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Stuball · Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:02 pm Post subject:

Is there still windows in?

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james73 · Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 5:42 pm Post subject:

THEY were built as part of the "housing crusade" of the 1960s aimed at giving
homes to the people of Glasgow.

Over the years the Red Road Flats have become iconic - home to 4700 people
and an enduring symbol of the city's high-rise experiment. But, the experiment
is set to end soon with the demolition of the city's great villages in the sky.

The eight blocks in Balornock and Barmulloch are visible from most parts of
the north and east and their upper storeys command superb views of the city,
the Campsie Fells, Ben Lomond and even Arran. The 2006 BAFTA-winning film
Red Road, starring Martin Compston and Kate Dickie, told the story of the flats
through the eyes of a CCTV operator.

And in 2007 Frenchman Didier Pasquette attempted a tightrope walk between
two of the tower blocks but had to abandon it due to high winds. Comedienne
Karen Dunbar lived in the flats, as did MSP for Maryhill Patricia Ferguson.

But the homes, which locals described as "roads leading to the sky", have had
their share of problems. They became a byword for vandalism, violence, drug
taking and teenage gang fights.

The fabric of the buildings has deteriorated badly and they are fast becoming
an eyesore. Glasgow Housing Association, which inherited the flats from the
city council, now plans to demolish them over a period of years.

Opinions are divided - some say they are blots on the landscape and will be
glad to see their demise but many people have happy memories of years spent
living there.

James H
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The blinding obvious is what you showed to me.....

Scary · Deep fried Mars bar Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 1024

IMO They are blots on the landscape, nearly as ugly as the Boyd Orr building

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Saltmarketeer · Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 1:03 am Post subject:

Scary · Deep fried Mars bar Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 1024

Hullo Saltmarketeer, I hear what you are saying and agree with most, but, it`s the people who make the community and they failed miserably, not helped by an unexpected influx of diversional nationalities

Glasgow is a different place now and we are having to adapt rather than the other way round

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Saltmarketeer · Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 1:58 am Post subject:

james73 · Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 12:07 pm Post subject:

Red Roads in the sky... (Evening Times)

IT is a photograph to make you gulp and then look away quickly. Yes, the one
of the scaffolders as close to the clouds as you could get in Glasgow without wings.

It was daredevils like Dennistoun man James Foy, on the left of this picture,
who worked on the construction of the Red Road flats often without a safety
net or harness.

James and his fellow 'steel fixer' were bolting steel beams together on 10 Red
Road Court when this photo was taken in the early Sixties.

Built on a former cabbage patch, the Red Road flats were hailed as the tallest
residential buildings in Europe. Less than half a century later, when the tallest
of the blocks - at 292ft - comes down, the city's skyline will be changed for good.

The flats are visible from most of the north and east of Glasgow and, from
the upper floors, you have amazing views over Glasgow, the Campsie Fells,
Ben Lomond and even Arran, views that are now being recorded for posterity.

"People usually have to document the history of an area after the event," said
Jonny Howes, community action team officer for Culture and Sport Glasgow,
which is joining forces with Glasgow Housing Association to develop a range
of historical and arts-based programmes to commemorate the flats.

"What we are doing is capturing it while it is still alive."

There are some who will look back in nostalgia to the early days when the flats
were a good place to live. But others will surely say 'good riddance' when the
first of them is knocked down next spring after the asbestos has been stripped
off the building, leaving just the steel structure to be demolished.

Up close, the flats are intimidating; huge, forbidding canyons of concrete which
deteriorated far too quickly and soon became a byword for vandalism, violence
and crime.

Gangs and drug users made tenants' lives a misery and, to the rest of the city,
the Red Road was a 'no-go area'. It was a sad end to a bold experiment greeted
with much fanfare in the Sixties.

Back then, Glasgow was a city aiming to go up in the world and the mantra
was 'the higher, the better'. The eight blocks in Balornock and Barmulloch - two
of 25 floors and six towers of 31 floors - were at first a proud symbol of Glasgow
Corporation's housing revolution.

The city was determined to clear away the slums and provide decent houses
for families who were, until this point, crammed into the typical tenement room
and kitchen.

The Corporation employed architect Sam Bunton and the buildings - the only
steel-framed structures in Glasgow - were to provide housing for 4700 people.
They had bathrooms and proper kitchens and there were shops, play areas,
car spaces, lock ups and landscaping - the 1350 flats seemed like the Promised
Land to the first tenants.

Indeed, they were that good a not-very-PC Tory councillor was heard to say:
"These are too good for the working classes."

But now GHA, which took over the flats from the city council in 2003, plans
to demolish them over a period of several years, rehousing tenants in
people-friendly homes, many with gardens.

"The reason for the demolition," said a GHA spokeswoman, "is that the blocks
are simply too expensive to invest in and create the kind of housing that people
expect today. We have many multi-storey blocks around the city but we determined
early on that the Red Road was unsustainable. Over time, it became obvious
that the buildings required fairly major investment.

"People have moved into a variety of new homes. Some are moving to other
parts of the city and, for others, this is a chance to move back to the area where
they grew up. The feedback from the community is that people are glad of
better quality, lower density accommodation."

The residents of the Red Road flats, past and present, are now being asked
to reflect on their time there via www.redroadflats.org.uk where the legacy
of the village in the sky will live on in cyberspace.

James H
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The blinding obvious is what you showed to me.....

BIG BILL · Buttered roll Joined: 13 Mar 2009 Posts: 5

Here is a link to http://www.redroadflats.org.uk/
I have seen many fantastic Red road photos on Urban Glasgow site that you could donate to thier site or add a story if you live there have a wee look and see what you think.

fatweegee · Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 1:34 am Post subject:

Thought they couldnt be blown down because of the steel structure?

Stuball · Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 6:01 am Post subject:

They'll use cutting charges and it'll crumple up just fine

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