A meeting was held in Bonnybridge in September 1910 to consider the provision of a public park there. James Anderson of Myrtle Cottage, Dennyloanhead, suggested that the Landward Committee of Denny and Falkirk Parish Council should combine both halves of Bonnybridge into one area for the purposes of using the Local Government Act to acquire the land to make a park. The councils were rather tardy in their approach and so James Anderson bought a six acre field at the east end of the village between the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Falkirk Road and gifted it conjointly to Falkirk and Denny Parish Councils. It was formally opened by the donor in April 1920. In September 1922 the joint councils applied to the Secretary of State for Scotland for confirmation of the bye-laws drawn up by the Management Committee. Copies of these were available in their offices in Denny and Falkirk, or, more conveniently, in the post office in Bonnybridge. By then there was a putting green, swings and a maypole. In 1924 a sweet shop was opened in the park to serve the young audience.
Further facilities were slow in arriving. In 1932 a self-propelled merry-go-round was installed, much to the enjoyment of the younger children. As with most parks it was football which dominated its use. Early in the Second World War slit trenches were quickly dug around the edges of the park by local volunteers to act as air raid shelters. They were deemed unsafe and in 1941 they were replaced by surface shelters placed near the entrance gate at the west end of the field. The 1940s also saw several one-day visits by Cody’s Circus and Zoo which were well attended. Pinder’s Big Circus was there in May 1946 with performing horses, Continental clowns a troop of dogs, and so on.
A letter to the Falkirk Herald in 1951 complained:
“The entrance gateway to the Anderson Park has been broken down and not repaired; the whole field is in a deplorable state; the paths are overgrown with grass, and older folk are not safe to walk on the footpaths because of cycles being run up and down….” (29 September 1951, 5).
Only the football pitch was considered half decent. The 1961 Ordnance Survey map shows a drinking fountain, a lavatory and a pavilion.
The grass continued to be cut and the park was used by footballers and gala queens alike. In 1986 a portable changing room costing £16,000 was installed. A convenient car park was formed along the north side of the park; and for walkers a link was made to the towpath of the Forth and Clyde Canal.
National Grid Reference
NS 831 805
Falkirk Local History Society 