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