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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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