^^

Yes, you are right about where they are! The Bentley ones have stood empty for a few years and I never heard that they were being refurbished. I wonder where you heard that from?

schemie and Mr. B - (that sounds like a children's cartoon or something! :lol:) Those Walsall blocks in the first photo are my favourite design of tower block being clad in an attractive brick rather than just grey concrete and they have nice balconies. There is another almost identical cluster to the ones being demolished over the other side of the town, plus other identical ones dotted around. You can see this cluster from the M6 so they will be missed by us, but probably not by the locals!

More photos of these are on the West Midlands Tower Blocks thread in the Birmingham forum.

Oh so I think I'm confusing with some other blocks... Yes I have read all the West Midlands tower blocks thread and I grabbed all the pics!!! :naughty:

Going back to post some british blocks: here's my only one remaining, New Cross or Deptford, I don't really know...sorry for the bad quality, it was taken from a bus.
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t165/effroyable/London003a.jpg

yes there's a lot of small towns with blocks in France, coincidence that you talk about Chamonix because I was there last thursday! The only block I saw was a 13ish storey grey tower that was more looking like ski-holidays flats than a "tower block" as we know it.

That really is a coincidence! That is the block I remember and I think I came to the conclusion that it was holiday apartments.

Then coming back from Chamonix I passed along 3 small or medium-sized towns with lots of blocks (some are quite huge) really close to the country side: St Dizier, Vitry-le-François and Chalons-en-Champagne (ex Chalons-sur-Marne) but as we were 4 in the car I couldn't stop to take pics as you guess...

I will have a look on Google Maps to find those towns. :)

We stayed in a village called Les Gets and on our journey to Chamonix we passed through a town called Cluses which you approach down a steep winding road. The view from each bend of the road was amazing - a town surrounded by hills and a number of tower blocks. I was too embarrassed to ask my brother, who was driving, to stop the car so I could take photos although I managed to get a few through the window whilst driving!

And here is the town of Cluses! Tower blocks + mountains = :drool:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/194/440876171_b38b1ea80b_b.jpg

Ho mamma that is one sweet picture. Did you take it yourself or did you do what I do or what?

Lovely backdrop. Funnily enough the first time I went to Paris coming into the city from CDG I remember thinking WTF! This place reminds of Glasgow.

Nice pic Butterfield. I think i've just found my new desktop picture.
Does anyone know how many tower blocks are in London? Is it as much as Glasgow?

Does anyone know how many tower blocks are in London? Is it as much as Glasgow?

More than Glasgow by miles - I think you're talking over a thousand. I can't remember where I've seen the numbers, but I recall London was well into four figures.

Well I can't find any real estimate anywhere, but I found that the borough of Newham in London has 107 tower blocks...

May I suggest everybody go and do an image search for "Nakagin Capsule Tower" :yes:.

yeah London is loaded with some fantastic blocks. Not so much in style but in the way they are set out in clusters (i love that :D). London is a fantastic city! Me and my mates are road tripping down there over the summer and staying with some dodgy blocke from Camden that we only half know... should be interesting to see if we come back alive! But last time I went there I was too young to appreciate anything other than Hamleys so hopefully this time I can get around some of the boroughs and check them out. By the bys, see the estate that Only Fools and Horses is set in, is that still standing? what kind of state is it in? and is it actually called Nelson Mandela House? Anyone living in the Trotters old flat? Sorry, those are questions ive been burning to ask on this forum and it seems like an ideal opportunity now that the focus has moved down south :onlyfoolsandhorsesfanatic: dammit no smiley for that!

"Nakagin Capsule Tower"

fucks sake! where is that? japan?

Yep, Tokyo.

May I suggest everybody go and do an image search for "Nakagin Capsule Tower" :yes:.

I was looking at that yesterday for some reason. It's a belter innit?

yeah London is loaded with some fantastic blocks. Not so much in style but in the way they are set out in clusters (i love that :D). London is a fantastic city! Me and my mates are road tripping down there over the summer and staying with some dodgy blocke from Camden that we only half know... should be interesting to see if we come back alive! But last time I went there I was too young to appreciate anything other than Hamleys so hopefully this time I can get around some of the boroughs and check them out. By the bys, see the estate that Only Fools and Horses is set in, is that still standing? what kind of state is it in? and is it actually called Nelson Mandela House? Anyone living in the Trotters old flat? Sorry, those are questions ive been burning to ask on this forum and it seems like an ideal opportunity now that the focus has moved down south :onlyfoolsandhorsesfanatic: dammit no smiley for that!

La plume de ma tante! Until 1988, Harlech Tower in Acton, West London represented Nelson Mandela House, after that it was Whitemead House, in Bristol.

Camden's a cracking place to stay. I used to drink in Camden when I lived in London. Bit of a treck from Streatham but well worth it!

Harlech House, South Acton Estate (Stage 15)
http://thenagshead.tripod.com/harlech_tower01.jpg

Whitemead House, Ashton
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/154/339796534_e220c1a012_o.jpg

The infamous garages near Whitemead House
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/135/339810786_89fa606205_o.jpg

And make sure you check out the Alexandra Road Estate in Camden

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/27/64878637_613c496081_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/94/245534824_addf9b847e_b.jpg

Bludy hell there amazing. They don't look like British flats at all. The villas that developers are building in spain will probably look like that in 20 years or so.

Good grief there amazing, I cant believe I have never seen a picture or heard of these before. Very unique. Anyone posted pics of the Byker Wall yet? ( sorry with the number of posts and pictures here it would take forever to read the thread from the start ).

For the Byker Wall, try page 25 of this thread.

I know it's not really a tower block, but here's a couple more pics of Alexandra Road. It's designed to minimize the noise from the West Coast Mainline, which runs down the side of it. You can see it as you get into Euston.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/22/24657580_5f1ba906b9.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/23/24657576_ffcd5785c2.jpg

Thanks Borras.^^^ Incredible, to me thats as interesting as any structure in these isles.

Ho mamma that is one sweet picture. Did you take it yourself or did you do what I do or what?

I did what you do. ;) When I went to that area of France in August 2004 I'd just had my first digital camera and I'd still got my old computer then which corrupted all my photos which included a few similar to that one! :bash: However, they wouldn't have been anywhere near that quality.

May I suggest everybody go and do an image search for "Nakagin Capsule Tower" :yes:.

Woah and yikes! :eek: Now that really is made out of building blocks...

Until 1988, Harlech Tower in Acton, West London represented Nelson Mandela House, after that it was Whitemead House, in Bristol.


Ooh I didn't know it changed part way through, and to one in Bristol?! Those garages were where he kept his "Capry". :lol: Wasn't it always the old tower block on the beginning??

The Alexandra Road Estate in Camden always reminds me of dog kennels or something... :eek:

Ooh I didn't know it changed part way through, and to one in Bristol?! Those garages were where he kept his "Capry". :lol: Wasn't it always the old tower block on the beginning??

The Alexandra Road Estate in Camden always reminds me of dog kennels or something... :eek:

It always looks like the outside of a football stadium to me.

Yeah, the opening titles always showed two of South Acton Stage 15 - not sure which ones though, any two of Harlech, Corfe or Beaumaris Towers. And they always showed that Mk1 Cortina and Allegro as well! :)

(for those who haven't a clue what we are talking about - click here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9AmVdTDdZc))

Not sure why they changed it to Bristol.

I would always spot that Allegro! There's a Morris Marina and a Lada estate too. :yes:

My first car was a beige W reg Allegro believe it or not - it makes me sound really old, but I wanted a retro car when I passed my driving test. In the summer of 1999 I took it to the Tan-y-Pistyll waterfall not far from you, Cornwall and then the Lake District. It had such a bouncy ride but I soon realised it didn't exactly help me with my shyness so I bought a white G reg VW Polo a few months later instead. My brother went on to crash the Allegro on the M6 so it was scrapped. :cry:

I always wanted one in applejack: :happy:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/221/446889952_502b1af233.jpg?v=0

Anyway, moving on...!

is that an Austin Allegro and you bought it in 1999? the mileage must have been HUGE! :eek: i'd like a Nova once i pass my test but so many have been trashed by now i guess i'll have to settle for a crap Corsa :(

I love that Alexandra estate! definately gonna take a stroll through that this summer. looks really weird... but in a good way :yes:

Schemie mate you don't want a Nova there a tin can on wheels. My mate had one a few yrs back and it literally crumbled apart. There crap.
Fiesta's are better I reckon.
Whilst at uni today I was on the top floor in a lecture just looking out the window (should really have been concentrating) but I saw 3 blocks with a really cool colour scheme. Sort of light blue going up to cream with a light blue strip up the middle.
They may have been posted on here before.
There are also loads of blocks in Leeds that haven't been posted on here yet.

is that an Austin Allegro and you bought it in 1999? the mileage must have been HUGE! :eek:

It had only done something like 50,000 miles. An old man had owned it from new surprise surprise... ;)

Schemie mate you don't want a Nova there a tin can on wheels. My mate had one a few yrs back and it literally crumbled apart. There crap.
Fiesta's are better I reckon.


I agree about Novas - there's not many around now for obvious reasons. But Fiestas aren't much better, they have horrible sounding rattly engines.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/pop300.jpg

Sorry for going back quite abit but im sure these are the same blocks that Top Gear used when they put the Toyota pickup truck on top when they tried to kill it by having tonnes public housing falling on it.

im sure these are the same blocks that Top Gear used when they put the Toyota pickup truck on top when they tried to kill it by having tonnes public housing falling on it.

That was done in Hackney I seem to recall.

Regarding Novas and Fiestas, the Nova is a better car by miles. Obviously a Fiesta in good nick will be a better buy than a shagged out Nova, but if you compare like for like, the Nova wins in every way, especially at the more insurance-friendly end of the range. Anything Vauxhall launched in the 80s bettered anything Ford launched in the 80s, although that all changed from the Mondeo onwards. We deffo need a proper car thread in the Skybar.

For the record my X1/9 still only has 28,000 miles on it. And in the OFAH titles there is a lovely Skoda S110R (http://www.motorbase.com/vehicle/by-id/1009/) Coupe. My first car was an orange Skoda Rapid 130 Coupe, with purple seats!

