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

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.

Janet Callander, 85, moved from a four-apartment house in Springburn to a second floor flat in the Red Road in 1991.

She spent 17 years there and, while it was generally happy, she is glad to be out and settled in a new GHA house in Barmulloch's Avonspark Street.

Janet said: "If you took the lift to the top floors there was a smashing view.

"To me, it was a high amenity flat. I was told I would have to clean my own stairs before I went there but I never needed to. There was a concierge and we had a lift."

But Janet said that, in recent years, life in the flats had begun to "depress" her and she jumped at the chance to move - especially as it meant she could enjoy having her own garden for the first time in years.

"I didn't mingle much with other people there and I kept myself to myself.

"But there were some neighbours who just didn't want to know you and they should have restricted the number of families with children who were living there.

"I will feel sad in a way when they come down because I had some happy years there."

But she reserves her fondest memories for her early life in Springburn, where her father worked as a tailor.

She added: "I used to say he was the only man in Springburn who wore a suit. All the others were in dirty old dungarees going to work in the railway works."

Back at the Red Road flats, the 23rd floor of one of the blocks is given over to an arts project documenting the area.

Laura McKechnie, an arts assistant with Gallery 37, is enthusiastic about the way she and others have been accepted by the community for the six-week project.

She said: "The reaction from local people has been really positive. When I told people I was coming to work up here they said I had to watch myself but I have had nothing but positive feedback since I got here.

"I have got to know many locals and some come to our group.

"We are doing a lot of documenting of the Red Road ourselves and we have everybody from the community involved.

"We are producing a drama and a dance using children from the area and we made a short film in the lifts of the building. There was a camera in the lift and, when the doors opened, a different performance was taking place at each level."

RED ROAD TIMELINE

THE Red Road Flats changed the face of the North Glasgow skyline when they were built between 1964 and 1969.

Designed in 1962 for Glasgow Corporation by architect Sam Bunton, they were the only steel-framed high-rises in the city.

They are not quite the tallest buildings in Glasgow - that honour belongs to two 31-storey blocks of flats in Gallowgate.

Six of the eight blocks in the Red Road complex are traditional high-rises - the other two are of a wider "slab" design.

They were designed for 4700 people, most of whom moved there from overcrowded slums.

Deadly asbestos was used in the construction and most of it had to be removed 20 years later.

Many of the tenants now are refugees from Kosovo, other parts of Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa.

In 2003 ownership of the flats was transferred from Glasgow City Council to Glasgow Housing Association.

GHA announced plans to demolish all eight blocks in 2005. The blowdowns will take place over a period of years with Petershill Court scheduled for early next year.

It will take around six years for the tenants to be rehoused and the flats to be demolished.