| | Preface The following articles were partly written by the late Richard O'Grady, former director of Calderpark Zoo with Eva Sidike of Glasgow University, much credit is due to that very able and popular man who guided the zoo through many changes for over 20 years and who is remembered with much affection by his staff and local residents. This feature is dedicated to his memory and is re-produced here with the permission of Roger Edwards, when the C.E.O. of Glasgow Zoopark 2003. | Introduction to Calderpark By Eva Sidike with Dr. Richard O'Grady When walking through Glasgow Zoo with its slopes and the meandering river, one cannot help pondering over the changes that may have taken place on this land over thousands and millions of years. It is fascinating to speculate, or indeed, to find out how the land was formed, or who lived on it, or passed over it during past centuries. The following chapters will therefore help unfolding Calderpark's geological development and its history. The name " Glasgow Zoo " is a fairly recent one, and - for most - it will be better known as " Calderpark Zoo ". In 1936 the Zoological Society of Glasgow and the West of Scotland was formed, and a few years later, the Society bought the former Calderpark Estate with the intention of establishing a zoo on this land. Just after the war, in 1947, which was a difficult perod for starting and obtaining things, Calderpark Zoo was opened. The name " Calderpark " stems from the early 19th century and is quite easily explained:- The first part, " Calder " is taken from the river Calder, or, more precisely, The North Calder Water, which winds its way past the zoo. The river must have been witness - during its thousands of years of existence - of many changes and historical events that took place in and around the area. Also " Park " as in Calderpark, can be explained:- In the early 19th century, Mr James McNair, a wealthy Glasgow Sugar Refiner and merchant and - a descendant of a family of merchants and coalmasters - acquired the land on a feu from the Bogles of Daldowie McNair built a handsome villa on the land thus acquired, and called his estate from then on " Calderpark ". Under this name the area was known for the best part of one and three quarter centuries. When McNair acquired the land, Old Monkland Parish - to which Calderpark belonged - was farmland and a corn mill. It was replaced by the villa and was called New Miln, as Forrester's Lanarkshire Map (1813) depicts. Underground and hidden from the eye, the entire area was rich in coal measures, and it was therefore an inevitable development during the industrial era, that coal mines .sprung up all around the estate. In order to hide the unattractive collieries, McNair arranged for trees to be planted. This gave the land a parklike appearance, and hence, was contributive in forming the name Calder park . Many of the trees planted at that time, are still here today and help enhance the setting of Glasgow's zoo. The land with its slopes and hills, the river and woods at the far side, and the small loch, provides an ideal setting for a zoo.
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