Curling History

Curling is generally associated with good behaviour, on and off the ice. There are few incidences recorded when this was not the case. John Orr, playing for Lochwinnoch in the year 1798, is an early example of a bad loser!

In that year, two rinks travelled from Dalry to play against two from Lochwinnoch. The winner would be the first side to reach 51 shots scored. It was the tightest of matches, the score across the two rinks was 50-50. Dalry was the first to make the extra shot needed for the win.

Such matches attracted a considerable number of spectators. One of these, described in John Cairnie's 1833 book 'Essay in Curling, and Artificial Pond Making' as 'a son of old Gomery Skeoch', had travelled from nearby Kilbirnie to watch the match. When the Dalry curlers were declared the victors by the one shot, 'he took off his bonnet and huzzaed in favour of Dalry'.

At that, John Orr came up to him and gave him a 'fung in the mouth', which knocked him down. The Dictionary of the Scots Language describes a 'fung' as 'a blow from the hand or the foot' (see here), as we can tell from the context!

Cairnie describes what happened next. Skeoch got up much surprised, saying, "What's that for?" Orr said, "Just hurra again, an' if tu dis, I'll let thee ken what it's for, if I sud hunt thee to Kilbirnie!"

I wonder if there are any present day examples of curlers at major championships becoming violent with the fans in the stands?

Writing in 1911 about the history of the Morton Curling Club, Dr RB Thomson of Thornhill records that the parish bonspiels between Morton and Sanquhar were 'in the olden days' noted for the extreme rivalry between the parishes. Thomson writes, "It is recorded on one occasion, when Morton was successful at Sanquhar, the carriage windows of the Thornhill conveyances were smashed in, and the curlers just managed to get out of the town without serious injury."

Who would have believed it!

The Sanquhar home support made its presence felt during games. Thomson writes, "The old wives who used to attend the matches threw snowballs in front of the Morton stones." Not surprisingly, one of the Morton players was somewhat annoyed with this, and approached the women. But perhaps he did not chose his words very carefully when he said to them that 'they might be better employed at home darning socks'. Apparently this Morton player 'received a rather rough handling'!

Reading through old curling club minute books it seems that occasionally an individual club member could cause trouble. The records of the Coupar Angus and Kettins Curling Club (or the 'Society of Curlers in the United Parishes of Coupar and Kettins' when it was formed in 1749) had problems with one of their members, as described in a minute dated December 30, 1783. It was one of the rules of the club that swearing was not countenanced on the ice. Some of the members reported that John Crockatt, a new member of the club, had been guilty of swearing several times. He had also apparently 'lost one sixpence at play' (whatever this means, presumably a wager). He was asked several times to appear before the Society to pay the fine for his misdemeanours, and when he failed to do so, four members of the club were sent to his house. He pointed a gun at them and threatened to shoot the first person that attempted to lay hands on him. He then struck one of the party, Charles Ducatt, on the chest!

It is not surprising to read that Crockatt was dismissed from the club and the other members were debarred from curling on the ice with him 'until he shall in a full meeting hereafter acknowledge his faults and make such compensation to the Society as they shall think the nature of the crimes above requires'.

Two years later Crockatt must have provided satisfaction, as he was readmitted to the Society. However, he was immediately fined two shillings for not having his curling stones ready on the ice, as required to do so by one of the other Society regulations.

No-one ever swears on the ice these days, do they!

John Crockatt's story is told in an article in the September 1963 Scottish Curler, and the details confirmed in a copy of the Coupar Angus and Kettins CC minute book, in David Smith's research collection of papers now in the care of the Scottish Curling Trust. The RB Thomson's 'History of the Morton Curling Club' appeared in the Dumfries and Galloway Standard in 1911.

CIP-43. In the early 1980s, White Horse Distillers was just one of many companies which sought to promote their brand by sponsoring curling competitions. Here is a photo of the winners of the White Horse Scotch Whisky bonspiel at Ayr Ice Rink in October, 1982. L-R: Annie Kennedy, Willie Anderson, Stan Crawford (representing the sponsor), Sadie Anderson, Matt Brown (President, Ayr Curling Club) and Jack Kennedy. As White Horse sponsored bonspiels at Lockerbie, Gogar Park, Kirkcaldy and Stranraer, as well as Ayr, in the 1982-83 season, the horse in the picture would have been well travelled! Read about the company here. (8x6in print, by Ron Vavasour, Photographer, Ayr)

CIP-44. The 'Scottish Pride Coit' was a junior competition at the Greenacres rink in the 1980s. David Aitken (front) and Douglas Dryburgh are in this pic which was published in the November 1985 issue of Curling. (8.5x6.5in print, by John Elder.)

CIP-45. I consider this to be the most beautiful curling trophy of them all! It was presented for play in 1958 by R B Dick for the 'Ladies Worlds' at the Scottish Ice Rink, Crossmyloof, Glasgow. This is the winning team in 1972. I find it interesting that the photo is captioned as follows, L-R: Mrs M Dickson (3rd), Mrs B Lindsay (skip), Mrs H Hamilton and Mrs M Bankier. There is no mention of first names with the photo or in the accompanying article in the April 1972 Scottish Curler magazine! I know that it was Margaret Dickson and Beth Lindsay, but can anyone supply first names for Mrs Hamilton and Mrs Bankier? (ADDED LATER: Thanks to Ali Taylor we now know that it was Helen Hamilton, and Margaret Bankier, both of whom were members of Lesmahagow Ladies CC.)

Two other things to note about this competition in 1972. The final rounds were played through power cuts (during the miners' strike of 1972), with the Crossmyloof rink improvising lighting with its own generator. And the losing finalists were a team from the Glasgow Young Curlers Club skipped by Maureen Horton. This competition pre-dated by twenty years the first 'official' women's world championship in 1979. (10x8in print, by Elmer Fromberg, Cameracraft, Clarkston Road, Glasgow.)

CIP-46. The caption written on the back of this photo says, "Robert Mirtle, Jim Asher and Eric Brown puzzling last shot of the tournament." So, which competition is it, where, and when? (6x8in print, by Blair Urquart.)

CIP-47. I have absolutely no idea what's going on in this pic. Suggestions please! (7x5in print, photographer unknown.)

CIP-48. This is a scene from the final of the Clydesdale Bank Scottish Ladies' Championship at Perth in 1989. Christine Allison, on the right, has been directing her front end of Kimmie Brown and Carol Dawson (on 3rd player Margaret Scott's stone). Opposition skip Lorna Bain looks ready to sweep. Was it an attempted freeze that has curled too much? The Allison team won the championship that year. Lorna, with Julie Hepburn, Vicky Ross and Liz Moffat were runners-up. (7x5in colour print, by Louis Flood, Perth.)

CIP-49. The presentation after the East of Scotland Men's Open Championship at Gogar Park in the 1984-85 season. This pic appeared in the January 1985 issue of the Scottish Curler magazine. L-R: Eddie Cobb (President, Gogar Park Club), Bill Shrive (representing the sponsor Queen Anne whisky), Willie Jamieson (skip), Martin Smyth (Queen Anne Sales Manager), Lindsay Scotland (3rd), Brian Clark (2nd), and Mike Wood (lead). (8.5x6.5in print, photographer unknown.)

(Note to self - must keep a note of all the different 'alcohol sponsors' that come up in these twentieth century pix!)

Photos are as credited where the photographer is known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts. Thanks to Alison Taylor for supplying missing names for the Ladies Worlds pic.

