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

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

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

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

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)

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