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.
Man waving from car, Saltmarket
Father and daughter
At Eglinton Toll
Outside Sunny Govan Radio
In the subway
Frank Mahon – fount of local knowledge at Carmyle Fords
Young visitors to Crookston Castle
Two men outside bar, Paisley Road West
Guy waiting outside Buchanan Street Subway Station
Tony McGee, Steeplejack
Tommy, Sunny Govan Radio
Young guy at Buchanan Street
Ricky, Buchanan Street
Feeding the pigeons
Man collecting bottles to pay council tax
Jim busking, Buchanan Street
On the way to Duncolm
Ricky’s bling and smoking hand
Two men outside bar, Paisley Road West
Andy, George Square
Brian McQuade
Kerry and Mark kiss and make up
Seven guys I met on the path to Duncolm
A young guy looking for directions in Kinning Park
Young guy dishing out flyers on Govan Road
Man working in a skip
Mark smoking outside bar, Paisley Road
Jim, Buchanan Street
Two guys posing for a picture in St Enoch’s Square
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
87A Linthaugh Road, where I lived from November 1966 to October 1977
Admiral Street, Kinning Park
Scottish Poetry Garden, Queen’s Park
Cambridge Street Car Park
Entrance to Govan Town Hall, now Film City Glasgow
Donald Dewar statue, Buchanan Street – now on a raised plinth after being vandalised
View from Crookston Castle. Taken shortly before demolition
Council-sponsored fly-posting sabotage at the Trongate
Off Ardencraig Road, Castlemilk. I believe I met Fred West here
Security sign, Seaward Street, Kinning Park
The original gatepost at Paisley Road Toll
Ex-Turner and Newall factory, Admiral Street, Kinning Park where my father worked
Grand Ole Opry, Paisley Road Toll. Used to be the Birds and Bees disco in the 1960s
Ex Gray, Dunn factory, Stanley Street. I used to beg for broken biscuits outside
Janitor’s house, Lambhill Street Primary School which I attended in the early 1960s
Pollok Community Centre I once – only once – attended Scottish Country Dancing
Old light on the Renfrew Street side of the Glasgow Film Theatre
South Rotunda, Govan Road at Paisley Road Toll
View from Crookston Castle
Ornate gate posts at the Govan Road entrance to Elder Park
On the way to the Barras
Burrell Museum, Pollok Estate
Old insignia above ex-TSB bank, now a bookies
Lyceum cinema, Govan. Surreal reproduction of itself on banner
Building, Milnpark Street, Kinning Park
Stanley Bar, Milnpark Street, Kinning Park
Pillar, Lambhill Street Primary School, Kinning Park
Site of M74 completion in June 2008
Govan Cross. Due for redevelopment
Wine Alley, Govan – the Potheid Building
Harmony Row, Govan
Scotland Street School. Where my mother attended in the 1940s
Old sign off Paisley Road West
Govan Bus Station, Govan Cross
Water Treatment Plant, Seaward Street, Kinning Park
Glasgow SPT Subway train
Caged CCTV on Shaw Street, Govan
Demolition near Crookston Castle, Brockburn Road, Pollok
St Margaret Mary’s School, Stanley Street. The playground was on the roof
Orkney Street Police Station cells at Wine Alley aka Broomloan Road
Dougrie Road, Castlemilk
Entrance, St Enoch’s Square
Ex Howdens Engineering Works, Scotland Street where my grandmother and mother worked
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)
Greenside reservoir near Duncolm
Renfrew Old Parish Church
Tombstone, Renfrew Old Parish Church
Woodend Loch looking north – now a SSSI
Bonnyton Moor
Interior, Crookston Castle
Necropolis
Humbie Road
Rutherglen bell tower
Paisley Abbey
Boulders at Camphill Earthwork
Plastic wrapped boulders at the Ringwork, North Wood, Pollok Estate
Site of Nether Pollok Castle, Pollok Estate
The top of Tinto Hill – aka – Tintock Top
Remains of Roman Fort at Antonine Wall
Carron Bridge near the Fords
Seraph, Allen Mausoleum, Necropolis
Detail of entrance to Provan Hall
Indents on Bonnyton Mound
View from Crookston Castle
Castlehill at sunset
Bonnyton Mound aka The Devil’s Plantation
Broken monument, Necropolis
Duncolm Hill
Carron Fords from the Bridge
Provan Hall from the gardens
Dumbarton Rock from the path to Duncolm and Loch Humphrey
Site of Castlemilk House
Monument, Necropolis
Dumgoyne
Victorian relief of Christ – ‘It is finished!’
