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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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

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
The SMG timeline runs out at 2007
Glasgow Science Centre
The SMG logo as street furniture, off Pacific Quay
Side street at Glasgow Fort
Shields Rd Subway car park, Scotland Street
New houses at Gartloch Village – alien brick arrives in Scotland
SMG Building, Pacific Quay, Govan Road
New apartments on the Clyde – many now to let
Digital Media Centre, Pacific Quay. Subsidised offices for TV/Media companies
Detail of a New Gorbals housing development
New building in New Gorbals
Rear of News International, Middlesex Street. Conspicuously heavy on security
Looking north from the Arc Bridge
M74 Completion Roadworks – driving its way through south-side Glasgow communities
Sheriff Court
Clyde Auditorium, aka the Armadillo. Generic silver-clad construction now seen in most cities
Utopia, off Pollokshaws Road. Now available for rent
Clock outside Buchanan Street Bus Station
Silverburn Shopping Centre, Pollok
Farmfoods, Silverburn. Earmarked for closure, along with the Gala Bingo and the Credit Union
A New Gorbals housing development
Side elevation of the SMG/STV Building, Pacific Quay
Another New Gorbals housing development
A new development on Pollokshaws Road
Glasgow Fort Junction 10 off the M8
The Arc aka The Squinty Bridge, Govan Road. Closed for 6 months due to bad construction
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