Reminiscences from a Park Bench
If you are still working you will be well aware that rarely do you get a lunch hour and even rarer is to leave your desk to eat your shop bought sandwich. However, the other day my colleague and I decided that as the sun was shining and as this may be“ summer” in Scotland we should take our lunch and sit in the park to eat it.
A great idea!
The park was no ordinary park it was Bellahouston Park on the southside of Glasgow. As we munched away we recounted our own lifetime memories of the park.
My colleague remembered when, aged 8, he and his primary school mates had been present when Pope John Paul II visited Glasgow and held mass for thousands. My dad was there as a St Andrew’ s Ambulance volunteer offering first aid to those who were dehydrated or just exhausted from sitting and standing for hours in the Scottish sunshine.
As we watched the dog walkers, joggers on the running track, cyclists and those just taking a stroll we were jolted to recall other events that took place in the park. There was One Man and His Dog trials; the Horse Show; Pipe Band Championships, Circus Big Top, Charity Walks and other large gatherings.
But Bellahouston Park history goes well beyond our short fifty and sixty years.
The main part of Bellahouston Park was acquired by the City in 1895 for the sum of £ 50,000 and opened to the public in 1896. Three years later, the city ' s second municipal golf course was established at Bellahouston following the success of the course at Alexandra Park. The park was extended in 1901 by the addition of a part of Dumbreck Lands purchased for the sum of £ 2,824 from Sir John Maxwell, Bart. A further addition was made in 1903 by including the lands of Ibroxhill at a cost of £ 40,222 from which commanding views of the city are available.
In 1938 the famous Empire exhibition was held at the park. The site took only fourteen months to build and the cost of admission was one shilling. A mammoth attendance of 12.5 million was recorded and despite this, the exhibition made a loss of £ 130,000. Today, of the 200 palaces and pavilions that were built for the exhibition only the Palace of Art remains- it now serves as a Sports Excellence Centre. A stone Peace Cairn built for the exhibition is still visible from the rock garden.
10