CIP-50. Outdoor curling in Switzerland. This is, I believe, the Carlton Hotel rink in St Moritz, in 1957. I do not know the names of the players in the photo. But there are lots of stones in play, and a 'dolly'! (3.5x5in print, photographer unknown.)

CIP-51. An early photo of wheelchair curling! It dates from 2000, and shows Jim Sellar at the East Kilbride rink. Jim was a keen bowler, took up wheelchair curling and became a founding member of the South Lanarkshire Wheelchair Curling Club. He has gone on to play for Scotland and Great Britain at World Championships and Paralympics. I picked this photo to show that there was a time when wheelchair curlers were playing without the delivery stick, the introduction of which revolutionised wheelchair curling. (5x7in print, photographer unknown.)

CIP-52. There are lots of stones in play in this end at the Ayr Ice Rink. Can anyone date this pic, and say who is playing? (6x4in colour print, photographer unknown.)

CIP-53. They would go on to represent Scotland in the years ahead, but here the Alex Torrance rink had just won the Sandy Miller trophy, an evening competition at the Scottish Ice Rink, Crossmyloof, Glasgow. The trophy was donated by Connie Miller in memory of her late husband, in 1961. Back L-R: Bobby Kirkland, Jim Waddell. Front L-R: Alex Torrance (aka 'Big Alex'), Alex F Torrance (aka 'Wee Alex'). (6x8in print, Hamilton Advertiser photo.)

CIP-54. This is a Michael Burns photo of Laura Scott, competing in the Goodrich World Junior Women's Championship, Portage La Prairie, in 1990. Laura was the lead on Kirsty Addison's Scottish team. Karen Addison and Joanna Pegg are the sweepers. Remember, these were the days before digital cameras, so to capture such a shot as a single image on a film camera was expert work! Why was such a great photo never published? I guess it was because lead players were not considered 'newsworthy' as far as editors were concerned, photos of the skips always receiving prominence. (4.5x6.5 colour print by Michael Burns Photography.)

CIP-55. Another eight-end, this one from the Coca-Cola World Junior Championships in Karuizawa, Japan, in 1997. The Junior Worlds was the test event for the Olympic competition in the stadium the following year. I could see the big end developing from my spot on the press bench, and made my way to the side of the ice with my camera, and captured the shot above after the last stone of the end had been played. I had not seen many eight-ends before. The photo was never used, as I was asked (nicely) by the organisers not to use it, as they did not want any embarassment for the young team which had conceded the large end. I was happy to go along with this request, and even now I'll not give the details. Incidentally, the World Curling Federation's data on this event (here) does not have linescores, only final results, so the eight-ender is not officially recorded! (6x4in colour print, Bob Cowan.)

CIP-56. This photo is from the Coupar Angus and Kettins CC's 250th anniversary bonspiel in 1999 at the Central Scotland Ice Rink, Perth. When it was published in the April/May 1999 issue of the Scottish Curler magazine it was with the caption 'Sorry, no names were supplied with this picture'! Can anyone supply now? (See below.)

Note the four wonderful old 'channel stanes' which were just for 'colour' in the pic, and they were not played with in 1999. Much too valuable! They date from the seventeenth century. (6x4in colour print, photographer unknown.)

ADDED LATER: Thanks to those who contributed via Facebook, this is the lineup: Back L-R: Alex Gatt, Alistair McAskill, Rhys Stanwix, Lindsey Paterson, Alistair Lyburn. Front: L-R Anna (or Anne) Shaw, Barbara Lyburn, Margaret (now) Stark, Trish (nee Stanwix). Please let me know if this is still not correct.

Photos are as credited where the photographer is known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

Curlers like to collect things. Some examples which have appeared on the Curling History blog before, are here (spoons), here (mugs), and a two part article on curling lighters, here and here.

Within the large area of 'paper ephemera' one can collect 'trade cards' - for example cigarette cards, and the like. Collecting 'trading cards' is a different thing. A 'trading card' is a small card, usually made out of cardboard, which contains an image of a person, place or thing, and a short description of the picture, along with other text. Most will have heard of baseball cards, for example. There is a wide variation of different types of cards. Modern cards even go as far as to include swatches of game clothing (really!).

I have a small collection of curling 'trading cards'.

This is one of the earliest in my collection, showing the Bud Somerville team, and dates from 1992.

Here's the reverse of the card. It is Number 21 from the first-issue of the International Card Collection of Athletes set. Note that this card features the Somerville team that competed at the Albertville Olympics in 1992, when curling was a demonstration sport, not the great Somerville team, that oldies like me remember, which won the Scotch Cup in 1965.

In 1993, Ice Hot International published a set of 66 'Premier Edition' curling cards. That's Number 18 above, of Canada's Rod Hunter. The whole collection comprised:

1. Bryan Wood, Canada
2. Don Walchuk, Canada
3. Jim Ursel, Canada
4. Ray Turnbull, Canada
5. Warren Hanson, Canada
6. Al Hackner, Canada
7. Rick Folk, Canada
8. Randy Ferbey, Canada
9. Markus Eggler, Switzerland
10. Dan Carey, Canada

11. David Smith is the only Scottish curler to be featured among the 66 cards in the first set issued in 1993.

Here's the reverse of the card. I wonder what happened that David's playing percentage in 1990 has been omitted? I like the sentence, "In 1991 he finally captured the elusive World Curling crown in an exciting final against Canada."'Exciting' is not the adjective that I would have used if just looking at the linescore. But it certainly was exciting for all Scots that were there in the stadium at Winnipeg, as I was! Lots of controversy too, but that's a story for another time.

12. Kerry Burtnyk, Canada
13. Terry Braunstein, Canada
14. Don Bartlett, Canada
15. Urs Dick, Switzerland
16. Lyall Dagg, Canada
17. Ernie Richardson, Canada
18. Rod Hunter, Canada
19. Jack MacDuff, Canada
20. Chris Neufeld, Canada
21. Pat Perroud, Canada
22. Vic Peters, Canada
23. Dan Petryk, Canada
24. Jim Pettapiece, Canada
25. Bill Tetley, Canada
26. Arnold Richardson, Canada
27. Jim Armstrong, British Columbia
28. Bo Bakke, Norway
29. John Ferguson, Canada
30. Glenn Howard WC Canada
31. Sjur Loen, Norway
32. Ed Lukowich, Canada
33. Russ Howard, Canada
34. Morten Sogaard, Norway
35. Pierre Charette, Quebec

36. Great pic this of a young Andrea Schopp, Germany.
37. Pat Ryan, Canada
38. Eugene Hritzuk, Saskatchewan
39. Don Rudd, Canada
40. Don McKenzie, Canada
41. John Kawaja, Canada
42. Marilyn Bodogh, Canada
43. Kathy McEdwards, Canada
44. Lindsay Sparks, Canada
45. Heather Houston, Canada
46. Lorraine Lang, Canada
47. Connie Laliberte, Canada
48. Paul Savage, Canada
49. Eigil Ramsfjell, Norway
50. Kevin Martin, Canada
51. Bob LaBonte, USA
52. Anne Jotun, Norway
53. Mette Halvorsen, Norway
54. Hanne Pettersen, Norway
55. Dordi Nordby, Norway
56. Don Duguid, Canada
57. Garnet Richardson, Canada
58. Wes Richardson, Canada
59. Ed Werenich, Canada
60. Linda Moore, Canada
61. Hec Gervais WC Canada
62. Mayumi Seguchi, Japan
63. Frederic Jean, Switzerland
64. Colleen Jones, Canada
65. Ian Tetley, Canada
66. Sjur Loen, Norway

All of the 1993 Ice Hot International cards are illustrated in the Trading Card Database, here.