There's a good day's worth of taking photos in Leeds to be done. It's on the list! :)

Other block in the 19th arrondissemeny of Paris.
Photos taken by Tonio del Barrio a french forumer

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/31/redimensionnementde1007fk2.jpg
Actually it is the tallest residencial building in inner Paris (The tallest in Paris urban area is located in la Defense) 122m :D
http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/5755/redimensionnementde1007nd2.jpg
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/8650/redimensionnementde1007kr0.jpg
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/1673/redimensionnementde1007yz4.jpg
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/1244/redimensionnementde1007wy1.jpg
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/2589/redimensionnementde1007bu5.jpg

An other blocks in the 18th arrondissement of Paris
http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/3354/redimensionnementde1007cs5.jpg
http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/781/redimensionnementde1007mt0.jpg

And now for the worst, but you will like that. Me too. :D

Paris skyline
http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/4786/38240658su9.jpg
http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/8561/69503204on3.jpg
View of Chinatown
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/3235/sderl4.jpg
And these high-rises exept the brown are not for the lower class
Some towers have private swimming pool in the highest floor. :)

13th arrondissemnt :Chinatown (the arerage height of these building is 100m)
http://irgendwo.free.fr/tramway/9.jpg
http://irgendwo.free.fr/tramway/13.jpg
http://irgendwo.free.fr/tramway/10.jpg

Avenue d'Italie with the luxury and cylindrical Super Italy tower 113m and in the back, the luxury orange Antoine and Cleopatra tower 104m These two high-rises have private swimming pool in their highest floor.
http://irgendwo.free.fr/tramway/8.jpg

I don't know the name of this tower but it is not cheap
http://irgendwo.free.fr/tramway/5.jpg

Whoa, that's daring architecture:uh:. Would love to go and see them.

I don't know the name of this tower but it is not cheap
http://irgendwo.free.fr/tramway/5.jpg

Can one of our weegie correspondents confirm - is that Bluevale or Whitevale? :)

I don't know the name of this tower but it is not cheap
http://irgendwo.free.fr/tramway/5.jpg

It's Tour Chambord. It's the parisian Gallowgate ! ( unless that Gallowgate is the Glasgewian Tour Chambord !)

Thanks for the pics of Les Orgues de Flandres minato ku, I just wanted to post some.

For the record my X1/9 still only has 28,000 miles on it.

Must have gone round the clock. :naughty:

And in the OFAH titles there is a lovely Skoda S110R (http://www.motorbase.com/vehicle/by-id/1009/) Coupe. My first car was an orange Skoda Rapid 130 Coupe, with purple seats!

Did they ever sell the old (60s/70s) Skoda coupe in the UK? When we went on an exchange to Prague when I was at school I remember seeing loads of the saloon version there and I'd never seen them before. Here in the UK you would often see the later 80s Skoda Rapid though - a mildly amusing car to look at being a sloped-back version of the Estelle. :happy: Me and my dad sat in one at a garage years ago and when pulling the manual choke out to start it the switch came right off in my dad's hands. :| I also pulled the door handle off. :eek:

Hey, I just found this pic from the Sandyhills Tower Blocks. :)

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q95/The_Talking_orange/Glasgowy.jpg

...and this rather nice but gloomy pic of Red road.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q95/The_Talking_orange/glasgowy2.jpg

On the first photo, the right hand side looks somewhat like New York with the World Trade Center! :eek:

Is that Bluevale and Whitevale?

Is the movie District 13 (Banlieue 13) set in arrondissement 13 of the future??

Not the 13th arrondissement is in inner Paris, this arrondissement is completly in renovation.

In fact the high rise towers was built for the people with a medium high salary but this project was not a succes and chinese bought appartements at low prices.
Low income people can't afford appartement in this district. :ohno:
Only the horizontal blocks are public estate.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t165/effroyable/2007-04-0902a.jpg

Other interesting fact : the shops in chinese style was built before that the chineses bought appartements :)

You guys really like your cars dont you? "Buildings... cars.... Buildings.... Cars.... Buildings..... Cars..." lol

Paris looks like a mental city to visit! It just reeks of cultural superiority! You French lads get it all! Great football teams, the gorgeous women, radical tower blocks... hell even your trams are sexy!

Park Hill aeriel view.

http://www.webbaviation.co.uk/gallery/d/7231-2/parkhill-aa04394b.jpg

http://www.webbaviation.co.uk/gallery/d/7245-1/aa04406b.jpg

Park Hill looks great :) I like the contrast with the concrete and the greenery of the trees and gardens and that. They popular?

Tower Blocks in the UK cant be liked as much as those french ones. I mean they cant be totally free of the problems associated with the ones over here but they seem better kept and cleaner. I love the different designs and colour schemes

By the way has France demolished any of its blocks, surely not on the same scale as us.

Some more from France, I used to see these all the time when I lived over there for a while, not sure if they are strictly 'tower blocks' but hey ho.

Les Arenes de Picasso

http://www.viennaslide.com/p/0530-paris/Viennaslide-05321119.jpg

http://www.viennaslide.com/p/0530-paris/Viennaslide-05321102.jpg

Palacio Abraxas

http://www.viennaslide.com/p/0530-paris/Viennaslide-05321322.jpg

http://www.viennaslide.com/p/0530-paris/Viennaslide-05321310.jpg

http://www.viennaslide.com/p/0530-paris/Viennaslide-05321343.jpg

Those give me the Post-Modern Boak!!

Park Hill looks great :) I like the contrast with the concrete and the greenery of the trees and gardens and that. They popular?

They're iconic rather than popular and are also grade II listed or something. But they're in really bad condition and awaiting a major makeover. There is a thread in the Sheffield forum somewhere. :yes:

You can never get bored of looking at pictures of Park Hill. It is just fantastic.

^^

Yes but apparently there was more to it back in the day, more snakes and such but they got demolished. :bash:

What is that phone advert where people are appearing out of nowhere in the middle of a park? Well, anyway, I'm sure you can see Park Hill in the background of that.

:drool: where abouts in France are they? they look amazing. but are you sure they are council blocks and not luxury apartments? they look too gorgeous, even by french standards, to be council-run.

Those Paris photos are :omg:

I never realised there were so many residential hi-rises in, not just Paris but, France, as a whole!! Some of the architecture as well, whoa....very daring and would be mega frowned upon in this country!

Here's the ongoing saga of the demolition of Pleck Flats in Walsall. There have been a few photos posted on here already and I'll try to keep them updated as much as possible. The demoltion process is gradual because all six blocks will be slowly "eaten away" by the worlds tallest nibbler - a hydraulic concrete crusher - which can extend to height of 170 feet. Here's a link describing it better with a rather poor photo of it in action.

http://www.expressandstar.co.uk/2007/05/03/big-nibbler-for-flats/

I passed past Pleck Flats today and the nibbler has started to have a few bites at the second tower block!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Tower%20Blocks%205/Tower%20Blocks%206/PleckFlats5thMay200713.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Tower%20Blocks%205/Tower%20Blocks%206/PleckFlats5thMay200711.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Tower%20Blocks%205/Tower%20Blocks%206/PleckFlats5thMay20079.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Tower%20Blocks%205/Tower%20Blocks%206/PleckFlats5thMay20078.jpg

[drool] where abouts in France are they? they look amazing. but are you sure they are council blocks and not luxury apartments? they look too gorgeous, even by french standards, to be council-run.

They are in a place called Noisy-le-Grand in the Eastern suburbs outside Paris proper, not sure whether they are privately owned or not but judging by the general area and the kids I used to see hanging around there, they are more likely to be social housing than luxury flats.

They are in a place called Noisy-le-Grand in the Eastern suburbs outside Paris proper, not sure whether they are privately owned or not but judging by the general area and the kids I used to see hanging around there, they are more likely to be social housing than luxury flats.

They are indeed public housing, built in the 1980's I think.

Am I right in thinking the Pleck part of Walsall was an absolute sh*thole?

Well, perhaps yes. But they're nice looking tower blocks that should have been saved somehow.

Am I right in thinking the Pleck part of Walsall was an absolute sh*thole?

That is probably, as good as an assessment as I've heard - in a word: Yes!

Well, perhaps yes. But they're nice looking tower blocks that should have been saved somehow.

They were nice looking once (and there was an attempt to do them up, look at the new(ish) entrances) but the people they housed and the damage those people did to the blocks themselves and to their reputation....these blocks have had "doomed!" written all over them for a long time!

Hmmm. Yeah I noticed those 'posh' little entrances on your photos. But if they can make an old barn into a luxury residence I'm sure they could have saved a couple of these blocks and done them up. :bash:

It all comes down to the old "you don't build a slum" and "the lifts don't piss in themselves" doesn't it?

Am I the only person who thinks the French stuff doesn't really belong on this thread? By all means give us a link to a French tower blocks thread, but there are some large pictures of stuff I'm not really bothered about seeing that I have to wait to load on the last page, and it's kind of getting on my nerves.

Must have gone round the clock. :naughty:

Nope, I have every single MOT - 28k is bang on. And I've done half of them.

Did they ever sell the old (60s/70s) Skoda coupe in the UK? When we went on an exchange to Prague when I was at school I remember seeing loads of the saloon version there and I'd never seen them before. Here in the UK you would often see the later 80s Skoda Rapid though - a mildly amusing car to look at being a sloped-back version of the Estelle. :happy: Me and my dad sat in one at a garage years ago and when pulling the manual choke out to start it the switch came right off in my dad's hands. :| I also pulled the door handle off. :eek:

They did, yeah. The S110R was the coupe version of the S100. Skoda sold all their models here since the 60s. Don't diss the Rapid or the Estelle, they were class, I had several of both. And that aint true about the choke - the choke was actually a lever next to the handbrake, which couldn't come off. All the other switches could tho. :)

It all comes down to the old "you don't build a slum" and "the lifts don't piss in themselves" doesn't it?

Yeps. :yes:

Am I the only person who thinks the French stuff doesn't really belong on this thread? By all means give us a link to a French tower blocks thread, but there are some large pictures of stuff I'm not really bothered about seeing that I have to wait to load on the last page, and it's kind of getting on my nerves.

Without upsetting our French friends, I may agree with you BH. It's nice to see the odd comparison with other countries (I'm tempted to start and American tower blocks thread!) but we got a little bit inundated with French blocks back there.

Don't diss the Rapid or the Estelle, they were class, I had several of both.

Oh believe me, I will never diss any Skoda. I had an obsession with Czech, Russian and Polish cars when I was 12 years old which although I outgrew I still have a fondness for such cars. When I went to Prague I took loads of photos of Skodas, Ladas, Wartburgs, FSOs and the like and came back with a giant poster of a bright red Skoda 120L that I proudly put on my bedroom wall! Just before I passed my driving test and I was after a retro car, we test drove a G reg 130L I think it was - one of the last of the rear engined Skodas. I decided I wanted something a bit more normal instead so bought an Allegro. :lol:

And that aint true about the choke - the choke was actually a lever next to the handbrake, which couldn't come off. All the other switches could tho. :)

Obsessive alert! You're in good company here. ;) Well okay, it must have been something else but it was a knob of some sort. :|

Whoops, now we've gone off subject. And I feel ill after eating 3 bowls of Cheerios.

