Day 995 - Windswept

I've been watching the news today waiting to see the footage of the Red Road flats coming down.  When I was in 1st year at Uni, I was too old for the halls (I was 21) so I had to find other accommodation.  The YMCA owned one of the blocks and it was full of students.  Mostly Caledonian Uni students but some from Strathclyde and Glasgow too.

I shared a flat with 2 Germans and a Greek girl on the 6th floor.  One of the Germans said they had trouble understanding what the the cleaners were saying to them.  I said don't worry about it - I find it hard too!  They had really broad Glaswegian accents...

The day I moved in (September 1992) they demolished some of the blocks just a bit further over which was quite exciting to watch!  We watched from the 28th floor where the "restaurant" was and you could feel the building sway when it was really windy!

I guess it wasn't the place it used to be when they were first built and it was very run down even in 1992.  I remember once talking to my dad on the phone - he said he had been watching the news and there were two rival gangs fighting with machetes on land next to the flats...

I lasted two terms then moved to the west end for the final term - one of my fellow students had a room available in his flat!  Staying in the Red Road flats was certainly an experience!