The above list does not appear to be ordered in any way, eg alphabetically, or by date, or even by 'importance'. It is Canada-centric of course, but does give an idea of what those putting the collection together thought that a 'Hall of Fame' might look in 1993. It must have provided a great source of argument at the time. Does it really reflect 'international' curling in 1993? Who's been missed out? There's no mention of the first World Women's Champions, skipped by Gaby Casanova, in 1979. And where's the great Bud Somerville, USA, on this list?

In 1994, a second set of 50 cards was produced, as an extension to the 1993 set. The omission of Bud Somerville is rectified in this second set. And two more Scottish curlers are represented. It is interesting to reflect that - in the minds of those putting these sets of trading cards together in 1993 and 1994 - only three Scottish curlers deserved mention.

67. This was a checklist of all the cards in the set.
68. Rick Lang, Canada
69. Paul Gowsell, Canada
70. Neil Houston, Canada
71. Ed Lukovich, Canada
72. Sean Morris, Canada
73. Scott Pfeifer, Canada
74. Kelly Mittelstadt, Canada
75. Colin Davison, Canada
76. Larry McGrath, Canada
77. Kim Gellard, Canada
78. Corie Beveridge, Canada
79. Lisa Savage, Canada
80. Sandy Graham, Canada
81. Russ Howard, Canada
82. Glenn Howard, Canada
83. Wayne Middaugh, Canada
84. Peter Corner, Canada
85. Gordon Sparkes, Canada
86. Bill Carey, Canada
87. Barry Fry, Canada
88. Sandra Peterson, Canada
89. Jan Betker, Canada
90. Joan McCusker, Canada
91. Marcia Gudereit, Canada

92. Here's the card featuring Kirsty Hay, Scotland. My goodness, that's a creepy looking expression on her face in this photo!

93. And here's the card with Craig Wilson, Scotland.
94. Neil Harrison, Canada
95. Trevor Alexander, Yukon/NWT, Canada
96. Mark Noseworthy, Newfoundland, Canada
97. Gerry Richard, Canada
98. Bert Gretzinger
99. Pat Ryan, Canada
100. Rick Folk, Canada
101. Ron Mills, Canada
102. Tom Wilson, Canada
103. Jim Wilson, Canada
104. Maureen Bonar, Manitoba, Canada
105. Garnet Campbell, Canada
106. Dave Smith, Manitoba, Canada
107. Brent Giles, British Columbia
108. Scott Baird, USA
109. Dave Iverson, Manitoba
110. Robert Andrews, Yukon/NWT, Canada
111. Bud Somerville, USA
112. Erika Brown, USA
113. Steve Brown, USA
114. Anders Loof, Sweden
115. Jan-Olov Nassen, Sweden
116. Brier Bear.

Eagle-eyed readers will have spotted that Glenn Howard and Pat Ryan appear in both sets. I wonder why. All of the cards in the 1994 Ice Hot International Sequel set are illustrated here.

The two Ice Hot International curling card sets appear to be the only trading card sets devoted exclusively to curling. But curling does appear on other trading cards within other sets.

Here's an example. This card is one of a series of Canadian Winter Olympic Medal Winners, published in 1992. Julie with Jodie Sutton, Melissa Soligo and Karri Willms won the bronze medals in 1992 when curling was a demonstration sport at the Albertville Olympics, at the rink at Pralognan. The other members of the team are depicted on their own cards.

Cards from more recent years can be collected, see below.

The Topps Company, Inc, manufactures chewing gum, sweets (candy), and collectibles. Topps is best known as a leading publisher of trading cards depicting various sports, such as that above of Jessica Schultz. The card with the metallic logo in the bottom right can be found in bronze silver and gold! It was published in 2014. Jessica was a member of Erika Brown's team at the 2014 Olympics, finishing bottom of the table.

Here is another Topps card, depicting the Olympic curling venue at Sochi, 2014.

Upper Deck, whose headquarters are in California, is a well established publisher of trading cards, of high quality. This is one of a 25th Anniversary edition depicting curling 'legend' Rachel Homan, from 2014. It is indeed a high quality card.

The curling cards illustrated in this article are just examples of what is 'out there' and waiting to be collected.

Finally, I should mention the writer of The Shlabotnik Report who came up with the idea of 'virtual' trading cards ('because someone had to do it'), see here. The above of Eve Muirhead is an example.

Images are of cards in the author's collection, other than those of Kirsty Hay and Craig Wilson which are screenshots from here, and that of Eve Muirhead's virtual card, from here.

CIP-57. This photo brings back memories of schools' curling at Crossmyloof in the 1960s and 70s. Jane Henderson skipped this Craigholme school team at the National Schools Championship finals at Aviemore in the 1969-70 season. Back L-R: Anne Henderson (3rd), Jane Henderson (skip). Front L-R: Vivienne Adam (lead), Muriel Logan (2nd). Incidentally, Vivienne's brother Graeme Adam, with Brian Alderman, Alistair Govan and John Brown (Hutchesons' Grammar), won the 1970 Schools title at Aviemore, beating Lockerbie Academy in the final. (The photo was published in the September 1970 Scottish Curler. 4.5x6.5in print by Cameracraft, Elmar Fromberg, Glasgow.)

CIP-58. A rarity this! It's detail from a magic lantern slide which shows play with irons. Unfortunately no provenance came with the glass slide when I acquired it some years ago. Iron play was popular in Quebec Province up until the 1950s, but this image dates from well before this, perhaps even from the nineteenth century. (The slide measures 4x3in, and has a 'Canadian Pacific Railway' sticker on it. Presumably hand coloured.)

ADDED LATER: Alan Chalmers has suggested that this is within what is now the breakfast terrace at the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City. He notes that there are a few pictures within the hotel of curling taking place inside the building. The hotels website has this, "In the late 19th century, William Van Horne, General Manager of Canadian Pacific (CP) Railway, began building the hotel as the ideal stopover for CP travellers." That explains why the slide has a Canadian Pacific Railway sticker attached to it. I've now found the very photograph online here, although it looks as if I have reversed the image when scanning the slide.

CIP-59. There's a Swedish ladies' Tour team in Scotland this week (end October 2018). In celebration of this, we go back to 1988. This is the squad which represented Sweden at the 1988 Olympic Games in Calgary, when curling was a demonstration sport. Eight countries took part. L-R: Elisabeth Högström (skip), Monika Jansson, Birgitta Sewik, Marie Henriksson, and Anette Norberg. They were beaten by Canada, (skipped by Linda Moore) in the final. Where did the GB women finish? (*answer below.) (6x4in print, photographer not stated.)

CIP-60. Scotland's team at the Goodrich World Junior Ladies Championship in Markham, Ontario, in 1989. L-R: Carolyn Hutchinson, Julie Hepburn, Katie Loudon, Julia Halliday. Bronze medallists! (7x5in print, photographer not named, but likely Michael Burns Jnr.)

CIP-61. Susan McLean, now a Royal Caledonian Curling Club Board Member and Scottish Senior Champion! This pic is from the Henderson Bishop finals in Aberdeen in 1986. Susan was playing with Jane Sanderson, Mhairi Stephen and Julie Hepburn. The team reached the final against Kirsty Letton's side, but lost 11-6. The competition was sponsored at that time by the Scotsman newspaper and by Martini and Rossi Ltd. (8.5x6.5in, photographer not known.)