^^

Yes but apparently there was more to it back in the day, more snakes and such but they got demolished. :bash:

Yeah it was in between Park Hill flats and Hyde Park flats(the now cladded ones further around the hill) Think it was actually part of Hyde Park though.

Think it might have been mentioned. But there were also some others very similar to Park Hill in the city called Kelvin Flats.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/kelvinflats/Backviewfrom128EdithWalk.jpg

This is a great website of images of Park Hill,Hyde Park and Kelvin Flats - http://www.freewebs.com/streetsinthesky/photos.htm

Am I the only person who thinks the French stuff doesn't really belong on this thread? By all means give us a link to a French tower blocks thread, but there are some large pictures of stuff I'm not really bothered about seeing that I have to wait to load on the last page, and it's kind of getting on my nerves.

Very sorry old chap, I just thought that it's sometimes useful to see how other people approach the same issues that we have here in the UK.

Yeah it was in between Park Hill flats and Hyde Park flats(the now cladded ones further around the hill) Think it was actually part of Hyde Park though.

Think it might have been mentioned. But there were also some others very similar to Park Hill in the city called Kelvin Flats.

This is a great website of images of Park Hill,Hyde Park and Kelvin Flats - http://www.freewebs.com/streetsinthesky/photos.htm

I always thought it was Hyde Park that got demolished, and Kelvin Flats that were refurbished for the World Student Games or whatever it was. Or have I got mixed up (again)? :)

Anyway, the word "great" to describe that website is undestatement of the week - it's fantastic! Loads of pics I've never seen before. Nice one la'!

Very sorry old chap, I just thought that it's sometimes useful to see how other people approach the same issues that we have here in the UK.

Absolutely, it's more than useful. It's just there has been a lot of French stuff on here of late, and it was in danger of becoming a French Tower Blocks thread. I'd had a few drinks, I was getting annoyed that the previous page was taking so long to load. No offence meant to anyone.

I decided I wanted something a bit more normal instead so bought an Allegro. :lol:

Hahaha. Quite. I wanted an old car, but the Eastern Bloc cars were so much newer so they made sense for a day to day car. My mate had an ultra low mileage Renault 12 and it disintegrated with daily use. Still gutted I never owned a Lada, or my favourite, an FSO 125p, or Polski Fiat if you will.

No Hyde Park was done up for the student games. Think thats when the bit got knocked down too.

everytime i scroll down this page and see the pictures of the half eaten Pleck flats i feel rather glum :( they look so dense and well set out and in a year or so there will be just an empty space where they once were :no: fucking vandals, eh? Are the other clusters in Wallsall sataying up or is everything from the 50s/60s/70s, over 2 storeys tall doomed these days? :ohno:

And there probably is a french tower blocks thread but i'll be damned if I can translate it! :lol: i don't mind being invaded by the french every now and again. they seem to have far more variation to their blocks than we do. but i guess we should get back to the grimey blighty stuff. Any towns or cities that this thread hasn't covered yet? Theres 20 odd in Belfast but I can only find pics of two:

from flickr:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/88/227651052_bc8519d9dd.jpg?v=0

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/131/318529187_e5d78dd889.jpg?v=1170671889

Cardiff doesnt have many either. I count about 7.:

from emporis:

Loudon House
http://www.emporis.com/files/transfer/sixwm/2004/03/256228.jpg

Nelson House
http://www.emporis.com/files/transfer/sixwm/2004/03/256231.jpg

Eastgate House
http://www.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2003/08/211030.jpg

Channel View
http://www.emporis.com/files/transfer/sixwm/2003/08/211533.jpg

No Hyde Park was done up for the student games. Think thats when the bit got knocked down too.

Yeah, you're right actually, I was misinformed.

is everything from the 50s/60s/70s, over 2 storeys tall doomed these days? :ohno:

Absolutely. It just aint fashionable at the moment. It's slowly making a comeback, but the blinkered masses still only want victorian or new. Anything esle is an eyesore, brutalist monster etc etc. These will be the same people who in 2040 will be moaning about the shortsightedness of the previous generation for pulling all the lovely modernist stuff down.

And there probably is a french tower blocks thread but i'll be damned if I can translate it! :lol: i don't mind being invaded by the french every now and again. they seem to have far more variation to their blocks than we do. but i guess we should get back to the grimey blighty stuff. Any towns or cities that this thread hasn't covered yet? Theres 20 odd in Belfast but I can only find pics of two:

Why not use an online translator? There are loads of cities still not covered. Belfast certainly needs further exploration (so it does). Apparently, there are no "brutalist monstrosities" in Cardiff, it's all shiny newbuilds or lovely victorian stuff. You must be imagining all those. :)

These arent strictly tower blocks but i think they are tall enough to be mentioned. Immingham (population 12,000) has 12 five storey blocks right in the heart of the town. Pretty decent for such a small town.

I wanted an old car, but the Eastern Bloc cars were so much newer so they made sense for a day to day car. My mate had an ultra low mileage Renault 12 and it disintegrated with daily use. Still gutted I never owned a Lada, or my favourite, an FSO 125p, or Polski Fiat if you will.

I saw a P reg Lada Riva estate for sale on eBay a few weeks ago - described as "the newest one available in the UK".
The Lada Niva 4x4 is still relatively popular, selling for a few hundred pounds. :lol:

You can compare the FSO 125p with some tower blocks - square, crude, unloved and they both have a certain charm.

Are the other clusters in Wallsall sataying up or is everything from the 50s/60s/70s, over 2 storeys tall doomed these days? :ohno:

No, there's still plenty left in Walsall and they're here to stay!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Tower%20Blocks%205/Towerblocks280470112.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Tower%20Blocks%205/Towerblocks280470111.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Tower%20Blocks%205/Towerblocks280470102.jpg

And lots more besides! :happy: The last lot are the similar blocks on the other side of the town. Pictures by Smileyface.

You could always buy a Yugo, I haven't seen one in the UK for years but there is still the odd one knocking around in Slovenia and Croatia. At the time they even sold them in the USA.

Any towns or cities that this thread hasn't covered yet? Theres 20 odd in Belfast but I can only find pics of two


This is one of the only previous picture we've featured of Belfast:
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photos/00/48/004845_9941b820.jpg

And these in Larne, some miles north of Belfast:
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photos/14/89/148994_3e81c135.jpg

We seem to have covered most of the UK it has to be said! :happy:

These arent strictly tower blocks but i think they are tall enough to be mentioned. Immingham (population 12,000) has 12 five storey blocks right in the heart of the town. Pretty decent for such a small town.

Oooh! Well, I had a brief look but only managed to find these beauties:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/163/355975795_0da9502084.jpg?v=0

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/62/212448972_a3c2fbfa57.jpg?v=0

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/108/305993810_5f8d9ccb45_o.jpg

Any tower blocks in Newcastle area (Gateshead, Sunderland,...) ?
I don't remember seeing a lot of blocks from this area in this thread.

And it seems to me that Derry in Ulster have some tower blocks as well (from what I saw in some TV documentaries about the northen ireland conflict).

You could always buy a Yugo, I haven't seen one in the UK for years but there is still the odd one knocking around in Slovenia and Croatia. At the time they even sold them in the USA.

This Yugo was the one sold in the US - normalish looking if a little basic:
http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/Yugo.jpg

There was an uglier Yugo but I can't find any pictures of it. It was a very strange shape!

This is the FSO in question - like a Lada but not a Lada
http://polski.hu/content/pic/250px-Polski_Fiat_125p.jpeg

aa

You can compare the FSO 125p with some tower blocks - square, crude, unloved and they both have a certain charm.


Absolutely. One was no nonsense economical housing for the masses, the other no nonsence economical transport for the masses. Coincidentally, both have really clean modernist lines. Am I coming across as a bit of a lefty? Good, I am!

There was an uglier Yugo but I can't find any pictures of it. It was a very strange shape!
This is the FSO in question - like a Lada but not a Lada


You mean the 411
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/146/400764063_0a3af029ea.jpg

Based on the FIAT 128. And the FSO 125p/Polski Fiat was based on the FIAT 125, the bigger brother of the FIAT 124, which the Lada was based on. The deal between Lada and FIAT saw Lada get the rights to build their version of the 124, and the Italians get a load of Soviet steel, that was such poor quality it led to the reputation that Italian cars rusted to buggery as soon as they left the factory.

My mate had a Yugo 45, what a belting motor!

Any tower blocks in Newcastle area (Gateshead, Sunderland,...) ?
I don't remember seeing a lot of blocks from this area in this thread.

Page 25 has some blocks I took pictures of in Walker, Gateshead and Newcastle. It's hardly a T. Dan Smith anthology, but there is a variety in there nonetheless.

^^

That's the chap!! :happy:

The Yugo 45 wasn't particularly bad looking, it could pass as an ordinary little hatchback, but the 411 was strange. I knew these cars were all based on old Fiats but I didn't know about the Fiat/Soviet steel exchange. Is that why the Fiat Strada, Panda and friends were modern (at the time) yet didn't last on the roads for very long? My Aunt(ie) had a black Fiat 127(?) with orange stripes which as a 5 year old I thought was a perfect sporty little car.

Erm, anyway, where were we...? :|

EDIT: It was exactly like this but in black. Is it just me or were these really hot little cars?! :eek: These could almost still sell today. :yes:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/75/191805701_d1bdf743ff.jpg?v=0

This aint tower blocks is it? But yeah. The Lancia Beta was the worst affected though. It's nice, but not as nice as a Mirafiori Sport!

What about the AlfaSud?? :lol:

Aaaanyway....

Told my mate today that I have a uni project about tower blocks in Nottingham ( I actually don't but I told him this otherwise he'll probs take the piss out of me).
I should hopefully have some pics of all of the blocks in Nottingham soon. Depending on when I can get the car for the whole day.

On Pepys Estate:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/31/38692454_faf6412bf3_o.jpg

:eek: that looks near identical to Anniesland Court(Glasgow)! So much for it's 'unique Art Deco design' hmph... but yeah, lets see more London stuff! If that place has like 1500 or something theres bound to be some real crackers among them. just dingy the boring ones :yes: btw whats the tallest tower block in London?

:eek: that looks near identical to Anniesland Court(Glasgow)! So much for it's 'unique Art Deco design' hmph... but yeah, lets see more London stuff! If that place has like 1500 or something theres bound to be some real crackers among them. just dingy the boring ones :yes: btw whats the tallest tower block in London?

