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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.

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

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

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

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)

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

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)

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