King George V Park Bonnyrigg

I was walking through Bonnyrigg Park on Monday morning; I had just deposited a bag of old shoes in the Oxfam recycle bin behind the Co-op when it occurred to me how incredibly lucky everybody from Bonnyrigg is to have a public park like this right in the middle of the town.

It may be quite a common thing, certainly taken a bit for granted in Midlothian that there should be a park in the middle of the community. We’re lucky enough to have a very efficient council and to be able to pay enough in council tax that our beautiful parks are very well looked after and presented! What is a bit of a shame is that they aren’t used like they used to be. I spent the best part of my childhood in Bonnyrigg park. We used to have games of football that would be about twenty-a-side every single day of our summer holidays; it was even a struggle to get on the pitch sometimes because another forty boys from the bottom of Bonnyrigg had claimed them all! I know times change and that we shouldn’t live in the past, the swing park has definitely improved over the years and kids no longer have to run around an adult sized football pitch on the bottom of the Knowe Hill that went halfway up the slope on one side but I do feel a bit sad that you don’t really see whole families out having picnics, or everybody from a whole street having a game of rounders that takes up the whole field. It wasn’t as if you hogged the place back then, everybody was always allowed to join in!

Now, I’m pretty young (ha – you say!) but I’m old enough to remember many changes and developments in Bonnyrigg Park over the years. I’ve already mentioned the old football pitch on the hill that was converted into smaller pitches that are more suitable for kids around ten years ago. This conversion was a really positive move, it was nae guid running about that big pitch in the frost as a nine year old! I am a forward thinker but I also like to remember the past and reminisce too.

The point of this blogsite is community involvement so I’m looking for people to send me their old pictures and memories of Bonnyrigg park through the years, here’s a few things I remember well to get us going:

– The BMX Track…put in around 1986/7 and taken out in the late nineties. Many a day spent skinning my knees and elbows going round this. I was never the best at it!

– The two huts beside the park…we used to climb up on top of them and play a variation of dodgeball. If you weren’t up on the roof the idea was to throw a ball at the person who was; they were allowed to kick it away and make you run for it or they could catch it and put you out the game. If you hit them anywhere else on the body they had to come down and let you up. The object of the game was to “catch everybody out”. Once you had done this you were the champion and we could all go home. Many a dinner was missed because of this game in the summer holidays…

– The big trees…that went up the hill and round the path that goes round the back of the swimming pool. There is no way you would be allowed to fell those trees these days; unless they were deemed to be unsafe of course! Massive old fellies that would be a pride and joy today!

– The paddling pool that was never full. I can only remember a couple of occasions when it was actually filled with water, fun times!

I want to hear about all the god memories people have of Bonnyrigg Park, maybe even ask some of the older members of your family what they remember and if they have any old photos. I took the ones on here a couple of days ago but would love it if somebody was to scan some old ones and send them to me.

I’m not old enough to remember the days of the brass band playing! 😉

As always the address is mondolocoblogger@gmail.com

Happy reminiscing,

The Mondo Loco Blogger!