There are around half a dozen of these style tower blocks in London - mostly in Southwark and close to the Thames. All have had various refurbs/makeovers in the past and all now have a slightly different look to each other. I think there were 3 on the Pepys Estate alone, one of which was sold to a developer and became that monstrosity you can see in the background of the above pic.

Not including the Barbican towers, the tallest would be Trellick Tower, no? Correct me if i'm wrong.

.. but yeah, lets see more London stuff!
Check out this thread: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=340366&

This is one of two blocks near Hull city centre (the other one just out the picture to the left) that, after construction in 1973, were said to be the last municipal residential high-rise tower blocks in the country. the 3 in the background were approved in 1959 and completed in 1964. Hull City Council said at the time, “we built them because people liked them”.

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3281/picture295ac0.jpg

Told my mate today that I have a uni project about tower blocks in Nottingham ( I actually don't but I told him this otherwise he'll probs take the piss out of me).
I should hopefully have some pics of all of the blocks in Nottingham soon. Depending on when I can get the car for the whole day.

Sounds great! :okay:

It is essential for us tower blockers to lie from time to time. :lol:

This is one of two blocks near Hull city centre (the other one just out the picture to the left) that, after construction in 1973, were said to be the last municipal residential high-rise tower blocks in the country. the 3 in the background were approved in 1959 and completed in 1964. Hull City Council said at the time, “we built them because people liked them”.


Interesting! Thanks for that. :yes: The block furthest away on that photo is the one that's been refurbished in white and other colours isn't it?

Loudon House
http://www.emporis.com/files/transfer/sixwm/2004/03/256228.jpg

Nelson House
http://www.emporis.com/files/transfer/sixwm/2004/03/256231.jpg


Is this where they filmed the oustide shots of Rosie's estate in the new Dr Who?

Interesting! Thanks for that. :yes: The block furthest away on that photo is the one that's been refurbished in white and other colours isn't it?

thats right and now the other two ones built in 1964 are being refurbished as well. I doubt if the blocks from 1973 will be though. Its good to see that demolition isnt even being considered. I think almost all of Hull's tower blocks are safe for at least another decade due to recent refurbishments-thats apart from 4 in the north of the city

Good. Some of the refurbishments aren't liked by all of us but I'd prefer that rather than them being demolished. :yes:

“we built them because people liked them”

Nothing wrong with that. People did like high rises back then. I have 3 now elderly relatives that used to live in high rises (one even lived in Red Road) and they loved their flats. Outdated, stigmatised and run down as they are now it can be hard to believe that but the Councils didnt put them up to punish the working classes yknow. I thinki've said this before but I like the way these Hull blocks look. Nothing special on their own but all lined up like that... It looks pretty cool next to the main road. Although I see impending doom on the horizon in the shape of a cheap and nasty refurb. Check the state of that one at the end.

that was a spontaneous post to tiger's post on the last page btw. let me catch up...

"It is essential for us tower blockers to lie from time to time."

:hahaha: very true!

"Is this where they filmed the oustide shots of Rosie's estate in the new Dr Who"

Don't know for certain but I could have sworn it was set in London because I remember there were other blocks on the skyline in the rooftop scene and they looked too tall to be Cardiff but I could be wrong.

"Some of the refurbishments aren't liked by all of us but I'd prefer that rather than them being demolished."

true true... But some big brutal tower blocks look so ridculous dressed up in all those fancy colours its like seeing Mr T in a clown suit.

“we built them because people liked them”

Nothing wrong with that. People did like high rises back then. I have 3 now elderly relatives that used to live in high rises (one even lived in Red Road) and they loved their flats. Outdated, stigmatised and run down as they are now it can be hard to believe that but the Councils didnt put them up to punish the working classes yknow. I thinki've said this before but I like the way these Hull blocks look. Nothing special on their own but all lined up like that... It looks pretty cool next to the main road. Although I see impending doom on the horizon in the shape of a cheap and nasty refurb. Check the state of that one at the end.

I think we should like them as they are but i can understand why councils would want to brighten up the image of council estates. Ive been in the one at the end and never thought it needed recladding. The inside was a bit drab and depressing but i never heard a complaint from my grandma who lived there. However recently i understand there were problems with the metal windows letting in a draft and needed replacing.

As for the recladding it was probably done for insulation reasons but i can imagine how disgusting a row of 3 blocks will look if they are the same as the first one.

I can remember not so long ago the colour scheme on the 3 blocks was to have the central balconies in one colour which would be light at the bottom and gradually get darker as you went up.

[QUOTE]I can remember not so long ago the colour scheme on the 3 blocks was to have the central balconies in one colour which would be light at the bottom and gradually get darker as you went up.[/QUOTE}

That would be quite nice. I remember one of the French lads posted a pic of a block with something like that going on and it worked quite nicely :) but they obviously ran out of money and inspiration... I mean, the reclad makes it look like a giant birthday cake or something. So much for big scary tower block... Poor things been neutered... Since you seem to know your stuff about Hull: when are your big one's coming down? Anytime soon or are their demolitions just unofficial?

But some big brutal tower blocks look so ridculous dressed up in all those fancy colours its like seeing Mr T in a clown suit.

What a great though...!

These probably are the big ones you are talking about. There used to be four more but they were demolished about 3 years ago.

http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/1526/picture625pq2.jpg

Currently there is no fixed date but if any are to be demolished in the city in the near future then these will will be the ones. At the moment all the options are being considered including different levels of refurbishment and doing nothing is not an option. Recently the blocks were painted, but only on two sides so at the moment it looks like there wont be any demolition until another year or two. But with household appliances on one occasion and even people falling from the flats plus the estates bad reputation these are the most unpopular blocks in the city.

I've shown most of Hull's tower blocks before on page 21 or 22 but heres some pics i didnt show of the Orchard Park estate.

http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/4513/picture638am1.jpg

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/7264/picture641de2.jpg

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/2922/picture645jg8.jpg

http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/871/picture631jx2.jpg

They look boring :yes: and they dont fit in to their surroundings :yes: and they are crap places to live :yes: so if they are dull-looking, incongruous crap places to live, for once I say tear them down! :banana:

i await the backlash in the morning...

You don't have to wait until the morning to get a backlash! :nono: :bash:

I think those blocks are great, I love the balconies on them and they're quite tall and random with nice pastel colours.

I for one enjoyed that little selection. :yes:

Schemie, we all know that Glasgowshire has some of the best tower blocks, give some of the other cities a chance. :tongue:

I think a little paint has transformed them and has added a little individuality to each one. You dont have to go way over the top to make a block look nice.

They look even nicer on a sunny day.

Great pics UTT, they look good. Obviously I'd prefer them grey but at least they haven't got stupid patterns on! That light finish WILL look dirty very quickly indeed though.

"Schemie, we all know that Glasgowshire has some of the best tower blocks, give some of the other cities a chance."

i concede, the blocks are alright. i like the balconies and how the roof seems to show some flats higher than others (best way i can describe it. see the last pic). But I was getting the feeling this thread needed an over the top, over opinionated reply to revive discussion a wee bit. They really don't look in rude health though. That paint ain't fooling anyone. The place looks barely inhabited. Loads of curtainless windows and closed curtains in the daytime :dunno:

The place looks barely inhabited. Loads of curtainless windows and closed curtains in the daytime :dunno:

Well if I knew some painters and decorators were going to be outside my window all day whilst I was out, I'd close my curtains. Likewise if I was lying on the setee smacked out of my eyeballs! :nuts:

Just found a bit of info on them

Cabinet of the 29th of November commissioned a full feasibility study to look at the structural state of the blocks and to determine whether cladding is required to bring the blocks up to the DHS and to give the blocks a 30 year life.

The full cost of DHS improvements plus the cladding to all 7 blocks at Orchard Park is £30m. The additional cost of cladding the blocks is £8.6m.

Evidence provided in the full Orchard Park High Rise report suggests that lettability of the current properties has increased following the demolition of 4 neighbouring blocks between 200x and . However turnover of properties is still above average and the void level currently stands at around 13%.

Taken probably before 2002

http://tlfe.org.uk/air/images/hull11.jpg

leeds:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/P1000423.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/P1000424.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/P1000425.jpg

Those last two photos...! :eek: :eek:

Makes me think of the Automatic song: "What's that coming over the hill - is it some monsters?"

The answer to that being YES!!!! :yes: :happy:

from Springburn in Glasgow

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q95/The_Talking_orange/Springburn.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q95/The_Talking_orange/springburn2.jpg

Nobody seems to have posted this. It is from the elphinstone place webcam but there is quite a few tower blocks visible. This is from today.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q95/The_Talking_orange/elphy.jpg

leeds:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/P1000423.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/P1000424.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/P1000425.jpg

Great pics Stephen. The blocks in the first pic are the ones scrolled to the right with the funky colour scheme that I can see from uni. They look alot further than they actually are though. The second pic is the mini Red Road that I reffered to a few pages back. They really look dominating and you can just about see them in the pic I posted from my flat.

leeds:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/P1000424.jpg

I wonder how popular those new apartments are sitting only what looks like 100m from half a dozen tower blocks.

Probably fairly popular as there probably the same distance from the blocks as they are into town.

Some blocks in Tamworth:
http://www.wellho.net/pix/tam03.jpg

Coronation Court in Liverpool. This was Liverpool's first tower block:
In 1957:
http://www.mersey-gateway.org/pastliverpool/galleries/housing/gallery/flats/images/medium/n88.jpg

Alot more recently:
http://www.superflex.net/tools/superchannel/users/pics/coronationcourt01.jpg

^^

Borras_Hwfa will like that block I'm sure. :yes:

Here's a couple more of Tamworth, Staffordshire - so many tower blocks for such a relatively small town:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/152/370924582_d1fe6df9ec_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/162/335260663_5d56c2fbf6_b.jpg

....

Anyway, the word "great" to describe that website is undestatement of the week - it's fantastic! Loads of pics I've never seen before. Nice one la'!


thanks v. much, 'cos that's my site! (*brushes chip off shoulder*)

it's from when i lived at kelvin, hyde park and park hill in sheffield, and i've now got a high rise in hull...pics of the hull one here:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b171/sheffieldarchives/hull/greatthorntonstreethull.jpg

there's more pictures of it on my new site:

http://www.freewebs.com/picturesofhull/

:)

Fantastic photos pete. Seeing as you took some from inside could you take some of the inside(lifts,stairwells,corridors ect). I'm sure we would all like to see them. It might bring back a few memories for me as well.

