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.
Outside Sunny Govan Radio
Two guys posing for a picture in St Enoch’s Square
Kerry and Mark kiss and make up
Two men outside bar, Paisley Road West
Andy, George Square
Feeding the pigeons
A young guy looking for directions in Kinning Park
In the subway
Young guy dishing out flyers on Govan Road
Seven guys I met on the path to Duncolm
Young guy at Buchanan Street
Ricky, Buchanan Street
Two men outside bar, Paisley Road West
Frank Mahon – fount of local knowledge at Carmyle Fords
Ricky’s bling and smoking hand
Man collecting bottles to pay council tax
Man waving from car, Saltmarket
Tony McGee, Steeplejack
Jim busking, Buchanan Street
Tommy, Sunny Govan Radio
Young visitors to Crookston Castle
Jim, Buchanan Street
Mark smoking outside bar, Paisley Road
On the way to Duncolm
Brian McQuade
Guy waiting outside Buchanan Street Subway Station
Father and daughter
At Eglinton Toll
Man working in a skip
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
Harmony Row, Govan
Cambridge Street Car Park
Off Ardencraig Road, Castlemilk. I believe I met Fred West here
On the way to the Barras
View from Crookston Castle
Scottish Poetry Garden, Queen’s Park
Admiral Street, Kinning Park
Water Treatment Plant, Seaward Street, Kinning Park
Site of M74 completion in June 2008
Stanley Bar, Milnpark Street, Kinning Park
Lyceum cinema, Govan. Surreal reproduction of itself on banner
Pollok Community Centre I once – only once – attended Scottish Country Dancing
Scotland Street School. Where my mother attended in the 1940s
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
View from Crookston Castle. Taken shortly before demolition
Ex Gray, Dunn factory, Stanley Street. I used to beg for broken biscuits outside
Donald Dewar statue, Buchanan Street – now on a raised plinth after being vandalised
Ex Howdens Engineering Works, Scotland Street where my grandmother and mother worked
Building, Milnpark Street, Kinning Park
Wine Alley, Govan – the Potheid Building
87A Linthaugh Road, where I lived from November 1966 to October 1977
Caged CCTV on Shaw Street, Govan
St Margaret Mary’s School, Stanley Street. The playground was on the roof
Ornate gate posts at the Govan Road entrance to Elder Park
South Rotunda, Govan Road at Paisley Road Toll
Burrell Museum, Pollok Estate
Security sign, Seaward Street, Kinning Park
Grand Ole Opry, Paisley Road Toll. Used to be the Birds and Bees disco in the 1960s
Govan Bus Station, Govan Cross
Old insignia above ex-TSB bank, now a bookies
Pillar, Lambhill Street Primary School, Kinning Park
Glasgow SPT Subway train
The Angel Building, Paisley Road Toll
The original gatepost at Paisley Road Toll
Old sign off Paisley Road West
Entrance, St Enoch’s Square
Entrance to Govan Town Hall, now Film City Glasgow
Dougrie Road, Castlemilk
Orkney Street Police Station cells at Wine Alley aka Broomloan Road
Govan Cross. Due for redevelopment
Council-sponsored fly-posting sabotage at the Trongate
Ex-Turner and Newall factory, Admiral Street, Kinning Park where my father 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)
Stanely Castle
Sundial on entrance arch to Rutherglen Old Parish Church
Bonnyton Moor
Detail of entrance to Provan Hall
Tombstone, Renfrew Old Parish Church
Necropolis
Broken monument, Necropolis
Carved tree at the Ringwork, Pollok Estate
Railway Bridge at Carmyle Fords
View from the Tak Ma Doon Road Car Park
Woodend Loch looking north – now a SSSI
Ross Hall
Paisley Abbey
Crookston Castle
Site of Castlemilk House
Bell Tower, Rutherglen Old Parish Church
Renfrew Old Parish Church
Gallowflats Mound
Tombstone, Necropolis
Monument with Egyptian carvings, Necropolis
Dunwan Hill Fort
View from Cathkin Braes
Bonnyton Mound aka The Devil’s Plantation
Provan Hall from the gardens
Rutherglen Old Parish Church
Victorian relief of Christ – ‘It is finished!’
