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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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