CIP-62. In 1989, Canada's Pat Ryan is photographed with 'his new invention' (as written on the back of the photo), a curling shoe with a metal slider. Double world champion skip, in 1989 his team were dubbed the '(Pat) Ryan Express'. But I liked him because of his interest in country music and that he penned the Brier Song, see here! (7x5in print, by Frieder Rosler.)

CIP-63. L-R: Keith Douglas, Ken Horton (skip), Willie Jamieson and Stephen Cullen, who gets extra points for his colourful trousers! The team had won the Famous Grouse Inverness Invitation in November 1978, stealing the last end against the Jock Dennis rink in the final. Jock's team was Bill Nicol, Danny MacLennan and Sandy Mackintosh, according to the report in the November 1978 Scottish Curler. I think the corn brooms are just for colour! (8.5x6.5 print by Blair Urquhart.)

Thanks to Alan Chalmers for help with CIP-58. Photos are as credited where the photographer is known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts. * Trick question. There was no GB women's team at Calgary.

CIP-64. Back to school again today. This is a George Heriot's school team, at the Lanarkshire Ice Rink, Hamilton, in 1972. The young curlers in the photo are L-R: Bob Martin, Ronnie Brock, Mark Smith (skip), James Cowan and Graham Tait. I could not make sense of this at all, until Lindsay Scotland worked it out for me, confirming his thoughts with Ronnie Brock. Bob was not a player on the team, but had been last year's skip, and was the 1972 'coach'! The other four finished runners-up to Brian Alderman's Hutchesons' Grammar side at Hamilton in 1972, then won the title the following year when the National Schools Finals were at Crossmyloof. I eventually discovered that the photo was published in the January 1972 Scottish Curler, where the Heriot's team were described as 'strong and attractive'! (8.5x6.5in print, photographer not known.)

CIP-65. I just love these old photos of the brooms in action. Especially when they feature the Richardson rink. Here are Wes Richardson and Sam Richardson hard at work in a Scotch Cup match in 1962, against Sweden, in the Haymarket rink, Edinburgh. Note the difference in grips. Sam has an 'overhand' grip, Wes is sweeping 'underhand'. (10x8in print, by W Taylor, The Scotsman newspaper.)

CIP-66. Another 'when we were young' pic! L-R: Martin Turner (skip, 18), David Ansell (18), Susan McLean (16), and Katie Wood (14). The photo was published in the March 1980 Scottish Curler, with the caption, "This young rink raised many eyebrows at Gogar Park Curling Club where they won a weekend competition for the Beard-Wick Trophy with a series of high-class performances." (8x6in print, photographer not stated.)

CIP-67. I'm not 100% sure where, nor when, this was taken. It must be at the Falkirk Rink as it's by a Falkirk photographer, in the 1950s. It could well be the final of the British Ladies Open Championship at Falkirk in 1954. If that is the case, it is Mrs Irene Cleland who is the skip directing play with a glove in her right hand. Note the duster on the ice at the front of the house, and another under the brush of the runners-up skip, Mrs Nan Briggs, at the back of the head. What exactly is the gentleman doing at the side of the house? (6x4.5in print by Thomas L Rennie, Falkirk.)

CIP-68. One of curling's great characters, Norway's Dordi Nordby had a competitive playing career that covered three decades, see here. She played in three Olympics, eighteen World Curling Championships, and twenty-three European Curling Championships. She skipped her team to the World Championship title in 1990 and 1991. The photo is not dated but would appear to be early in Dordi's career, 1980s I would guess. (4x5in colour print, by Erwin Sautter.)

CIP-69. Miss Great Britain in a promotional shot at the Aviemore Ice Rink in 1973. Gay Spink had won the title the previous week at Morecambe, and this seems to have been one of her first 'duties', visiting the Aviemore Centre for three days, during which she got close to the ice in the rink for this shot. I wonder if she got to throw a stone? (5.5x9.5in print, by Pavel Latny, Aviemore.)

CIP-70. The venue I think is the pond at the Peesweep (Lapwing Lodge), on Glennifer Braes, south of Paisley. This looks like the Carmunnock and Rutherglen CC, or the Reform CC, but when? (I wasn't there, so that suggests sometime in the 1990s.) That's certainly Bob Kelly with a very fetching woolly hat, giving the ice with a corn broom. Anyone else recognise themselves? (6x4in colour print, photographer not stated.)

Thanks to Lindsay Scotland and Ronnie Brock for help deciphering CIP-64. Photos are as credited where the photographer is known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

CIP-71. Hand knitted Cowichan sweaters were once a fashion statement on the curling rink. On the back of the photo it says 'Bennett Rink', but the individuals are not named. Does anyone know who they are and where they are from? The style of their brooms suggest that the photo dates from the 1950s. Certainly, Mary Maxim patterns for such jumpers were first published in 1954. Of course the real reason that I'm posting this photo online today is to give me an excuse to give the link to John K Samson's heartfelt tribute to the knitted curling jumper, which you will find here. Music Rocks Curling Tips 111 makes me smile every time! It was produced to promote a charity curling event back in 2013. More recently, this article in the Calgary Herald would suggest that knitted jumpers are making a comeback! In which case my own collection of knitting patterns for such sweaters, see here, may well take on a second life! (7x5in print, photographer not known.)

CIP-72. Kerry Burtnyk is directing play, with Graeme Adam behind, in the Famous Grouse Ayr International in 1983. The Burtnyk team were 6-5 ahead of Adam in the 3rd/4th playoff, but lost a four. Graeme's team was Ken Horton, Andrew McQuistin and Dick Adams. Burtnyk was skipping Rick Folk's team (Ron Mills, Tom Wilson, Jim Wilson) at the event. The Ayr competition, together with the Skol Edinburgh International were the main televised events, apart from Scottish Championships, in the early 1980s. (7x5in print, photographer unknown.)

CIP-73. This photo of Janie Love (Mrs Tom Love) featured in the February 1954 issue of the Scottish Curler. This image accompanied a second article in a series entitled 'Women on the Ice'. The article indicates that Mrs Love had begun curling in 1936, and by 1954 was 'in the top bracket of lady curlers in Scotland' with her name already on number of trophies. In 1954 she was the President of Perth Ladies CC with 33 regular members and 16 occasional. (6x3.5in print, Star Photos, Perth)

CIP-74. This photo is from the closing ceremony of the World Curling Championships in St John, New Brunswick, in 1999. Representatives of the local organising committee for the 2000 World Championships at Braehead have just received the World Championship banner into their safe keeping. Holding it at the back is Kirsty Letton and Ian Gillespie. Holding the front are Mark Callan and Judy Mackenzie. The photo was published in the October 1999 Scottish Curler. (7x5in colour print, photographer not stated.)

CIP-75. This is a 'cabinet card' from my collection. Cabinet cards are photographs mounted on stiff pieces of cardboard. The earliest cabinet cards date from the 1860s. Their popularity had waned by the turn of the century, as the photographic postcard became popular. This card probably dates from around 1900, and has the photographer's name (Macintosh, Kelso) stamped on the front. But where is this curling pond, with what looks like a curling house in the background? (6.5x4.25in)

ADDED LATER. Robert Walker has kindly supplied the information that the photo shows the Newton Don house curling pond (just north of Kelso), located the east side of Newton Don Bridge at the gates on the Kelso to Stichill road. The feed for the pond comes from the Stichill burn via sluice pit which controls the flow either into the pond or bypass to the River Eden. Repairs to the waterway stopped in 1963 when the plans to build Border Ice Rink started to become a reality. The hut was built by the Kelso Club to store the stones but the hut was vandalised and the stones thrown into the pond around 1963, some of which were found a number of years later when it was being cleaned out.

