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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.

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

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)

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

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

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)

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

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