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