CIP-76. Delivering the stone is Hammy McMillan Snr, with William Findlay ready to sweep. The photo is of play in the Famous Grouse Inverness Invitational, but which year? It was Hammy who built the Stranraer curling rink attached to the North West Castle Hotel back in the early 1970s. His son and grandson, both also called Hammy, have made their marks in Scottish and International curling. (6x6.5in print by Blair Urquhart.)

CIP-77. The quality of this photo is not great, but it shows a beginners' class in the two sheet annex at Greenacres in the mid-1980s. These were the days when the first objective of learning to curl was to be able to slide without a stone! It could not have been easy for the beginners back then. Note how some of the students are playing from 'temporary' wooden hacks propped against the back edge of the rink. These were made by the Greenacres owner John Stevenson. This was a clever idea, as it cut down on students having to stand around in the cold waiting for their turn on the centre hack, and John did not have to drill extra holes in the ice for additional hacks. Anyone recognise anyone? (6x4in print, photographer unknown.)

Photos are as credited where the photographer is known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

CIP-78. This is a scene from the final of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club's Rink Championship at Perth, in 1956. On the left is Tom Morris, with a duster in his hand! The sweepers are G Lorimer and J Christie. If you look closely you can see that some of the stones carry pompoms for identification. The image appeared in the September 1956 Scottish Curler magazine. According to the Annual for 1956-57, Morris's Perth CC team, which also included J R McEwan, were beaten 10-7 by Glendoick (K Melville (skip), J Smith, W Clark, and W D McEwan). (8.5x6.5in print, by Star Photos, Photography House, 75 Kinnoull Street, Perth.)

CIP-79. Some Swiss curling history today. Otto Danieli and his team of Roland Schneider, Rolf Gautschi, and Ueli Mülli were the surprise but popular winners of the Air Canada Silver Broom at Perth in 1975, having beaten Canada in the semi-final and the USA in the final. This 1979 photo shows Otto still playing competitively four years later with a new team. Otto is third from left in the photo, with the corn broom. Unfortunately, I don't have the names of the others in this Zurich Crystal CC foursome. Anyone? (4x6in print by Erwin Sautter.)

CIP-80. Here's another cabinet card from my collection. A group of fourteen curlers has posed for the photo. Note that the curler on the right is carrying a crampit. There's no indication on the card of where or when this was taken, or who is depicted in the photo. Often the photographer is named on such cards, but not in this case. However if you compare this photo with the image of the header on the Curling History Blog, it is the same group of curlers, although in a different lineup. Check it out! Assuming that the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland has the correct attribution for their image, then CIP-80 is another photo of curlers at St Fort house, Fife, in 1895! (6.5x4.25in)

CIP-81. We haven't had an event mascot yet, so here is Rory, from the World Championships at Braehead in 2000, with the two Scottish skips at the event, Bob Kelly and Rhona Howie. The question is, of course, who was inside the costume? Can the real Rory now be revealed? I'm also wondering what was the first big curling event to have a mascot? (4x6in print, photographer not stated.)

CIP-82. What a beautiful trophy! Mollie Kinnaird is presenting the National Open Curling Championship trophy to Bill Muirhead. Others in the picture are L-R: George Haggart, T Horne (Kirkcaldy rink manager), A Young, J Thom (Chairman of the Board at Kirkcaldy, and Derek Scott. Muirhead's rink had beaten the Harry Colville side 15-7 in the final. What year? (8x5.5in print, by David Ireland, Kirkcaldy)

ADDED LATER: Lynne Stevenson has provided the information that this was her grandfather's trophy! He won it outright for Heavy Horses and took the horse off the top and donated it to Kirkcaldy Ice Rink as the Kinnaird Trophy for the National Open Curling Championship. It got very damaged over the years and was returned to the family. Her cousin Bill in Australia has it now.

CIP-83. There are many large impressive curling trophies out there, but this is not one of them! Size isn't everything, of course. Still, we can add another alcohol sponsor to the list, ie Bertola Sherry. Baxter Wilson, third from left, receives the Bertola Sherry Knockout Curling Tournament trophy, played for by members of Atholl Province at Pitlochry in 1991. Dennis Marmion (national accounts manager for Peter Thomson Agencies) is presenting. Others in the photo are James Dykes (sales merchandiser for Peter Thomson Agencies), Rory MacDonald, Jane Fernie and Douglas Beedie. (8x6in print, by Richard Allan, Photographer, Stanley, Perth.)

CIP-84. Here is the great Erwin Sautter from Switzerland, many of whose photos feature in the Curling Image Project. Erwin was one of the first international curling friends I made on the press bench at the 1980 Silver Broom. Indeed the photo is of the Brass Whisk, the bonspiel for members of the press corps who attended in large numbers the major international championships back in the day. Erwin is skipping against Christina Lestander. The venue is of course Greenacres. The year 2000. I wonder who won? (6x4in print, photographer not stated.)

Thanks to Lynne Stevenson for extra information of CIP-82. Photos are as credited where the photographer is known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

CIP-85. L-R: David Aitken, Robin Halliday, Peter Smith, Harry Reilly. Probably taken soon after the team had won the Uniroyal World Junior Championship in 1986. A promotional pic? Perhaps one of the team could confirm details. Note that three of the team have hog's hair brushes whereas Harry has a horse hair brush. Hair brushes, remember them? (6x5.5in print, photographer not stated.)

CIP-86. Several 'friends' have asked, "Are you not going to upload any photos of yourself?" So, here's one which has a bit of a story. In the early 1980s I was playing in the Graeme Adam team at the Skol Edinburgh International at the Murrayfield rink. We reached the final. Although I was already writing a little for the newspapers, that was not on my mind this weekend, because Richard Harding, the Glasgow Herald's main 'curling correspondent', was coming through to Edinburgh to cover the final. As we came off the ice, having won the competition, a message was passed to me that Richard had been turned back by snow on the way through, and could I submit a short report to the paper myself. So after the presentation ceremony, I was to be found with pencil and notebook in the changing room putting together my thoughts on the last game. This I duly phoned in to the copy-taker (this being in the days before email), and spoke to the sports' desk to explain what had happened. "That's great Bob," said the sub on the desk, "our photographer got a good pic to accompany the report when he was at the rink earlier." He didn't mention what the photo was, and I just assumed it would be one of our skip, Graeme Adam, or perhaps both skips in the final game. Photos of lead players never appeared in the newspapers. So, it was with some surprise when I picked up a copy of the paper on the Monday, to find the report of us winning the competition with my byline, AND the above photo. Embarrassing? Yup. My students certainly thought it was. But it's nice to look back on a time when I had hair! (9x7in print, by an unnamed Glasgow Herald photographer)

CIP-87. Here's another pic with an interesting story. Ulrika Bergman, Margaretha Lindahl, Anna Bergström, Maria 'Mia' Zackrisson, and Maria Engholm from Svegs CC were the Swedish ladies squad at the World Junior Championships at Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1994. Mia is on the right of the photo. The event was in a big old arena, and aside from friends and family the stands were pretty empty most of the time. One afternoon however, a large group of soldiers in uniform came into the arena. In 1994 the former Yugoslavia, the country just to the north of Bulgaria, was still in the middle of what we now call the 'Balkans War', see here. (It is somewhat chilling now to think that there we were enjoying an international sporting event, when, only a few miles away, dreadful atrocities were being committed.) It transpired that the soldiers were UN peacekeeping troops on leave, and included some Swedes. These guys began to cheer for the Swedish girls above and I can vividly remember the chant 'Zac-Kris-Son' .. 'Zac-Kris-Son' .. 'Zac-Kris-Son' .. ringing out around the arena, I suspect much to Mia's embarrassment. (6x4in print, Bob Cowan.)

