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

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

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

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)

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

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