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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.

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

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

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)

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

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

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)

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