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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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