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