Crown Street Camera Collective - Caledonia Road Flats
Gorbals Library
Opens 6th June 2026 to coincide with The Big Gorbals Fair
The new community display at the Gorbals Library focuses on the Caley Rd Flats. 305 and 341 Caledonia Road were two 24 story tower blocks in the Gorbals that were completed in 1965 as a group of four in the Hutchesontown D development project. They were demolished on Sunday 29 June 2025 (the other two Hutchie D tower blocks had been demolished in February 2006). The Crown Street Camera Collective felt it was an important moment and process to document. Several of the group had lived in the flats, and everyone was keen to document this change in the Gorbals skyline and social fabric. The images on display capture life in the flats before demolition, the slow cladding removal, the explosive moment of detonation, and the aftermath.
“To me they’ve been building in the Gorbals since the 60’s - they started taking all the tenements down and building the high flats. Then one day they were sitting in an office and said “It’s too quiet in the Gorbals”. And they decided to go backwards and pull everything back down again. It’s been a building site since 1960 – maybe before that and I never noticed! There’s a Gorbals song that’s been going about since then, it goes: when are you moving?” Mary Cairns, Caley Rd resident.
Crown Street Camera Collective
The Crown Street Camera Collective was established in 2023 and is made up of local people from a range of ages and backgrounds who responded to an open invitation to work with Street Level through their Culture Collective programme, developing camera skills to create contemporary images of the Gorbals in response to the archival works of Oscar Marzaroli, on permanent display here at the library. Beyond the initial structured support with Street Level the group has continued to meet and evolve, with membership evolving over the years.
The group continues to meet twice a month to discuss project ideas, look at each other’s photography, organise photo walks and share practical skills. If you are interested in getting involved, visit their website https://sites.google.com/view/crownstcameracollectiveollective
Address: Gorbals Library, Crown Street, Glasgow, G5 9XD
Banner Image: Mark Helmy
Inset Image: Susan Casey
