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