CIP-88. Here are the winners of the Aviemore Ice Rink Midsummer Bonspiel in 1977. L-R: Hugh Meikle (Ice Rink Manager), Margaret MacDonald (lead), Iain MacDonald (3rd), Mary Gammack (2nd) and Charlie Gammack (skip), from the Aberlour Curling Club. The prizes were donated by Dewars of Perth. (10x8in print, Aviemore Photographic.)

CIP-89. Time to mention pairs curling. Dr Derek Anderson (President, Royal Caledonian Curling Club) is presenting the National Pairs trophy to Norman Brown in 1990. His teammate Hew Chalmers is on the left, and Bruce Guild, the RCCC Secretary, is on the right. (7x5in print, photographer unknown.)

CIP-90. Another outside scene, from an old album of photographs, the same source as CIP-17. Written in pencil is 'Cambo, January 21, 1891', so the location could be the pond in the grounds of Cambo House, Kingsbarns, Fife (see here). Given how the stones seem to be scattered all over the ice, one has to speculate that these were not experienced curlers! (15.5x11cm faded print, enhanced in Photoshop. Photographer not known.)

CIP-91. Julia Halliday and Wendy Baxter competing at a junior women's weekend competition at Greenacres c1986, sponsored by Goudies Garage. (8x6in print, probably by John Elder.)

All photographers are credited when they are known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

Charles Liechti, from Bern, Switzerland, is a name you may not know. He was a real curling enthusiast. He came to Scotland in 1961 to play in the 'Worlds Curling Championship' at the Edinburgh Ice Rink, Haymarket. He did not come as part of a team. Rather, he came alone and played lead on the team skipped by local curler James Sellar. But before I carry on with Charles Liechti's story, some background to the 'Worlds Championship' competition is needed.

The 'Worlds' tournament was first held in 1922, an open competition for Scottish curlers held at the Haymarket Ice Rink. That's the winning team in the very first competition, above. L-R: Willie Jackson, Robert Jackson, Laurence Jackson and Tom Murray. The trophy was presented by the Edinburgh Ice Rink Ltd. The ice rink at Haymarket had opened for business in 1912. Robin Copland has written about curling in Edinburgh, and the 'Worlds', here.

This is a scene from the penultimate end of the 1954 'Worlds' final at Haymarket, between teams skipped by James Sanderson and James Sellar.

A A Wighton, Chairman of the Edinburgh Ice Rink, presents the trophy to (L-R) James Sanderson, John Cooper, Alec Allison and Robert Moffat in 1954.

In 1961, when Charles Liechti came to take part in the tournament, it was still an open competition at the Haymarket rink, and attracted a large entry.

That's Charles Liechti on the right of this photo, with teams from Canada and Norway which took part in the 1961 'Worlds'.

Charles Liechti and Sandy Sellar are the sweepers, directed by Jimmy Sellar, with Bob Dick behind. Although the final game was won by Bob Dick's side, Charles Liechti became the first overseas player to reach the 'Worlds' final!

Charles Liechti's experiences as a member of the runners-up team in 1961 must have left a big impression on the Swiss curler. Fast forward four years. In 1965, here he is presenting what is described as a 'bear statuette' to the runners-up in the 'Worlds' competition. L-R: James Alexander (Vice-President, Royal Caledonian Curling Club), Charles Liechti, Bert Stewart, Ivan Clark, Bob Kerr (skip) and Hugh Beveridge.

In 1966, Charles Liechti's record of being the first foreign player to reach the final of the Worlds was eclipsed when a Canadian Air Force rink won the event. L-R: Joe Klein (3rd), Gerry McLaughlan (skip), Hugh Beveridge (President, Edinburgh Ice Rink Curling Club) and Mrs Hugh Beveridge (who presented the prizes), Ron Taylor (2nd) and Don McLeod (lead).

Charles Liechti was back in Edinburgh in 1966 too. Here he is with the presentation of the Bern Bear (as it came to be called) to the runners-up in 1966. L-R: Bobbie Baxter (2nd), Charles Liechti, James Young (skip), Hugh Beveridge, Mrs Hugh Beveridge, Bob Christie (3rd) and Tom Kerr (lead). But look what individual prize the runners-up received. Each member of the Corstorphine rink received a small replica of the big trophy.

Here's a close up of one of the individual prizes. It was great to learn recently that Andrew Kerr still has the trophy presented to his father in 1966.

The 'Worlds' trophy and the Bern Bear continued to be played for in the years that followed. Here are the winners and runners-up in 1969. L-R: Derek Scott, Alex Young, Bill Muirhead, George Haggart, Jim Clarkson (President Edinburgh Ice Rink CC), Tom Stewart (Royal Club President), Elizabeth Marwick, Tom Grierson, Ken Marwick, Robert Smellie.

The tournament was renamed the 'Edinburgh International Curling Championship' in 1975 so that the International Curling Federation could have exclusive use of the name 'World Curling Championship' for the Air Canada Silver Broom, the men's world curling championship at the time. The Edinburgh competition became an invitational tournament, inviting the semifinalists of the same year's World Championship, and moved venues to the Murrayfield Curling Rink.

In the early 1980s, the Edinburgh International was one of the competitions covered each year by Scottish Television in the run up to the Glasgow Silver Broom. In 1984, Skol was the title sponsor. To see what this was like, there's a ten minute edit of a Graeme Adam v Mike Riley game on YouTube from 1984 here (screenshot above).

Here is the team which won the Bear in 1985. L-R: David Aitken, Robin Halliday, Peter Smith, Harry Reilly.

For three years in the early 1990s, the Edinburgh International competition was for mixed teams. Here is Colin Hamilton with Vicky Gumley (far right), Trevor Dodds and Edith Butler with the 'Worlds' trophy in 1992.

And here, in the same year, are (L-R) Iain Stewart, Julie Hepburn, Warwick Smith and Fiona Bayne with the Bern Bear.

In 2008 the Edinburgh International became a new World Curling Tour - Europe event. The winners (above) were (L-R) Andy Kapp (skip), Holger Hohne (2nd), Andy Lang (3rd) and Andreas Kempf (lead).

The runners-up received the Bear. L-R Conny Llungqvist, Goran Carlsson (skip), Morgan Bergkvist and Magnus Ekdahl.

The Edinburgh International trophy and the Bern Bear now reside, somewhat forlornly, in the trophy cabinets at the Murrayfield Curling Rink. They were last played for in 2016, when the Edinburgh International trophy (the 'Worlds' trophy) was won by Karel Kubeska and his Czech team of Jiri Candra, Martin Juric and Lukas Klima. The Bern Bear was won by Bruce Mouat, with Bobbie Lammie, Gregor Cannon, Derrick Sloan and Alasdair Schreiber.

I would like to believe that one day both trophies will be played for again in a significant competition. I'm sure that Charles Liechti would echo that sentiment.

