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