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