Glasgow's Caledonia Road flats to be demolished tomorrow
The towers from 305 to 341 Caledonia Road are owned by New Gorbals Housing Association (NGHA), which decided to bring them down to make way for social rent homes.
The buildings will be demolished by way of controlled explosion, with the works being led by the demolition contractor, Dem-Master.
(Image: Images taken by Gordon Terris, Newsquest) We previously reported that New Gorbals Housing Association said saving the blocks was 'unsustainable and unaffordable' due to the inability to bring cladding up to acceptable safety standards without spending a large amount of money on structures with a limited lifespan.
The strategy for new homes was agreed between NGHA, Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government.
READ NEXT: Glasgow's Caledonia Road flats to be demolished - everything we know
(Image: Images taken by Gordon Terris, Newsquest) An exact time has not been provided for the demolition, but it is understood that the explosion will take place in the afternoon. Locals on social media have speculated that the demolition will take place around lunchtime.
Anyone from the local area can observe the explosion from a safe distance. To support this, a large exclusion zone will be in place, covering areas such as the Southern Necropolis and the Gorbals Rose Garden.
The demolition process will be loud and is likely to result in dust and debris in the area. However, those who wish to watch the demolition can do so from vantage points at Richmond Park or nearby allotments.
(Image: Images taken by Gordon Terris, Newsquest) It is set to be a sad day for many who lived good lives in the towers, some for many decades.
Earlier this year, the Glasgow Times spoke to a number of residents who either live in the area or previously lived in the blocks - and they were torn.
READ NEXT: Glasgow Gorbals residents share thoughts on Caledonia Road demolition
One man said the demolition was a great way to make the Gorbals more modern, while a local woman said the removal of the flats should improve the area. Another man agreed, saying that the demolition is a great idea to build new homes in the area.
However, some people felt saddened by the plans.
One man, who has lived in the area "all his days", said it was a great shame to see the blocks coming down.
The demolition will not only mark the end of an era but will also bring further change to the Gorbals skyline, as after the explosion, Waddell Court will be the only remaining tower block in the area.
(Image: Demolition of flats at Stirlingfauld Place in the Gorbals. Nick Ponty Staff.) This follows the demolition of the Sandiefield Road towers in 2013, the Norfolk Court towers in 2016, and the Stirlingfauld Place towers in 2008.
The Queen Elizabeth Square towers were blown up in a controlled explosion in September 1993. Helen Tinney, 61, was part of a large crowd watching the 22-storey flats' demolition when she was struck by a piece of flying debris. Mrs Tinney died in the Victoria Infirmary after collapsing at the scene of the blast.
(Image: Demolition of flats in Queen Elizabeth Square in Gorbals) (Image: Demolition of flats in Queen Elizabeth Square in Gorbals) For more information on New Gorbals Housing Association, visit newgorbalsha.org.uk
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Western Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Western Telegraph
King and Queen to attend events in Edinburgh as Royal Week begins
Charles will begin his official engagements by receiving a Royal Salute and inspecting The King's Bodyguard Scotland (Royal Company of Archers) Guard of Honour in the gardens of the Palace of Holyroodhouse. He will then take part in the Ceremony of the Keys which welcomes him to the Scottish capital. The Lord Provost Robert Aldridge will present the Keys to the City of Edinburgh to the King, who then returns them for safe keeping. The King and Queen will carry out engagements at the Palace of Holyroodhouse (Chris Jackson/PA) The King will also preside over an investiture ceremony at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on Tuesday. Those receiving honours will include artist Barbara Rae, who was awarded a damehood for services to art in the New Year Honours, and Scotland's most decorated Olympian, Duncan Scott, who becomes an OBE for services to swimming. Swimmer Stephen Clegg, who won two gold medals at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris and becomes an MBE for services to swimming, will also attend. The monarch traditionally spends a week based at the Palace of Holyroodhouse each year in what is known as Holyrood Week or Royal Week in Scotland. Later on Tuesday, the King and Queen will host guests at a garden party at the palace, alongside the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.
Glasgow Times
2 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
King and Queen to attend events in Edinburgh as Royal Week begins
Charles will begin his official engagements by receiving a Royal Salute and inspecting The King's Bodyguard Scotland (Royal Company of Archers) Guard of Honour in the gardens of the Palace of Holyroodhouse. He will then take part in the Ceremony of the Keys which welcomes him to the Scottish capital. The Lord Provost Robert Aldridge will present the Keys to the City of Edinburgh to the King, who then returns them for safe keeping. The King and Queen will carry out engagements at the Palace of Holyroodhouse (Chris Jackson/PA) The King will also preside over an investiture ceremony at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on Tuesday. Those receiving honours will include artist Barbara Rae, who was awarded a damehood for services to art in the New Year Honours, and Scotland's most decorated Olympian, Duncan Scott, who becomes an OBE for services to swimming. Swimmer Stephen Clegg, who won two gold medals at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris and becomes an MBE for services to swimming, will also attend. The monarch traditionally spends a week based at the Palace of Holyroodhouse each year in what is known as Holyrood Week or Royal Week in Scotland. Later on Tuesday, the King and Queen will host guests at a garden party at the palace, alongside the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.
