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 men outside bar, Paisley Road West
Two men outside bar, Paisley Road West
Tony McGee, Steeplejack
Feeding the pigeons
Father and daughter
Kerry and Mark kiss and make up
Ricky, Buchanan Street
Tommy, Sunny Govan Radio
At Eglinton Toll
On the way to Duncolm
Seven guys I met on the path to Duncolm
Andy, George Square
Jim, Buchanan Street
Man working in a skip
Mark smoking outside bar, Paisley Road
Ricky’s bling and smoking hand
A young guy looking for directions in Kinning Park
Jim busking, Buchanan Street
In the subway
Frank Mahon – fount of local knowledge at Carmyle Fords
Man collecting bottles to pay council tax
Two guys posing for a picture in St Enoch’s Square
Young visitors to Crookston Castle
Guy waiting outside Buchanan Street Subway Station
Outside Sunny Govan Radio
Brian McQuade
Young guy at Buchanan Street
Man waving from car, Saltmarket
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)
Pollok Community Centre I once – only once – attended Scottish Country Dancing
Cambridge Street Car Park
Grand Ole Opry, Paisley Road Toll. Used to be the Birds and Bees disco in the 1960s
Off Ardencraig Road, Castlemilk. I believe I met Fred West here
Admiral Street, Kinning Park
The Angel Building, Paisley Road Toll
Old insignia above ex-TSB bank, now a bookies
On the way to the Barras
Govan Bus Station, Govan Cross
Stanley Bar, Milnpark Street, Kinning Park
Govan Cross. Due for redevelopment
Glasgow SPT Subway train
Scotland Street School. Where my mother attended in the 1940s
Pillar, Lambhill Street Primary School, Kinning Park
St Margaret Mary’s School, Stanley Street. The playground was on the roof
Water Treatment Plant, Seaward Street, Kinning Park
Council-sponsored fly-posting sabotage at the Trongate
Entrance, St Enoch’s Square
Wine Alley, Govan – the Potheid Building
87A Linthaugh Road, where I lived from November 1966 to October 1977
Site of M74 completion in June 2008
Donald Dewar statue, Buchanan Street – now on a raised plinth after being vandalised
South Rotunda, Govan Road at Paisley Road Toll
Scottish Poetry Garden, Queen’s Park
Ornate gate posts at the Govan Road entrance to Elder Park
Lyceum cinema, Govan. Surreal reproduction of itself on banner
Building, Milnpark Street, Kinning Park
Burrell Museum, Pollok Estate
View from Crookston Castle. Taken shortly before demolition
Old sign off Paisley Road West
Ex Gray, Dunn factory, Stanley Street. I used to beg for broken biscuits outside
Janitor’s house, Lambhill Street Primary School which I attended in the early 1960s
Ex-Turner and Newall factory, Admiral Street, Kinning Park where my father worked
Caged CCTV on Shaw Street, Govan
Dougrie Road, Castlemilk
Entrance to Govan Town Hall, now Film City Glasgow
Ex Howdens Engineering Works, Scotland Street where my grandmother and mother worked
The original gatepost at Paisley Road Toll
Security sign, Seaward Street, Kinning Park
View from Crookston Castle
Harmony Row, Govan
Orkney Street Police Station cells at Wine Alley aka Broomloan Road
Old light on the Renfrew Street side of the Glasgow Film Theatre
Demolition near Crookston Castle, Brockburn Road, Pollok
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 in alignment with Duncolm
Interior, Crookston Castle
Humbie Road
View from Cathkin Braes
Monument, Necropolis
Provan Hall from the gardens
Sundial on entrance arch to Rutherglen Old Parish Church
Tower, Cathkin Braes at sunset
Carron Fords
Carmyle Fords
Ornate chimney stack, Ross Hall
Headless angel, Necropolis
Bonnyton Mound aka The Devil’s Plantation
Tinto Hill seen from Garf Water
Ross Hall
Dumgoyne
Tombstone, Necropolis
Castlehill at sunset
Boulder marking at Camphill Earthwork
View from the Tak Ma Doon Road Car Park
Plastic wrapped boulders at the Ringwork, North Wood, Pollok Estate
Renfrew Old Parish Church
Argyll Stone and St Conval’s Chariot, off the car park at the Normandy Hotel
Indents on Bonnyton Mound
Victorian relief of Christ – ‘It is finished!’
