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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.

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

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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