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