Rutherglen bell tower
Necropolis
Govan Old Parish Church
Woodend Loch looking north – now a SSSI
Boulders at Camphill Earthwork
Dunwan Hill Fort
Gallowflats Mound
Railway Bridge at Carmyle Fords
Crookston Castle
Site of Nether Pollok Castle, Pollok Estate
Humbie Road at the Devil’s Plantation
Broken monument, Necropolis
Rutherglen Old Parish Church
Bell Tower, Rutherglen Old Parish Church
Greenside reservoir near Duncolm
View from Crookston Castle
Duncolm Hill
Tombstone, Renfrew Old Parish Church
The top of Tinto Hill – aka – Tintock Top
Stanely Castle
Paisley Abbey
Water Tower near Cochno
Monument with Egyptian carvings, Necropolis
The Craw Stane near Eaglesham
Ringwork in the North Wood, Pollok Estate
Dumbarton Rock from the path to Duncolm and Loch Humphrey
Site of Old Cathcart Castle
Carron Bridge near the Fords
John Knox Monument, Necropolis
Carron Fords from the Bridge
Cast iron gravestone, Renfrew
Site of Castlemilk House
Carved tree at the Ringwork, Pollok Estate
View from Necropolis looking south-west
Bonnyton Moor
Remains of Roman Fort at Antonine Wall
Broken statue at the Necropolis
Seraph, Allen Mausoleum, Necropolis
Detail of entrance to Provan Hall
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)
Pierce Institute, Govan
Cosmo Chicken Bar, Govan Road
Detail, Pierce Institute, Govan
Statue of industrialist John Elder, Elderpark
Angel/cherub on tombstone, Govan Old Parish Church
Detail above entrance to shipyard offices
Christian Association, St Andrew’s Cross
City Chambers, George Square
Schipka Pass, off Gallowgate
Detail, ex-Trustee Savings Bank, Govan Road
Disused church, Bowling
Statue of James Watt, George Square
Val d’Oro chip shop
Detail, Brunswick Street
Carlton Place
Detail, Christian Association
Old road sign near Tinto Hill
Detail, Pierce Institute, Govan
Plaque, Trongate
The Castle Bar price list
Laurieston Bar
Detail, ex-British Linen Bank, Govan Road
Insignia and motto, Clydebank
Detail, Corinthian Bar, Ingram Street
Elderpark Library. Opened by Andrew Carnegie
Signs off Tontine Lane, Trongate
Derelict shop, London Road
The Mercat Building, Trongate
Custom House Bowling
MacKinnon’s Bar, Gallowgate
Govan Milestone by Helen Denerley
Statue of Lady Elder, Elderpark
Gartloch asylum
ex-Govan Shipyard, Govan Road
Detail of derelict building, Govan Road
Close entrance, 59 Shaw Street, Govan
Sign, Virginia Street
Detail, Brunswick Street
Govan Road
Mercury’s head, old Glasgow Herald newspaper offices, Buchanan Street
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)
Shields Rd Subway car park, Scotland Street
Side elevation of the SMG/STV Building, Pacific Quay
Farmfoods, Silverburn. Earmarked for closure, along with the Gala Bingo and the Credit Union
Clock outside Buchanan Street Bus Station
Silverburn Shopping Centre, Pollok
Sheriff Court
Side street at Glasgow Fort
SMG Building, Pacific Quay, Govan Road
M74 Completion Roadworks – driving its way through south-side Glasgow communities
Rear of News International, Middlesex Street. Conspicuously heavy on security
New building in New Gorbals
New apartments on the Clyde – many now to let
New houses at Gartloch Village – alien brick arrives in Scotland
Digital Media Centre, Pacific Quay. Subsidised offices for TV/Media companies
Detail of a New Gorbals housing development
The SMG timeline runs out at 2007
The Arc aka The Squinty Bridge, Govan Road. Closed for 6 months due to bad construction
Clyde Auditorium, aka the Armadillo. Generic silver-clad construction now seen in most cities
Glasgow Fort Junction 10 off the M8
Glasgow Science Centre
The SMG logo as street furniture, off Pacific Quay
A New Gorbals housing development
Looking north from the Arc Bridge
Utopia, off Pollokshaws Road. Now available for rent