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 .
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