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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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

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