Woo hoo! A real life tower block dweller!! :master:

And with great pictures too. :yes:

Woah! this thread stops for no man! So many I want to comment on

http://tlfe.org.uk/air/images/hull11.jpg

That would be some cluster if those demolished 4 were still standing :)... :no: pity about the flatness everywhere else... Maybe I like these blocks more than first impressions led me to believe. Hulls suburban skyline needs them!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/P1000425.jpg

these look fantastic but even better, new buildings have added to the overall density Rather than the blocks been demolished and the new buildings been built in their place.... Leeds City Council :kiss:

http://www.superflex.net/tools/superchannel/users/pics/coronationcourt01.jpg

Wow! hasnt changed a bit! Double glazing hasnt even been installed. Poor Scousers must be frozen :lol:

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q95/The_Talking_orange/Springburn.jpg

yaaas! Spingburn in all its grimy glory!

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/152/370924582_d1fe6df9ec_o.jpg

These are very well set out. I like tower blocks all lined up like this. Like the non-Orchard Park Hull ones. The fact that its right on the river makes them look really classy.

Woah! this thread stops for no man! So many I want to comment on

http://tlfe.org.uk/air/images/hull11.jpg

That would be some cluster if those demolished 4 were still standing :)... :no: pity about the flatness everywhere else... Maybe I like these blocks more than first impressions led me to believe. Hulls suburban skyline needs them!


There was more. Just missed of the photo to the right was another cluster of 3 and one on its own. Since then the two clusters of 3 have seen 2 blocks each demolished.

Coronation Court in Liverpool. This was Liverpool's first tower block:

Alas, it wasn't. It was the first one started, but one of the ones that followed was finished before Coronation Court was finished. I can't recall which, however. I really do need to get out more! :)


Borras_Hwfa will like that block I'm sure. :yes:


I do. I posted a pic on Page 46 I liked it that much. Still prefer The Piggeries though!

thanks v. much, 'cos that's my site! (*brushes chip off shoulder*)

Nice to see you on here Pete. Great photos, you really did capture a moment in time with those. I'm sure everyone here is appreciative of you doing so.

pity about the flatness everywhere else

I take it you've never been to Hull then? Flatness isn't the word!

Question. How is Tamworth a small town? It has a population of 75,000 or is it just that English Towns are a lot lot bigger than Scottish ones. East Kilbride and Paisley are our biggest towns at around about 75,000? We up here would consider a town of more than 25,000 as big. I'm guessing there are loads of towns down south with populations bigger than 75,000.

^^

Well yes, but I may also have underestimated Tamworth.

It's an overspill town for Birmingham with very large housing estates but where those tower blocks are it has a small town feel with marshes by the river which give that part of the town quite a rural feel! So to see 6 tower blocks there is quite exciting and you can't miss them as you enter Tamworth.

aw... right thanks for clearing that up. Thanks for the help there.:okay:

Fantastic photos pete. Seeing as you took some from inside could you take some of the inside(lifts,stairwells,corridors ect). I'm sure we would all like to see them. It might bring back a few memories for me as well.

Glad you like 'em up the tigers!

I will begin shooting some pics of the concrete stairs etc. There is a huge refurbishment programme underway, so expect bits of concrete dust on the lens!

:banana:

Woo hoo! A real life tower block dweller!! :master:

And with great pictures too. :yes:

Thanks Butterfield!

I was talking with a fellow tower-block dweller yesterday. His block is in Bransholme (Hull) and he agrees that there's more sense of community in a block than a house because you always see people in the lift etc.

:)

There was more. Just missed of the photo to the right was another cluster of 3 and one on its own. Since then the two clusters of 3 have seen 2 blocks each demolished.

I was up Bransholme yesterday and saw one of the remaining blocks. Very nice indeed, refurbished, edge of the countryside etc.



:)

I've found out that Padstow House, refurbished in 1993 (the white and green one i think) is very popular :) - very good to hear.
Could do with a clean though.

Was this the one in Bransholme you meant or was it the other one?

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/9518/picture623rt0.jpg

Has anybody posted any pictures of the blocks on Saltshouse Road opposite Princess Royal Hospital in East Hull? One of the best reclads I've seen.

Has anybody posted any pictures of the blocks on Saltshouse Road opposite Princess Royal Hospital in East Hull? One of the best reclads I've seen.

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/558/picture603rc4.jpg

And a bit further away on the same estate. IMO the best tower block in Hull.
I love those windows going all the way up.

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/4577/picture617dt0.jpg

reminds me of tetris that one does!

was doing odd jobs for my mates Dad yesterday and was delivering junk mail to every house in a village called Lochwinnoch, population of about 1500 think. When I was doing my rounds I actually found a tower block! If you can call it that. 6 storeys tall. No lifts. Pretty trashed inside. Nice view over the countryside though cos the village is in the middle of nowhere. took a picture of it with my phone so the quality is pish.:

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/adamcarrington/local%20area/loch.jpg?t=1179067621

like I said, tiny village:

http://p.vtourist.com/1368326-Lochwinnoch_from_across_the_Loch-Lochwinnoch.jpg

^^A mini block :banana:

:hahaha: its going in the wiki

^^Remember - add categories!

For some reason, the logo has been deleted off the wiki so if anyone wants to create one, go ahead!

Great find Schemie! I did a bit of a search on this mini block just but found nothing - as if! :lol:

I did however find this, don't know if you know it. It's listed as "Spinning Mill, Barbush Mills, Johnstone" and it's a nice bit of
grime for you - in fact it looks as though it's gone beyond grime now! ;)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/30/44065297_f4346c92d5_b.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/32/44073999_37cc8e50f7_b.jpg

Wow thats a pretty special find butterfield. It should definately be re-developed but not by some twatty developer that will turn it into apartments that will totally ruin it.
A museum would be much better. Was it used for the cotton industry?
Maybe we should make a new thread called "Interesting Derilict Buildings" Im sure it would prove popular. We may have to put it in "City Talk" though as that seems to be more popular than "Skyscraper and Skylines"
What do you think?

I've found out that Padstow House, refurbished in 1993 (the white and green one i think) is very popular :) - very good to hear.
Could do with a clean though.

Was this the one in Bransholme you meant or was it the other one?

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/9518/picture623rt0.jpg

Not sure of it's name, but it's at the back of Zeal's Garth, off Wawning Road. At the moment it's on my list of "next tower blocks to move into"; so far I've notched up four in Sheffield, one in Hull and one in Hong Kong!

:)

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/558/picture603rc4.jpg

Another re-clad in Hull: Great Thornton Street.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b171/sheffieldarchives/hull/greatthorntonstreethullbypeterjones.jpg

Here's the work in progress in the blocks that I'm in now:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b171/sheffieldarchives/hull/1-0-0.jpg

Here's me and my shadow just for fun:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b171/sheffieldarchives/hull/Untitled-Scanned-09-1.jpg

I was told they had huge problems cladding this one, so the others are getting new windows etc but no cladding....good in a way 'cos it means we keep the open balcony.

:)

p.s. here's the view from my window:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b171/sheffieldarchives/hull/GREATTHORNTONSTREET-0.jpg

And a bit further away on the same estate. IMO the best tower block in Hull.
I love those windows going all the way up.

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/4577/picture617dt0.jpg

Where abouts is this?

^^A mini block :banana:

There are some great little blocks of about 9 or 10 strories somewhere in Birmingham. They look really cute, like summat off Mary Mungo and Midge.

Hull has some little 11 stories near the docks, all re-clad.

Anything under 14 stories is hardly worth bothering!

Where abouts is this?

Its here:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=bayswater+court&sll=53.744341,-0.332443&sspn=0.184764,0.462799&ie=UTF8&ll=53.781688,-0.294571&spn=0.04615,0.1157&z=13&om=1

Its here:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=bayswater+court&sll=53.744341,-0.332443&sspn=0.184764,0.462799&ie=UTF8&ll=53.781688,-0.294571&spn=0.04615,0.1157&z=13&om=1

cheers up the tigers!

i shall go and take a look one afternoon

:cheers:

by the way, here are a couple more pics of sheffield tower blocks at lansdowne to add to the collections here:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b171/sheffieldarchives/people/terrymattyflats.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b171/sheffieldarchives/sharrowflats.jpg

I saw some news a few years ago about the demolition of some blocks on Norfolk Park and it was said that they were the last tower blocks in Sheffield to be demolished. Somehow i cant believe this is true. I know Park Hill flats are still standing but does anyone know how mant tower blocks are left in Sheffield. There havent been any i can remember posted on here.

Thanks Pete for all your photos and info! :happy:

Not sure of it's name, but it's at the back of Zeal's Garth, off Wawning Road. At the moment it's on my list of "next tower blocks to move into"; so far I've notched up four in Sheffield, one in Hull and one in Hong Kong!


Are you trying to live in as many blocks as possible? What is it you like about living in them so much?

I was out in Chester yesterday taking some pictures for another thread (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=460788), and thought I'd take some more snaps of the tower blocks in the city centre.

St. Anne's Flats

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/200/496661790_42ddd94884_b.jpg

I didn't realise that the balconies were this strange, trapezoidal shape

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/200/496692627_69ecf6e80c_b.jpg

Rowlands Heights and Thackeray Towers

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/199/496659718_1e0d03e331_b.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/212/496658410_9e076def25_b.jpg

Rowlands Heights

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/197/496680679_4199ea7ebd_b.jpg

Thackeray Towers

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/214/496681413_cb84edabd0_b.jpg

Haygarth Heights - looks nice doesn't it, next to the canal?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/212/496684785_41a4bd1cf3_b.jpg

And finally, I know they aren't technically tower blocks, but I love Salmon's Leap

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/211/496668720_61cc5200f2_b.jpg

They were even better when they were exposed concrete - they painted them pink a couple of years ago :(

Wow, those blocks look awesome. They remind me of the lot up here in Sutton Coldfield - especially Haygarth Heights.

And me thinks your camera or lens is set for a clean :yes:.

Thanks BH for those! :happy: Chester's blocks are some of the most pleasant looking in terms of lack of general decay. What a horrible word - decay... :shifty:

What are those "trapezoidal" balconies facing towards? The city centre or countryside? Something is making them face to the left surely!

Haygarth Heights does look nice by the canal and weeping willow - could be Cambridge. :yes:

And finally - Salmon's Leap. What a weird looking place! What is it? Who lives there? Where is it in Chester?? Strrraange...

*from the previous page*

Ah the Spinning Mills are long gone unfortunately... All the buildings were demolished last year and a Morrisons ubermarket is being built as we speak :ohno: Johnstone still has a ton of old derelict buildings though. I live 50m away from a derelict castle :yes: or whats left of it :no:

Good idea for a new forum though Stef. Loads of weird and wacky bricked up buildings around.

And me thinks your camera or lens is set for a clean :yes:.

