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