Water Tower near Cochno
Tinto Hill in alignment with Duncolm
Bell Tower, Rutherglen Old Parish Church
Humbie Road at the Devil’s Plantation
Dunwan Hill Fort
Tombstone, Necropolis
Carved tree at the Ringwork, Pollok Estate
Govan Old Parish Church
Tower, Cathkin Braes at sunset
Gallowflats Mound
Boulder marking at Camphill Earthwork
Ornate chimney stack, Ross Hall
Cast iron gravestone, Renfrew
Ringwork in the North Wood, Pollok Estate
John Knox Monument, Necropolis
Carron Fords
Argyll Stone and St Conval’s Chariot, off the car park at the Normandy Hotel
Carmyle Fords
Crookston Castle
View from Necropolis looking south-west
Railway Bridge at Carmyle Fords
Site of Old Cathcart Castle
View from the Tak Ma Doon Road Car Park
Ross Hall
Rutherglen Old Parish Church
View from Cathkin Braes
The Craw Stane near Eaglesham
Tinto Hill seen from Garf Water
Sundial on entrance arch to Rutherglen Old Parish Church
Monument with Egyptian carvings, Necropolis
Broken statue at the Necropolis
Headless angel, Necropolis
Stanely 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)
Custom House Bowling
Govan Milestone by Helen Denerley
Statue of James Watt, George Square
Detail, Pierce Institute, Govan
Detail, Corinthian Bar, Ingram Street
Signs off Tontine Lane, Trongate
ex-Govan Shipyard, Govan Road
Detail, Pierce Institute, Govan
Laurieston Bar
Detail, Christian Association
Cosmo Chicken Bar, Govan Road
Mercury’s head, old Glasgow Herald newspaper offices, Buchanan Street
Detail, Brunswick Street
Detail, ex-British Linen Bank, Govan Road
Detail, Brunswick Street
Derelict shop, London Road
Carlton Place
Statue of industrialist John Elder, Elderpark
Govan Road
The Mercat Building, Trongate
Pierce Institute, Govan
Plaque, Trongate
Statue of Lady Elder, Elderpark
Val d’Oro chip shop
Detail, ex-Trustee Savings Bank, Govan Road
Close entrance, 59 Shaw Street, Govan
Elderpark Library. Opened by Andrew Carnegie
Detail of derelict building, Govan Road
Christian Association, St Andrew’s Cross
Angel/cherub on tombstone, Govan Old Parish Church
The Castle Bar price list
Detail above entrance to shipyard offices
City Chambers, George Square
MacKinnon’s Bar, Gallowgate
Gartloch asylum
Schipka Pass, off Gallowgate
Sign, Virginia Street
Old road sign near Tinto Hill
Disused church, Bowling
Insignia and motto, Clydebank
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 SMG logo as street furniture, off Pacific Quay
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
Clock outside Buchanan Street Bus Station
Glasgow Fort Junction 10 off the M8
M74 Completion Roadworks – driving its way through south-side Glasgow communities
Sheriff Court
The SMG timeline runs out at 2007
Looking north from the Arc Bridge
New apartments on the Clyde – many now to let
Rear of News International, Middlesex Street. Conspicuously heavy on security
Another New Gorbals housing development
Farmfoods, Silverburn. Earmarked for closure, along with the Gala Bingo and the Credit Union
Digital Media Centre, Pacific Quay. Subsidised offices for TV/Media companies
New building in New Gorbals
Clyde Auditorium, aka the Armadillo. Generic silver-clad construction now seen in most cities
Glasgow Science Centre
A new development on Pollokshaws Road
SMG Building, Pacific Quay, Govan Road
Shields Rd Subway car park, Scotland Street
Silverburn Shopping Centre, Pollok
Detail of a New Gorbals housing development
Utopia, off Pollokshaws Road. Now available for rent
New houses at Gartloch Village – alien brick arrives in Scotland