Yes mum! There was some dust on one of my lenses, it was fine when I left the house, honest.

Thanks BH for those! :happy: Chester's blocks are some of the most pleasant looking in terms of lack of general decay.

What are those "trapezoidal" balconies facing towards? The city centre or countryside? Something is making them face to the left surely!

Haygarth Heights does look nice by the canal and weeping willow - could be Cambridge. :yes:

And finally - Salmon's Leap. What a weird looking place! What is it? Who lives there? Where is it in Chester?? Strrraange...

Yeah, they're in good nick as far as tower blocks are concerned. I think, although I'm not sure, that the three bigger ones (with the square windows) are all sheltered accomodation. If they ever come on the open market, I think I'd be tempted to buy one, although they'd probably be up for silly money.

I think it's actually called Salmon Leap, my mistake. It's a collection of houses overlooking the weir on the River Dee. Like I said, they were exposed concrete originally. A LOT of people complain that they are an eyesore and all the usual guff. They were built in 1976, and for years I've wanted one. Bit out of my price range really. One's just been sold here (http://uk.propertyfinder.com/2/pf/property/details.do;jsessionid=F08C64508360DE66D8A4AF43BD3FBAD7?propertyDetailsKey=9063897&atn=ATN_GET_PROPERTY_DETAILS&=) and looking here (http://www.houseprices.co.uk/e.php?q=salmon+leap+chester) they've always been quite expensive. I seem to remember one of them featured as a that bloke that used to own the club's pad in one of those late night Hollyoaks a few years back. Not that I watch such "chewing gum for the eyes" you understand. :nuts:

:lol:

Yeah they are quite expensive but they're town houses not flats! Lovely position by that weir. :yes:

I think I read in the Chester paper a few weeks back that Salmon Leap could be re-painted due to the amount of people complaining. I just hope its not the same person picking the colour.

But... but it's painted in a salmon colour! :okay:

Glasgow
http://www.urbandecay.ca/Files/Content/Glasgow-Edinburgh/Public%20Housing/Public%20Housing/redroad1.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/adamcarrington/local%20area/sighthill2.jpg?t=1179238397

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/adamcarrington/local%20area/possilpark.jpg?t=1179238448

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/adamcarrington/local%20area/48366242_a742d6467f.jpg?t=1179238488

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/adamcarrington/local%20area/train2.jpg?t=1179238556

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/adamcarrington/local%20area/royston1.jpg?t=1179238589

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/adamcarrington/local%20area/gall.jpg?t=1179238644

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/adamcarrington/local%20area/glasgow.gif?t=1179238671

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/adamcarrington/local%20area/1985_207.jpg?t=1179238696

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/adamcarrington/local%20area/Belgrove3.jpg?t=1179238747

Edinburgh
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/adamcarrington/local%20area/sighthill1.jpg?t=1179238789

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/adamcarrington/local%20area/muirhouse2.jpg?t=1179238815

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/adamcarrington/local%20area/muirhouse1.jpg?t=1179238841

and i really like this reclad in Huddersfield. Looks like they've given it a Nike tracksuit:
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/adamcarrington/local%20area/flats.jpg?t=1179238878

Some great pics there Schemie - some I've seen before, some I haven't.
I especially like the first photo of Red Road and this one in Edinburgh:

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/adamcarrington/local%20area/muirhouse1.jpg?t=1179238841

A great mix of styles there, any more pics of this area?? :)

...and i really like this reclad in Huddersfield. Looks like they've given it a Nike tracksuit:


:lol:

I've seen these for myself when I went on a long drive on my own about 3 years ago.
Quite a lot of blocks in the Huddersfield/Halifax area. :yes:

But... but it's painted in a salmon colour! :okay:

Stuff the salmon colour, just rename them ;)

not checked this thread in a wee while and have to say great pics to all who posted them.

Heres some that I found.

Sighthill

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q95/The_Talking_orange/sky3.jpg

Red Road

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q95/The_Talking_orange/sky2-1.jpg

Gorbals

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q95/The_Talking_orange/Sky.jpg

I have to say that the sky looks more frightening than Gorbals itself in that pic :lol: and i got first dibs on Red Road! posted that pic 24 hours ago so HA!

and

"Quite a lot of blocks in the Huddersfield/Halifax area."

are they all as vertically challenged? :weegiesmugness: oh, theres no smiley...

sorry guys im just bouncing off the walls today :rofl: btw i was in Greenock today and seen loads of tower blocks. Much more than I ever thought were in the town. But I think the Port Glasgow ones are about to be demolished. When i passed them on the train lots of scafolding was up around the base of two of the blocks (couldnt get a glimpse of the 3rd) and it didnt look good.

Yeah you do seem a bit hyper Schemie - too many sweets or something else?? :|

I don't think Huddersfield has particularly high tower blocks, can't really remember.

Maybe those blocks you mention in Port Glasgow are being refurbished. Your neck o' the woods seem to "do up" rather than "do down" if that makes any sense! But I may be wrong. :(

Todays banner of Shenzhen. Tower block fans eat your heart out.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/18.jpg

China is a gorgeous country :) the way these are set out its like totally planned. Check the uniformity on the right hand side! surreal...


"too many sweets or something else??"

havent a clue mate. guess theres something in the water...

These aint Tower Blocks but they are amazing and I thought I'd post them just before they go as sadly they will be demolished at 9am tomorrow morning. They were built in the late 50's. They are the Cooling Towers at Chapelcross Nuclear power Station. It was Scotlands first Nuclear power plant. Terrible, do they have to knock 'em down.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q95/The_Talking_orange/ChaplecrosspowerStation.jpg

I love cooling towers! I always liked them as a child - before I liked tower blocks I think. :yes: There's still a lot of them around the UK but a set of them in Staffordshire were demolished last year and I think others are following. :bash:

Whereabouts in Scotland is/was Chapelcross Nuclear power station Mr. B?

There was a group of 400ft chimneys or cooling towers demolished here back in 2005 I think. There was a video on the BBC Nottingham website showing you the demolition but I could never get it to work.
The cooling towers for Radcliffe On Soar power station on the outskirts of Nottingham are huge. I know I'm home when I see them.

Anyway I know this is a forum for British tower blocks but I found 3 pics of a group in New York. Thought I'd post them as Butterfield mentions blocks in New York alot so here they are.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/yank7.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/83277964oh4.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/00760012kk0.jpg

I'll try and stay on topic from now on.

^^

Those blocks are very typical New York, not that I'm an expert or anything but there does seem to be a lot of those red-brick blocks there.

The area in between Birmingham and Nottingham is/was cooling tower city! Rugeley, Burton-on-Trent and others besides. We used to travel up the A38 that way quite a lot when I was a child and I'd spot each little cluster of cooling towers that we passed. The lot by Nottingham you mention may have been one particular cluster I would see. Sad they're disappearing now though, such monsters that they are! :happy: although :(

Btw Stef - was it you who said in another thread that you're going to Prague soon? You should see some great brutal tower blocks there!
:pepper:

EDIT: Not that you'll stray into those areas of course! :lol: I'm sure it'll be more about the :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: ;)

Yeh I can't remember saying it but I'm going on the 16th of June till the 20th. Hopefully taking the camera if my parents don't need it for when they go to Greece at the same time so I'll be able to take some pics. I'll be on the prowl for some blocks.
Regarding the cooling towers. There does seem to be quite a few between Birmingham and Nottingham. The A50 towards Stoke has loads of them. Theres some old Brickwork chimneys just past junction 25 or 26 as you go alongside Nottingham that are quite impressive. My uncle used to live near there and you would occassionally see some smoke coming out of them where kids had set a fire in the big furnesses.

Just found these in Selby, not far from your 'other' home in Leeds!

I feel sick with excitement from the sheer scale of these beasts. :puke:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/20/72071821_c024e8afb5_b.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/20/72072684_27cb38469b_b.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/29/64818716_dc79950f2d_b.jpg

Anyway I know this is a forum for British tower blocks but I found 3 pics of a group in New York. Thought I'd post them as Butterfield mentions blocks in New York alot so here they are.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/yank7.jpg

I'll try and stay on topic from now on.

a couple of Britis ones! Soon to be gone Students flats at Aston University

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Birmingham%202/PICT0004.jpg

:o ! Cooling towers... They look humungous...

I've seen those new york ones somewhere before. I think they were described as being black/hispanic projects or some skizz like that. America has fantasticly crappy tower blocks though. Google Robert Taylor Homes or Cabrini Green in Chicago. Makes Gorbals look like Bearsden...

I'd love to live in a high rise student flat :) i know england has a few of those student ghettos. Up here i think theres just that new private 13 storey Victoria Halls development just outside Glasgow Caledonian. Most of the student accomodation is no more than 6 storeys. Gutted. I cant even imagine a tower block where everyone is university educated...

Wow to those Leeds ones. I wonder if they could control the weather:|. There were some big ones at Motherwell up here. Anyway those ones were demolished this morning, they were near Gretna in Dumfrieshire.

Here's a pic of Ravenscraig Cooling Towers in the 80's.

(sorry of poor quality, it's from a book)

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q95/The_Talking_orange/RavenscraigCoolingtowers.jpg

Anyway those ones were demolished this morning, they were near Gretna in Dumfrieshire.

Yeah, I saw them demolished on BBC News 24 earlier today!

These are for you Butterfield.
We'll start off with Radcliffe on Soar Power Station. The amount of crap this thing pumps out is unbelievable. Just look at the second pic it looks more like a nucleur bomb has gone off. There was an article about shutting it down and replacing it with natural gas but it may be on a different site not even in Nottinghamshire. Just so you know Radcliffe on Soar Power Station has 8 clooling towers and is one of the biggest if not the biggest coal powered power stations in the UK.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/_40642250_radcliffe_203.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/367761.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/dirty_old_town_470_470x313.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/view_from_the_train_470_470x353.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/a4vbtk.jpg

Hucknall Brickworks chimneys that I reffered to that you can see from the M1 whilst driving alongside Nottingham.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/chimneys.jpg

I'll try and post pics of tower blocks from now on but I'm starting to run out of blocks from Notts.

:eek: :eek: :eek:

The steam/whateveritis from those cooling towers is bigger than any clouds! Is it just steam or is it a pollutant of some kind?

That first little pic is just so dense and I like seeing them from over Nottingham city centre along with the Victoria (Centre) flats(?) in the middle. :happy:

It'll be a mixture of steam and sulphur which is what falls as sulphuric acid (acid rain) which is what's killing trees in Scandanavia. It also smells funny when it hasn't been raining much then theres a light shower it stinks.
The pic with some of the Nottingham skyline in it is good. It shows you how massive this power station is. The Power Station is about 12 miles from where that picture was taken.

