DID you ever take a Sunday stroll in Rouken Glen Park?

Perhaps you played there with your friends, or went along on a school trip, or even proposed to your beloved, down on one knee?

Maybe you are in the photograph below, which shows a group of children in front of the Pavilion picnic shelter sometime in the 1950s or 1960s.

Whatever your romantic reminiscence or magical memory, East Renfrewshire Council would like to hear about it.

The local authority is hoping to capture people’s memories of the park from the 50 years stretching from 1950 to 2000, for a book, called Rouken Glen Park Rediscovered, and a video.

It has been organised to mark the end of a council and Heritage Lottery Fund joint project designed to restore parts of Rouken Glen to its former glory and to create exciting new facilities.

So far, the improvement programme has included a redeveloped children’s playpark, which has resulted in an increase in the number of visitors; a refurbished Pavilion Visitor Centre, which is home to the Park Ranger service and features the ‘History of Rouken Glen Park’ exhibition and a redeveloped Walled Garden with new layout and planting.

Rouken Glen has a fascinating history dating back to 1530, when James V gifted the land to the 1st Earl of Montgomery by royal charter for services rendered.

At that time the area was known as Birkenshaw, meaning Birch wood.

Rouken Glen Park got its name from a meal mill within the estate known as the Rokandmyll.

In 1829 Duguld Bannatyne, the postmaster of Glasgow, owned the park.

The Crum family took over ownership of the estate in 1852. Walter Crum, a wealthy industrialist from Thornliebank, bought the estate from a Glasgow merchant John Slater. It was during this period the walled garden was planned and constructed.

In 1904 the Crum family sold Rouken Glen to Cameron Corbett MP, later to become Lord Rowallan, who gifted it to the people of Glasgow two years later.

During World War 2 Rouken Glen was closed to the public and taken over by the Army REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers). Heavy vehicles left their mark and the mansion house fell into such a state of disrepair it was demolished in the 1960s.

East Renfrewshire Council now own the park.

To share your story, go along to the council’s Reminiscence Event in the Pavilion Visitor Centre in the park from 11am to 2pm on Friday, March 18.

A buffet lunch will be provided, so booking is essential. To reserve a place, call 0141 577 3912 or email roukenglenpark@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk.

For more information, visit www.roukenglenpark.co.uk