Demolition on the Wyndford Estate
Waiting for the demolition of the three tower blocks on the Wyndford Estate, Maryhill, Glasgow, Scotland, 23rd March 2025. All images © Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert 2025.
Yesterday I headed up to the north west side of Glasgow, to the Maryhill area, to watch as three tower blocks were brought down, demolished, in a controlled explosion. Always a fascinating event to witness, but also one with much poignancy.
Standing talking to a girl I met, a fellow spectator, waiting for the crack of the explosives, the bang, and the buildings to fall, we discussed how it isn’t just a building coming down, but the end of an era for the people who lived in those buildings. There must have been love, hope, aspirations, arguments, maybe even murders and arrests in those buildings we imagined. It’s easy to view the explosion, the resulting drama with excitement, and it is quite thrilling, incredible to witness, but it’s also people’s lives.
As I awaited the explosion, “it’s rumoured to be at midday” everyone said, with no official times given out and no warnings either, I photographed the crowds. I guess some pf the people had connections to the buildings, others like me and the young woman I chatted with, would have been merely there out of a sense of curiosity, something to do on a Sunday. An event and spectacle to witness and talk about in years to come.
This was the third time I’ve photographed buildings coming down. Back in the 1990s I saw the demolition of the Queen Elizabeth Street flats in the the Gorbals, and then more recently the Red Road flats demolition. Perhaps soon I’ll pull all the images together and do something with them, I have an idea.
But for now, images of 151, 171 and 191 Wyndford Road buildings coming down yesterday.
All images copyright © Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert 2025.