Hmmm I see, so it's not innocent steam. :| I don't actually know anything about cooling towers, I just always liked the look of them. :yes:

I've started a new thread to talk about these before we get shouted at for going off topic!

I found out today that Leeds has some 75 tower blocks and very few of them have been demolished.
As I don't know Leeds very well maybe someone who lives here should go out on a hunt and take some pics. There is a big estate that I can see from the M1 on the East side of Leeds that has one or two tall blocks. Most of the blocks here are of a similar design though.
I was in Birmingham yesterday with Uni and noticed the block near the train station. Stephenson Tower or something? What the hell is with the positioning of that thing? It looks like it's just been plonked there. I love tower blocks but that thing looks horrible right in the middle of town especially in sight of visitors to the city.
That has to be the only block that I want demolished as it's such an eyesore to Birminghams impressive skyline.

Good research on Leeds stef! :okay:

Stephenson Tower is in completely the wrong place and is due for demolition when the new station is built I think. It's more suburb than city centre it has to be said! Btw stef we're still waiting for the British TV Masts thread. ;)

Stephenson Tower, Birmingham city centre: (Erebus's photos methinks)
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d101/Erebus555/Birmingham%2006/DSCF1253.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d101/Erebus555/Birmingham%2006/DSCF1124.jpg

Yep, they are my pictures (should be on the first page of this thread). It is to be demolished, though the "Stephenson Tower Residents Association" have placed an objection to it because they feel the construction of two 130 metre towers on site is unnecessary... short-sighted people, obviously.

I agree, I would love to see it go. It's an eyesore and is blighting the skyline. I would love to see it go via a controlled explosion but because of it's proximity to the Old Rep and Electric Cinema, plus other impressive old buildings over the road, I think we'll see a slow, mindnumbing demolition with some sort of dinosaur-like contraption chewing away at the building.

Oh and just a big shout out to all those been helping with the wiki - we have now passed the 500 article mark and are well on the way to the 1000 mark. Castle man has been a gem on there (I'm guessing it's schemie) and we hope you other guys get editting too!

Oh and we do have a problem with the pictures - I think I may have to delete a lot soon because of the large number of copyright infringements such as those from Emporis...

^^

What would happen if you didn't delete them? Is anyone official watching over it? I know on Wikipedia you can't use anyone elses photos.

Well I don't know what happens, really. I guess someone from wikia.com will put in a complaint or something, or someone from the websites the images were taken from will issue a complaint to wikia about it. I don't know if they will shut down the wiki or just tell us to remove the images.

So far I've written articles on all the tower blocks in Birmingham I could find. This amounts to around 150 tower blocks out of around 400. I can't find any on the Druids Heath estate... Unless Druids Heath is in Brandwood? :dunno:

670 articles now erebus, we are getting closer by the minute to your target of 1000. I'll do as much as I can to help reach that target...:blahblah:

:lol: The new articles are coming so fast that the counter is stuck on 630 articles for my computer! :eek:

I'm currently doing Liverpool tower blocks.

At the moment I'm doing all the New towns of Britain.

Nice one! :tongue2:

I think I may have finished the Liverpool blocks - only 68 of them there really. I may find some more.

Here's a great website for old pictures of tower blocks in Liverpool (http://pic7.piczo.com/inacityliving/?g=33776503). I would put them on here but you get an annoying pop up saying you're not allowed to save the pictures everytime you click on 'em. :(

Some interesting stuff from the website shows some tower blocks prepared for demolition as early as the 1980s - they were only 20 years old which astonishing, and quite saddening as they were quite interesting features.

There's a great group of tower blocks which were demolished in 1988 called Cavour, Mazzinni and Garabaldi House. Their names are just hilarious. They were named after Italian Unifists.

Corinth Tower was an absolute beauty (and monster) too.

Anyway, enough, just check it out!

I remember Stockbridge Village from a case study on urban regeneration when I did A-level geography.

I'm not keen on posting those photos from that site, as that bloke publishes books with them in.

Garibaldi House was actually completed in 1961, and there is only 1 'n' in Mazzini. :)

This thread seems to go round and round a bit doesn't it?

Huge apologies if these have been posted, but there's no way I'm trawling through 60 pages to find out if they have..

From Flickr:

By Biotron:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/the_boy_david/cooltowers.jpg


A big big pano of Glasgow North Tower blocks - it's pretty awesome, but it's too big for my photobucket account, so here's the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=409398989&size=o

Erebus - Can you post the link for the Wiki Tower block site. I haven't signed up yet I don't think (slapped wrists)
Do you have a Nottingham tower blocks section in it?
If you don't I don't mind helping you out with pictures of them.

^^

stef - the link is on my signature. ;)

Great pics The Boy David! :okay: That one on the link is amazing!! :eek: ...and rather big. ;)

Garibaldi House was actually completed in 1961, and there is only 1 'n' in Mazzini. :)

This thread seems to go round and round a bit doesn't it?

Blame Skyscrapernews :). I need some new camera batteries - I went to Heron Court in Wylde Green, Birmingham today to get some pre-rain photos and as soon as I turned the camera on, the battery died:ohno:. Lesson learned.

Thanks for recommending them camera cleaners too, they did a sterling job! :cheers:

Erebus - Can you post the link for the Wiki Tower block site. I haven't signed up yet I don't think (slapped wrists)
Do you have a Nottingham tower blocks section in it?
If you don't I don't mind helping you out with pictures of them.

This is the wiki (http://ukhousing.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page), but as Butterfield said, it's in his signature, and also in mine. We currently don't have a Nottingham tower blocks section but you're input would be very valuable.

My article counter has currently got stuck again and it says we're on 803 articles - I'm sure there's more.

Here's Brooke House in Basildon, Essex. It's a very dark but interesting looking block.

http://www.basildon.com/bh.jpg

"A big big pano of Glasgow North Tower blocks"

wow. im actually blown away by that. It's rare that you see pics of tower blocks at night when arguably they look most spectacular.

"Some interesting stuff from the website shows some tower blocks prepared for demolition as early as the 1980s - they were only 20 years old"

:( Cut down in their prime...

"big shout out to all those been helping with the wiki"

cheers :okay: ive finished school now so ive got more than enough spare time to waste :lol: although bad news about the emporis thingy. my bad. but those pics they had of Dundee towers especially looked awesome! :yes: they must have blinded me with their good looks so i couldnt see all the legal stuff. Like a good looking girl with... lets not finish that metaphor...

speaking of wiki, im heading back there to get editting again.... No images, jah?

oh btw there are loads of estates of cottage flats and corporation tenements up here, especially in the smaller towns, built in the 1920s/1930s. And in London, my next stop after the Scottish cities have been done to death there are medium rise estates built as early as the 1920s. You want them included or just stick to the 50s/60s/70s stuff?

We have articles for 163 articles in Manchester.

I've just realised, all the tower blocks in Castle Vale need articles :doh:

oi! i asked you a question :hey: ! and ive got another one now... what would you consider to be a post war estate? 50s/60s/70s? or right up to present day? In 20 years time we we will probably end up having a comprehensive record of every single house in Britain... especially at the rate we're going at the now. my counters been stuck at 907 for ages so i assume we've passed 1000.

^^Oi! Sorry... I skip through so fast I lose myself.

Question 1: I think it's fine to do the pre-WWII housing too. I'll be fine with it, unless someone else has a big objection to it...?

Question 2: I would consider a post war estate to be upto around the mid-1970s really. But I think it maybe useful to have later estates, up to the present day, it'll do no harm.

Oh and as for the article count, I think mine might be stuck too but it's on 923 so far! Edging ever so close now!

Blame Skyscrapernews :). I need some new camera batteries - I went to Heron Court in Wylde Green, Birmingham today to get some pre-rain photos and as soon as I turned the camera on, the battery died:ohno:. Lesson learned.

Thanks for recommending them camera cleaners too, they did a sterling job! :cheers:

Damn you Skyscrapernews! I really should go in and empty my brains on UKHousing, but I've got so much towerblock trivia floating about up there, it'd take me weeks and weeks.

I suppose seeing as it's called UKHousing, it needs to cover all houses in the UK, even private stuff. That will take years and years.

Aye, that mistake you only make once eh? Mine was at a car show, I was gutted. I got two spares now. Not Nikon branded but they do the job. No worries, a clean camera is a happy camera!

956 articles... I don't think we need articles on every single house in the UK. The main focus should be post war stuff (1945-1975) with some possible additions from later stuff and interwar. Information on Victorian housing maybe useful to show why postwar development appeared to be so necessary at the time.

:cheers1: Alright! no less than 1014 articles! par-ty!

:dance:

erebus, take a bow, mate :)

Just found these in Selby, not far from your 'other' home in Leeds!

I feel sick with excitement from the sheer scale of these beasts. :puke:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/20/72071821_c024e8afb5_b.jpg

]

I wonder how tall they are....they look massive.Does anyone have an idea how tall the averge cooling tower is ?

:cheers1: Alright! no less than 1014 articles! par-ty!

:dance:

erebus, take a bow, mate :)

:pepper: :carrot: :cucumber: :banana: :banana2:

:bowtie: The job's not over though - now we aim for the 2000 milestone, then 5000 and 10,000 and then the world:devil:!!!

All from That there London, init.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/London/P1000439.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/London/P1000440.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/London/P1000441.jpg

Now most normal people go to London and take pictures of Buckingham Palace, not me, it's grotty streets in the sky.....

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/London/P1000442.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/London/P1000449.jpg

It only started when I started hanginag about here, I blame you lot of sickos.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/London/P1000451.jpg

Is that the Barbican estate in the last post?

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/London/P1000457.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/London/P1000458.jpg

Oh and has anyone seen Sussex Heights in Brighton? If so, would you class it as a tower block or just a very tall residential building? :dunno:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/London/P1000464.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/London/P1000465.jpg

London has always amazed me. Everything about it. Especially the tower blocks and midrise estates. What is that brutalist gem in pic #3?

and on sussex heights - looks very tower blocky to me... why wouldnt it be?

Well I didn't know when it was built - it could have been a really poorly constructed new build for all I know. It's about 105 metres tall which is massive too so I would have expected to have heard about it.

Yes, this is the Barbican.

I quite like it! But you think that's inhuman, comapired to walking along London Road, (which I'd recomment BTW) it's like a stroll through a Summerset Village, or something.

Sussex Heights looks like a cross between a British tower block and Benidorm hotel. I wonder why it was seen necessary to build it right in the centre of Brighton. It may be classed as a tower block but it cant have been built as part of the slum clearance process as most other ones were.

