13 - We want to celebrate the history of our greenspace…

Many parks and greenspaces have a fascinating history...

Glasgow Green, Scotland's oldest park started life as a drying green. Pittencrieff Park in Dunfermline was gifted by the philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie. Saughton Park in Edinburgh hosted the Scottish National Exhibition in 1908. There's a grove of fossil trees in Glasgow's Victoria Park.

What will you discover about your park?

Start local

Talk to the staff at your local Library. Is there a local History Society or Heritage Group in your area? 

And don't forget your granny! Local people may have memories, stories and traditions about the local park from their childhood or from stories they were told as a child. When Beardmore Park was being created in Glasgow, local school children discovered it was the site of the Beardmore Iron Works - a fascinating connection to Glasgow's industrial heritage.

Parks now and then - from the archives

For the Parks4Life project, we put out a call through Facebook for vintage and archive pictures of people using their local parks. We were delighted by the range of photos people shared with us from the 1880s through to the 1980s! It would be lovely to recreate some of these images by taking photos from the same locations and perhaps hold events to celebrate the special history of your greenspace.

Canmore (the National Record of the Historic Environment) has a wonderful online collection of archive images and drawings

From the air

Can you find archive aerial images of your park? Take a look at the National Collection of Aerial Photography 

...and who knows what a quick Google search will uncover!

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