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

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

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)

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

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

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)

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