Admirals Walk in Bournemouth. This is a great tower block and has likenesses to Inkerman House in Newtown, Birmingham. It is L shaped.

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/4388AdmiralsWalk_pic1.jpg

Almost forgot, another picture of that one in Runcorn

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/Widnes/P1000477.jpg

Whoa those Barbican pics blew me away, man they are just so god damned tall!

That one of Runcorn looks quite lonely by itself, make the council build more, more I tell you, give it some tower block friends. I do like it though, has a brilliant location on the riverfront.

Thanks for all your photos Stephen - you've been a busy boy! :happy:

Erebus - that's a mega-block in Bournemouth! :eek: You wouldn't expect something quite like that there.

Not that I want to hijack again this thread with pics of French tower blocks, but I feel that those might interest some of you, especially the "big tower blocks in small towns" fans.
So, here are some pics of the small town of Mourenx (7,576 inh.) in rural southwestern France :

http://mourenx9.online.fr/Cartes_Postales/Grand_format/Mourenx_10.jpg

http://mourenx9.online.fr/Cartes_Postales/Grand_format/Cartemajorettes.JPG

http://mourenx9.online.fr/Cartes_Postales/Grand_format/Mourenx_8.jpg


http://mourenx9.online.fr/Cartes_Postales/Grand_format/Mourenx7.JPG

http://mourenx9.online.fr/Cartes_Postales/Grand_format/Mourenx_6.jpg

Some old postcards of Mourenx, when tower blocks were still synonyms of "modernity" and "good quality of life" :
http://mourenx9.online.fr/Cartes_Postales/Grand_format/Mrx1.JPG

http://mourenx9.online.fr/Cartes_Postales/Grand_format/Mourenx_2.jpg



Mourenx was entirely built up in the middle of countryside, in the late 1950's-1960's in order to house the workers of a nearby industrial gas complex.
These pics are from this website : http://mourenx9.online.fr/ where you can find tons of others pics of Mourenx, mainly old pics from the 1960's.

Wooooooooooow!!! :eek: It seems such a random place to build tower blocks!

GM, do you know if they still exist along with the gas works?

That second picture is quite surreal. :lol: :? :dunno: :lol:

Yeah I think most of them are still standing (if not all).
And the gas works too.

Rural France has a lot of small towns with tower blocks, but it's hard to find pics on the internet.

Thanks for all your photos Stephen - you've been a busy boy! :happy:

Don't mention it, I was dawn in Landan for this:
a7WM4YFp2Ws

so, it seemed chirlish not to take some snaps of the gritty urban excitance of people living in the most expensive part of the world.

"big tower blocks in small towns"

those arent big tower blocks in small towns! Thats a small town of big tower blocks! fking awesome! I want to live there!

Found some amazing photos of some blocks from our friends accross the pond. I don't need to mention where it is obviously.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/nyc_9746.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/nyc_9605.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/nyc_6018.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/nyc_9752.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/nyt1vr7.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/nyt2sr9.jpg

W-ow!! :eek: Some never-before-seen angles there from a very famous skyline! Those first pics are awesome, showing how tower blocks as we know them even litter Manhattan. :happy:

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/nyc_9746.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/nyc_9605.jpg
Wow f*ck me thats a lot of tower blocks in high density :uh:. LOVE IT!!!:okay:

Here is a pic from the tallest block in Cumbernauld.

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/_images/db/53/48/290507fcumb1.534889.full.jpg

Oh dear, it takes a braver man than me to follow those NYC pics.

I've been through the estate in the middle of the second NY picture. It is enormous and surprisingly quiet. I expected it to be some sort of ghetto but apparently it is quite popular. Diana Ross owns an apartment very nearby. They are fantastic though.

Thanks for the pic, Mr B. I expected it to be more a barren landscape than anything but it's got some nice greenery. Still wouldn't put it down on my travel list though :).

Mr. B - do you know if that's the main A80 on that picture? If it is, I've been past there. :yes:

Look at how close to the clouds this picture is taken! :happy:

Oh and Erebus - I find it hard to believe that Diana Ross owns an apartment in that exceedingly dense area. :eek: Can you remember the name of the area? I presume the pictures are looking north.

Found this shot of a few blocks in Leeds whilst looking through the forum.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/west-yorkshire-playhouse-leeds.jpg

Found another picture of a block under demolition in Chicago. It was apparently left like that for quite a while.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/280761599_1ac69873b3_o.jpg

^^Modern art? :dunno:

Oh and Erebus - I find it hard to believe that Diana Ross owns an apartment in that exceedingly dense area. :eek: Can you remember the name of the area? I presume the pictures are looking north.

We had a bus tour through Manhattan which cut through the estate. On the edge of the estate is an apartment building which is where Mrs Ross supposedly resides. :yes:

Mr. B - do you know if that's the main A80 on that picture? If it is, I've been past there. :yes:

Look at how close to the clouds this picture is taken! :happy:

Oh and Erebus - I find it hard to believe that Diana Ross owns an apartment in that exceedingly dense area. :eek: Can you remember the name of the area? I presume the pictures are looking north.


Sorry Butterfield but that isn't the A80, it's Central Way the dual Carriageway that goes from the A80 upto the Town Centre and then back onto the A80 again. It's not too far away mind you...:blahblah:

Lovin the Chicago block.

^^

Yeah, I see it on the map - it sweeps into Cumbernauld off the A80 and back out again.

I specifically remember driving past Cumbernauld because I nearly hit a car/a car nearly hit me when two major roads joined each other. :bash: But I also remember seeing tower blocks which always cheer me up! :lol:

Looking at those New York pics and then comparing it to the Cumbernauld one in the post below it makes makes me feel quite glum :( or maybe its jealousy :yes:

Chicago - is that the last block left on Cabrini Green? They've been demolishing those blocks for years. They must nearly be all down by now. I remember watching a Modern Studies documentary in 2nd year about them and that arguably started my fascination with tower blocks. Although i'd always appreciated them being in a city packed with them, they're hard to avoid. Pretty sure everyone up here lives or knows someone that lives in a tower block...

Btw, was in Greenock again today and caught a glimpse of the Port Glasgow blocks from the train. I thought they were being demolished a few weeks ago but they're actually in rude health. They all have shiny new reclads :D :clap: which is more than can be said about 4 in Dumbarton. Apparently they are being emptied for demolition according to a friend of a friend. not too sure how reliable that source is though.

Yeh the block in the pic is in Cabrini Green. This is the link to the website if you want have a further read. It's got some cool pics of oil rigs on there aswell.

http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_bldgblog_archive.html

Btw, was in Greenock again today and caught a glimpse of the Port Glasgow blocks from the train. I thought they were being demolished a few weeks ago but they're actually in rude health. They all have shiny new reclads :D :clap: which is more than can be said about 4 in Dumbarton. Apparently they are being emptied for demolition according to a friend of a friend. not too sure how reliable that source is though.

Good news about the Port Glasgow blocks. :yes: Not such good news about the blocks in Dumbarton (if sources are to be believed). I remember seeing those blocks - it's always a relief getting to Dumbarton from the south because the somewhat scary M8 is left way behind! :lol:

I want to see some close up photos of that single block in Gourock, I only seem to be able to find the standard distant shots.

sorry about this but the website wouldnt let me copy any images so please use the link and their is a good pic of a tower block in Glenrothes that I'm sure Butterfield will like.

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/glenrothes/glenrothes/index.html

That block looks like it's in the middle of nowhere. Looks pretty clean aswell has it been refurbished or just well maintained?
The River Leen Bridge looks nice aswell.

I think that Glenrothes has only the one tower block and it's right in the Town Centre. Maybe it has something to do with Glenrothes being designed like a garden City that it looks so rural.:dunno:

I think that it has had a refurb recently, either that or the council knows how to look after 'em well.

Whilst looking through the forums I saw this pic of Seattle and didn't even realise it had tower blocks. Here's a pic with a few of them in.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/stefan_long18/may202007350Medium.jpg

Hopefully as this is my first post it will be ok!

Ages ago there was a couple of questions about the Balloon Woods, Basford and Hyson Green Flats in Nottingham that were knocked down in the '80s.

There are loads of photos at http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/

If you do search the images on "Balloon Woods Flats", "Basford Flats", "Hyson Green Flats" and "Lenton Flats", then you get them all in their full glory!

To give you a sample:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lneylon/NTGM005569.jpg

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lneylon/NTGM005709.jpg

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lneylon/NTGM005710.jpg

Hello and welcome to the forum:hi:. Those pictures from the link are great:okay:, keep up the good work and I hope you will continue to post up information and pictures.:cheers:

Welcome Ineylon. It's nice that we have another Nottingham forumer here and a tower block fan. Remember to visit the Nottingham thread in Projects and Construction to find out about some developments going on.
"Radford Road Flats" search brings up some pretty good images aswell. Butterfield will like this website.

Hey Ineylon! I love this picture! It's incredible!

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lneylon/NTGM005709.jpg

sorry about this but the website wouldnt let me copy any images so please use the link and their is a good pic of a tower block in Glenrothes that I'm sure Butterfield will like.

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/glenrothes/glenrothes/index.html

Yeah I do like that. :yes: It's also revealed some new hills to me - the Lomond Hills - even though I must have been past them once before on the M90. Funny that they're nowhere near Loch Lomond despite their name. :nuts:

Whilst looking through the forums I saw this pic of Seattle and didn't even realise it had tower blocks. Here's a pic with a few of them in.


That's a great photo! (I won't quote it again so as not to slow everything down). I'd be standing where that girl/woman is standing if I had the chance! A great find. :yes:

Hopefully as this is my first post it will be ok!

Ages ago there was a couple of questions about the Balloon Woods, Basford and Hyson Green Flats in Nottingham that were knocked down in the '80s.

There are loads of photos at http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/

If you do search the images on "Balloon Woods Flats", "Basford Flats", "Hyson Green Flats" and "Lenton Flats", then you get them all in their full glory!


Hello and welcome lneylon! :wave: And thanks for the link, I've had a quick look at it and there seems to be a goldmine of pictures. :happy: I'll have a better look at it later.

The picture that Erebus quoted surprised me - I didn't realise that Nottingham had its own version of Sheffield's Park Hill! :eek: Borras Hwfa needs to see these ASAP as they're all in their original form which he likes.

You get some good shots from that site with "Sneinton Flats" as well, including my favourite of "Mr. W. Parker, the caretaker of Burrows Court".

Btw Stef17, the photo of the Radcliffe power station looking over Nottingham (inc. Victoria Flats) you posted, is pretty much the view over the road from my office on Porchester Rd. Always nice to look at the Viccy flats first thing in the morn!

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lneylon/NTGM012218.jpg