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