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