What: Broomhill High Rise Flat
Where: Broomhill Lane, Glasgow
When: Throwback Thursday, Circa April 2012
With: Iphone
Mea Culpa. I wasn’t born on the 19th floor. I was actually raised in an old fashioned Glasgow tenement, with its high ceilings, large rooms and a slight hint of damp. It was even a posh one on the ground floor with its own main door, there was no close for me. That, however, did not stop me loving the Jeely Piece song.
For those that aren’t acquainted with the Glasgow classic - video is below – it was a song about the perils of living at the top of a high rise flat and having your mum throw your lunch out the window when you are down below playing in the street.
You see, back in the day children used to play outside. Now though children playing outside is a bit of a shock and older generations, those that really should know better, chase them away fearful that they are up to no good.
My love of the song is in part due to its catchy nature, it fantastic lyrics and the thought provoking philosophical argument underpinning it. It is also because I lived 2 minutes away from the picture above. In fact I lived 2 minutes away from 5 of those bad boys.
They always fascinated me as a kid. They really did seem to reach the sky and the views from Glasgow must be fantastic. The header to my website offers a glimpse of what they can see but it is taken from another high rise a 5 minute walk away.
Following my fascination as a toddler, my teenage years saw me start a paper round delivering to 3 out of the 5 flats. That is a lot of flats and the volume of newspapers I had to carry was considerable, 3 different bags full, but that had its advantages.
Every Saturday and Sunday I would pick up my round, grab some juice and sweets/crisps and set off. Took the lift to the top of the 1st flat, left my 3 bags in the lift, one jamming the door open and set off to deliver that floor’s papers. Repeat all the way day and it was off to the second flat. Same routine but this time one of the flats outside the top floor had a seat in the landing. Out came the juice, the sweets and a paper or two for a nice well-earned break.
When I gave up my round and moved on to pastures new, well to the ice-cream shop, I thought that my time with the flats was up. But then I got into party politics. As a result it was in the lift and back up to the top of the flat, working our way down leafleting and door knocking. The beauty of these flats is that they are enclosed so perfect for campaigning in winter or for that matter in spring and summer when it rains too.
Ironically the photo above was taken when out campaigning 196 weeks ago and, going against what I have just said, it was clearly a lovely day. A lot of people think they are an eyesore but taking that photo, in the sun, I was lost momentarily in the world of wonder that I felt as a kid.
*Translations available on request*
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