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

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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