Seraph, Allen Mausoleum, Necropolis
View from Crookston Castle
Tinto Hill seen from Garf Water
The Craw Stane near Eaglesham
Duncolm Hill
Carmyle Fords
Tower, Cathkin Braes at sunset
Boulders at Camphill Earthwork
Argyll Stone and St Conval’s Chariot, off the car park at the Normandy Hotel
Broken statue at the Necropolis
Indents on Bonnyton Mound
Govan Old Parish Church
Rutherglen bell tower
Site of Nether Pollok Castle, Pollok Estate
Castlehill at sunset
Carron Fords from the Bridge
Water Tower near Cochno
Humbie Road at the Devil’s Plantation
John Knox Monument, Necropolis
Tinto Hill in alignment with Duncolm
Carron Fords
Humbie Road
Ringwork in the North Wood, Pollok Estate
Headless angel, Necropolis
Interior, Crookston Castle
Carron Bridge near the Fords
Greenside reservoir near Duncolm
Dumgoyne
The top of Tinto Hill – aka – Tintock Top
Boulder marking at Camphill Earthwork
Plastic wrapped boulders at the Ringwork, North Wood, Pollok Estate
Remains of Roman Fort at Antonine Wall
Site of Old Cathcart Castle
Dumbarton Rock from the path to Duncolm and Loch Humphrey
Ornate chimney stack, Ross Hall
Cast iron gravestone, Renfrew
View from Necropolis looking south-west
Monument, Necropolis
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)
City Chambers, George Square
ex-Govan Shipyard, Govan Road
MacKinnon’s Bar, Gallowgate
Detail of derelict building, Govan Road
Detail, ex-Trustee Savings Bank, Govan Road
Gartloch asylum
Cosmo Chicken Bar, Govan Road
Detail, Christian Association
Statue of industrialist John Elder, Elderpark
Detail, Pierce Institute, Govan
Old road sign near Tinto Hill
Custom House Bowling
Detail, ex-British Linen Bank, Govan Road
Derelict shop, London Road
Plaque, Trongate
Detail above entrance to shipyard offices
Statue of Lady Elder, Elderpark
Pierce Institute, Govan
Laurieston Bar
Detail, Pierce Institute, Govan
Mercury’s head, old Glasgow Herald newspaper offices, Buchanan Street
Schipka Pass, off Gallowgate
Disused church, Bowling
Insignia and motto, Clydebank
Elderpark Library. Opened by Andrew Carnegie
Christian Association, St Andrew’s Cross
Detail, Corinthian Bar, Ingram Street
Detail, Brunswick Street
Angel/cherub on tombstone, Govan Old Parish Church
The Mercat Building, Trongate
Close entrance, 59 Shaw Street, Govan
Sign, Virginia Street
Govan Road
Val d’Oro chip shop
The Castle Bar price list
Statue of James Watt, George Square
Carlton Place
Govan Milestone by Helen Denerley
Detail, Brunswick Street
Signs off Tontine Lane, Trongate
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)
Tait’s Tower recreation – it never worked
New houses at Gartloch Village – alien brick arrives in Scotland
Side elevation of the SMG/STV Building, Pacific Quay
New apartments on the Clyde – many now to let
New building in New Gorbals
Silverburn Shopping Centre, Pollok
The SMG logo as street furniture, off Pacific Quay
Detail of a New Gorbals housing development
A new development on Pollokshaws Road
Clyde Auditorium, aka the Armadillo. Generic silver-clad construction now seen in most cities
Side street at Glasgow Fort
Looking north from the Arc Bridge
Sheriff Court
The SMG timeline runs out at 2007
Utopia, off Pollokshaws Road. Now available for rent
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
A New Gorbals housing development
Another New Gorbals housing development
The Arc aka The Squinty Bridge, Govan Road. Closed for 6 months due to bad construction
Shields Rd Subway car park, Scotland Street
Clock outside Buchanan Street Bus Station
M74 Completion Roadworks – driving its way through south-side Glasgow communities
Glasgow Science Centre
Glasgow Fort Junction 10 off the M8
Rear of News International, Middlesex Street. Conspicuously heavy on security