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