My thanks go to Andrew Kerr for the idea for this article by telling me about his father winning the Bern Bear. He also provided the 1966 photo, and that of the individual replica. Robin Copland's article on the history of curling in Edinburgh and of the Worlds' competition (here) provided much background. Thanks go to him, and to Lindsay Scotland, for encouragement. Other photos are from various Scottish Curler magazines, or from my own archive. The competition had its own blog from 2009-2011, and the posts from these years are still online here.

CIP-92. Sweden's Peter (Peja) Lindholm in fine voice at the 2000 Ford World Curling Championships at Braehead. (6x4in print, probably a Jim Law photo.)

CIP-93. It must have been cold, or the winning curlers were just in a hurry to get going after the presentation! I have not been able as yet to ascertain just where this photo is from and when it was taken. Anyone? (9.5x7.5in print, Ford Photo Service, Glasgow.)

ADDED LATER: Thanks to Margaret Harvey and Andrew Dalgleish we know now that the trophy is the Durisdeer Trophy which is still played for by Dumfriessshire Province. It was 'presented to the Scottish Ice Rink Company by Wm Hendrie Esq 1955' and would have been played for at Crossmyloof Ice Rink until 1967 when it was transferred to the Dumfriesshire Province and played for annually at Lockerbie thereafter. William Hendrie is on the right of the photo.

CIP-94. These are the two finalist rinks in the Greenacres qualifier for the 1994 Henderson Bishop. Back row L-R: Carolyn Hibberd, Linda McAulay, Alison McLennan and Rhona Martin. Rhona and her team had beaten the Millicent Copstick rink (front) to gain a place in the finals at Greenacres (their home rink), and they went on to lift the trophy, the competition that year sponsored by Stakis and The Daily Telegraph. (3.5x4in print, photographer not stated.)

CIP-95. This Carnwath CC team won the Farmers' Trophy at Falkirk in the 1955-56 season. L-R: Alex Cooper (lead), James Cooper (skip), Andrew Cooper (3rd) and John Campbell (2nd). Skip, 3rd and lead were brothers. They beat Ian McGee's Sauchie side 15-13 in fifteen ends in the final. The photo was published in the January 1956 Scottish Curler magazine, and the accompanying article records that the winning rink received as prizes weather barometers, and the runners-up travelling rugs. (8x6in print, Thomas L Rennie, Press and Commercial Photographer, Falkirk.)

CIP-96. Another cabinet card from my own collection. Certainly from the nineteenth century, but where is it? There is no photographer's name on the card. (6.5x4.25in.)

CIP-97. Somewhere in Switzerland, in the 1920s perhaps? The photo is not the sharpest, but is significant in that it shows a man and woman competing against each other. Note the dolly, and that they are both holding fabric covered brooms. (10x8in print, photographer not stated.)

CIP-98. The Japanese women's squad were very happy for me to take this photo of them at the Ford World Championships at Braehead in 2000. The World Curling Federation historical results database has the names as Yukari Okazaki, Emi Fujiwara, Shinobu Aota, Eriko Minatoya, Kotomi Ishizaki. Can anyone give me a L-R in the photo? I wonder on the significance of the daffodil! (6x4in print, Bob Cowan.)

Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

CIP-99. These are the winners of the annual Ladies Invitation Curling Tournament at the Pitlochry rink in 1991, sponsored jointly by Watson and Philip PLC, ICCS (Northern) Ltd, and the Atholl Arms Hotel. Ena Smith is receiving the trophy from Neil McLennan, purchasing manager for ICCS. Looking on are, L-R: Ena Stevenson, Alex Tarvit (general manager ICCS, Dundee), Cate Brewster, Ian Robb (Atholl Curling Rink director), Ray Knox, and Eileen Watson (Atholl Arms Hotel). (8x6in print, by Richard Allan, Perth.)

CIP-100. I've chosen this special photograph as the 100th upload of the Curling Image Project because it is a rare thing, amongst the most unusual in my photograph collection. It's a wirephoto, although more correctly this example is a 'laserphoto'. In the days before digital cameras, the internet and email, a sports photographer had quite a challenge to get photographs back to the newspaper. Film would be developed on site at the event and then passed through a special fax-like machine, down the telephone lines, and printed out on an identical machine at the newspaper. The photo above shows the Scottish team (Christine Allison, Margaret Scott, Kimmie Brown and Carol Dawson) in action at the 1989 World Championships in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. The photographer was Jacques Boissinot working for Canadian Press. The original shown above is on very flimsy paper, the output from the laserphoto machine at the newspaper. More about wirephotos here. (The photo itself is 7.7x8.25in, plus the margins.)

CIP-101. I acquired this photo at an antiques fair earlier this year. It shows a group of curlers posing outside, but where and when? The photograph is rather grubby, but is remarkable for its large size. (14.5x11.5in print, photographer unknown.)

CIP-102. William and Rebecca Kesley are on the temporary 'Winter Wonderland' ice rink in Princes Street Gardens in 1999. This photo appeared as the cover of the December 1999 Scottish Curler magazine. The Currie and Balerno Curling Club eventually managed to stage a bonspiel on the rink with four teams on a Sunday morning, although their first attempt had been rained off. Used in the Xmas season for skating it was quite a challenge for Scott Henderson to prepare curling ice on the temporary rink. This was the second year in a row that the Princes Street Gardens' rink had seen curlers on the ice. (5x7in print, probably by Robin Crearie.)

CIP-103. L-R: Cesare Canepa (skip), Werner Oswald, Jakob Kluser, Hans-Ruedi Werren. This Zug CC team had just won the Swiss Championship in 1971 at Geneva. The Swiss team went on to compete in the Air Canada Silver Broom World Curling Championship at Megeve, finishing in fourth place after winning a tiebreaker against Sweden, but losing the semifinal to Don Duguid's Canada (who beat Scotland in the final). (8x6in print, by Ervin Sautter.)

CIP-104. Ted Pattee leads Bill Mackay, Geoff Rogers and Hal Clarke on to the Haymarket rink in the 1960 Canadian Tour in Scotland. The Scots are being led out by the Rev Bill Good. (8.25x6.25in print, Photo Illustrations Scotland, Cockburn Street, Edinburgh.)

CIP-105. I need someone to help me out with this one. The Canadian women's team at the 2000 Ford World Championships at Braehead was Kelley Law, Julie Skinner, Georgina Wheatcroft, and Diane Nelson. Which one of the team is this? (6x4in print, probably by Jim Law.)

ADDED LATER: A quick response on Twitter, and from Janice Rankin on Facebook, confirms this is Diane Nelson (now Dezura). Thanks to everyone. Rock on the 'front end union'!

Photos are as credited where the photographer is known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

CIP-106. The 1996 Scottish Champion teams with their trophies. Back L-R: Karen Addison, David Hay, Katie Loudon, Peter Smith. Front: David Smith, Kirsty Hay (skip), Warwick Smith (skip), Edith Loudon. (8x6in, Louis Flood Photographer.)

CIP-107. In 1970, a young German team toured Scotland, playing in five different ice rinks. That's them in the front of this photograph, L-R: Rick Koester, Rick Mittag, Hans Werner, Joel Mittag. One of the teams they played against was the recent winners of the TB Murray Trophy. Back L-R: John Lawrie, David Macdonald, Archie Ballantyne (skip), and Douglas Armit. (8.25x6.25in print, by Photo Illustrations Scotland, Cockburn Street, Edinburgh.)

CIP-108. Members of the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club playing on their Cairnie-style outdoor rink in December 1944. The rink was beside the club house, and is now a car park. (8x6in print, Planet News Ltd, London.)

