parish Church
Water Tower near Cochno
Site of Castlemilk House
Broken statue at the Necropolis
Renfrew Old Parish Church
Indents on Bonnyton Mound
Paisley Abbey
Rutherglen bell tower
Interior, Crookston Castle
Duncolm Hill
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 of derelict building, Govan Road
Old road sign near Tinto Hill
Schipka Pass, off Gallowgate
Pierce Institute, Govan
Plaque, Trongate
Derelict shop, London Road
Laurieston Bar
Insignia and motto, Clydebank
The Castle Bar price list
Detail, Corinthian Bar, Ingram Street
City Chambers, George Square
Custom House Bowling
Statue of Lady Elder, Elderpark
ex-Govan Shipyard, Govan Road
Govan Milestone by Helen Denerley
Detail, Brunswick Street
Detail, ex-Trustee Savings Bank, Govan Road
Signs off Tontine Lane, Trongate
Govan Road
Statue of industrialist John Elder, Elderpark
Angel/cherub on tombstone, Govan Old Parish Church
Disused church, Bowling
Mercury’s head, old Glasgow Herald newspaper offices, Buchanan Street
Christian Association, St Andrew’s Cross
Statue of James Watt, George Square
Sign, Virginia Street
Val d’Oro chip shop
Elderpark Library. Opened by Andrew Carnegie
Detail, Pierce Institute, Govan
Detail, Christian Association
Detail above entrance to shipyard offices
Gartloch asylum
Carlton Place
Detail, Pierce Institute, Govan
The Mercat Building, Trongate
Cosmo Chicken Bar, Govan Road
Detail, Brunswick Street
Detail, ex-British Linen Bank, Govan Road
Close entrance, 59 Shaw Street, Govan
MacKinnon’s Bar, Gallowgate

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