The Herald Scotland
7 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
When Sandy Gall was marched to an execution cell splattered with blood
Died: June 29, 2025 Sandy Gall, who has died aged 97, was a Scottish journalist and author who became known to millions for his war reports and as an ITN news anchorman. Gall's career spanned six decades. He was present at the British withdrawal from Suez, the fall of Saigon, reported from both Gulf Wars and issued the first bulletins from a liberated Kuwait, but he was best known for his reports from Afghanistan, where he travelled with Mujahideen rebels fighting Russian occupation. While undoubtedly an intrepid figure with a taste for adventure, Gall was also grounded (a father of four, he was very much a part of his Kent village community) and had a deep sense of humanity, setting up a medical charity in Afghanistan. Born Henderson Alexander Gall in Malaya to Scottish parents (his father was a rubber planter), he spent his first four years in Penang, an experience he credited with giving him his love of foreign places. He then returned to Scotland to live with relatives in chilly Aberdeenshire, which remained his home after his father retired to Banchory. Gall boarded at what is now called Glenalmond College (then Trinity College, Glenalmond) before studying modern languages at Aberdeen University, graduating in 1952. He applied to a Reuters training course for foreign correspondents while still a student and was turned down for it, but, undeterred, tried again the following year after a few months spent working at the Press & Journal. This time, he was successful. He was posted to Berlin, then Aden and Hungary in 1957, where he met his wife-to-be, Eleanor, who was working at the British Embassy. During his 10 years at Reuters, he had some of his riskiest assignments, including a visit to Congo in 1960, when he and two other journalists were surrounded by an angry mob in a military camp and told they were to be shot as spies. It took UN negotiators to arrange their release. Read more Veteran broadcaster Sandy Gall dies aged 97 | The Herald Tributes to athlete and Black Watch officer who served in the Troubles | The Herald Trains, planes, raptors, and pianos. Tributes to polymath musician | The Herald In 1963, Gall moved to ITN where he worked until 1992. For 20 years he was co-presenter of News At Ten, but also continued reporting from overseas, covering three Arab-Israeli wars and the Lebanese civil war. In 1972, he was sent to Uganda, which was under the control of the savage and capricious Idi Amin. After detailing Amin's atrocities, Gall was rounded up with other journalists and marched to what he later learned was an execution cell – a hut spattered with blood from which he was lucky to emerge alive. He was deported three days later, remarking afterwards that he had never been so glad to leave the ground. He visited Afghanistan for the first time in 1982, the year of the Russian occupation, and was struck immediately by what he saw as the similarity between the mujahideen and the proud, independent Scottish clans of the 17th and 18th centuries. Gall addressed British audiences from among the mujahideen in the mountains, reporting on attacks against Russian forces by Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Lion of the Panjsher, whom he described as 'the most able and the most moderate' of the rebel leaders. His stories of the freedom fighters harrying the great military power captured viewers' imagination. That initial visit was followed by further assignments in 1984 and 1986. Gall set up Sandy Gall's Afghanistan Appeal in 1983, to help those whose lives he had seen blighted by war. To do this, he had to overcome his scruples, as he later explained, knowing that there would be times when objectivity in his reporting would become impossible if he was to avoid reprisals against the clinic. The charity was established to help soldiers and civilians who had lost limbs to landmines, and also children born with club feet or hip displacement. It came to be called the Kabul Orthopaedic Organisation, processing more than 8,000 people a year. In 2010, Gall was awarded the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in recognition of his charity work in Afghanistan. He also wrote three books on the country. Gall remarked in 2012 that he did not miss being a war correspondent, being all too aware of the very real dangers it entailed. As well as Afghanistan, he wrote on other subjects, producing The Bushmen of Southern Africa, a book about indigenous people forced into reservations by the Botswana government. He was a keen golfer and family man. Brought up in the Church of Scotland, he said aged 76 that he was not a very devout Christian, but appreciated tradition, remarking that a service in the village church in Penshurst, Kent, would be 'a nice way to go'. He hoped his funeral would be a celebration, adding: 'There would be good claret and Chardonnay, but I can't specify right now what they will be, as I don't want to raise people's expectations.' Above all, he hoped his charity in Afghanistan would live on after him – as indeed it has. Gall was predeceased by his wife Eleanor Smyth, who died in 2018, and is survived by his son, Alexander, and three daughters, Carlotta, Fiona and Michaela.