CIP-109. Aviemore junior curlers prepare for the opening ceremony of the Johnnie Walker Highland Week at the Aviemore rink in 1976. Recognise anyone? (8x6in print, stamped simply Johnnie Walker Picture Library.)

CIP-110. Lenzerheide in Eastern Switzerland. Is the skip really giving negative ice for the next shot! (6x4in print, by Erwin Sautter.)

CIP-111. This is the presentation group at the Inverness and Highland Region Licensed Trade Association Curling Competition, sponsored by Stewart and Son, Dundee, and Alloa Breweries. L-R: Ian Foster (Alloa Breweries), Nigel Grant (Seafield Lodge Hotel, organiser of the competition), Brian Wilkie, David McKenzie, Chris Franks, John Gair (skip), Ian Livingston (Stewarts Cream of the Barley), Nicol Manson (President IHRLTA). I do not know the year. The Aviemore Rink was opened in 1966, and I would guess this photo might date from the early 1970s. Anyone know for sure? (10x8in print, photographer not stated.)

CIP-112. This from the 2000 Ford World Curling Championships at Braehead - a spectacular way to display your collection of curling pins. A name, anyone? (5x7in print, Bob Cowan.)

ADDED LATER: Lynne Stevenson has remembered this lady as Jean Dubroy, also known as the 'Pin Lady'. See this article.

All photographers are credited when they are known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

CIP-113. The members of the Holyrood Curling Club opened their new pond at Mayfield in 1881. But this photo probably dates from the early twentieth century. On the hack is John Murie, the club's 'poet laureate', who, in 1903, became also the club's 'ice master'. (10x8in print, photographer unknown. Another version of this photograph exists in an old photograph album belonging to the club.)

Here are a few verses of Murie's poem 'The Curler's Dream':

"One night as I lay asleep in my bed,
With never a care to bother my head,
The goddess of dreams took hold of my hand,
And carried me off to a wondrous land.

Oh, what a land; not a flower was there;
Everything cold, and bleak, and bare;
The little birds even had ceased to sing,
And sat on the trees with drooping wing.

Like a ball of fire was the sun on high,
Riding along through the frosty sky,
Trying his best, though trying in vain,
To bring back heat to this world again.

For 'twas winter there, and I saw in my dream
That frozen hard was each loch and stream:
All round me there 'twas snow and ice —
To a curler it seemed a paradise...."

(The full poem can be found in the Royal Caledonian Curling Club Annual for 1901-02.)

CIP-114. An elegant crampit delivery, without resort to a brush for balance, somewhere in Switzerland. (7x4.5in print, photographer not known.)

CIP-115. I know that this is a curling team, as they are standing in front of the Charles Martin Hardie painting of 'Curling at Carsebreck' which for many years hung in the bar of the Central Scotland Ice Rink, Perth. (It's now at Scone Palace.) L-R: William Drummond, A Morrison, J Strobing and H Morrison were runners-up in the Farmers Trophy competition at the Perth rink in November, 1954. They were from Newburgh, Fife, and received brushes and combs as their prizes! Can anyone supply first names? (8.25x6.25in print, Star Photos, Perth.)

CIP-116. Merry Christmas! Danny McMillan, the Stirling Ice Rink manager, is Santa in December 1992 at a Christmas Bonspiel for the local Ladies' Branch of the RCCC. The photo shows the winning rink. Back L-R: Alexa McGillvray, Liz Dailly. Front: Eileen Prentice, Margaret Jarvie. (4x6in print, photographer not known.)

CIP-117. L-R: Jean Caldwell, Hammy McMillan, Eddie Rodger (Sports Editor of the Glasgow Herald, which sponsored the competition), Andrew McQuistin (skip), and Joyce Kinnear, winners of the Scottish Mixed Championship in 1981. (9.5x6in print, official Glasgow Herald photograph.)

CIP-118. This kilted 'Bugs Bunny' mascot helped the Gordon Deakin rink win the Gilbeys/Scotlands Hotel sponsored competition at the Atholl Curling Rink, Pitlochry, in 1991. Front L-R: Gordon Deakin, Gerry Parker, Lilian Deakin and Maimie Scott. Back: Jean Meikle, sales representative for Gilbey's Wine and Spirit Merchants, and Erhard Penker of the Scotlands Hotel. (8x6in print, by Richard Allan, Photographer, Perth.)

CIP-119. The winners on the podium at the 1980 Cutty Sark Scottish Curling Championship at Dundee, with RCCC Chairman Tom Dickson at the microphone. L-R: Alastair Sinclair, Bill Henderson, Greig Henderson, Barton Henderson. The winners seem to be acknowledging the runners-up - Andrew McQuistin, Norman Brown, Hew Chalmers and Peter Wilson. At the end of the three-day round robin, seven of the eight competing teams were still in contention for the semifinals, and two tie-breaker sessions were played. In the semifinals, McQuistin's side (the tiebreak survivors) beat the Jimmy Waddell rink, and Henderson beat Bill Muirhead's team. The final was tied 4-4 at the halfway stage, when the ice became soft due to the television lights and the large crowd. Barton Henderson's side held on for the win, and went on to represent Scotland at the Silver Broom in Moncton, and at the European Championships at Copenhagen, winning gold there.
I should mention the controversy in 1980. Had Andrew McQuistin and Norman Brown won, by the rules of the International Curling Federation at the time, they could not have gone on to play at the World Championship, as they had not had their eighteenth birthdays before June 30 prior to the beginning of the 1979-80 season. The RCCC had lobbied hard to change this rule, arguing that entry to the World Championship should be quality based regardless of age, and this view eventually prevailed. (8x6in print, by Ron Gazzard, Dundee.)

Thanks to Margaret Robertson for help in naming those in CIP-116. Photos are as credited where the photographer is known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

CIP-120. England's representatives at the 1992 European Championships at Perth. L-R: Sally Gray, Sarah Johnston, Janice Manson, Alison Bowman and Pam Wright. The English squad qualified to play in the 1993 World Championship in Geneva, after a rather complicated procedure at Perth. In their section they played the other three teams (France, Netherlands, Bulgaria) twice and then won a semifinal against Austria and final against Italy. (6x4in print, by Willie Kemp.)

CIP-121. This is Jerry Edwardson with the Johnnie Walker Gold Plate, his Canadian rink having won the 1975 Johnnie Walker Highland Week at Aviemore. Forty rinks from ten countries took part. The Canadians beat Eric Brown's local side in the final. I don't have the names of the Edwardson team, one of whom is sporting a rink rat! Anyone? (8x7.25in print, by Pavel Satny, Photographer, Aviemore.)

CIP-122. Lots of seats to fill at the opening ceremony of the Hexagon World Curling Championship in Vancouver's huge BC Place in March, 1987. (7x5in print, Bob Cowan.)

CIP-123. Let's get into the New Year with some more pix from the Hexagon World Curling Championship in Vancouver in 1987. Here is Jim Vukich, skip of the USA team. Vukich, Ron Sharpe, George Pepelnjak and Gary Joraanstad just missed the semifinals, finishing the round-robin with a 5-4 record, and losing a tie-breaker to Germany. (From a 35mm transparency, photographer unknown.)

CIP-124. One of my favourite curlers, Norway's Eigil Ramsfjell, whose name I always had to spell out clearly and slowly for the copytakers at the paper when reporting on his Norway team over the years. In 1987, at the Hexagon World Championship in Vancouver, Ramsfjell, with Sjur Loen, Morten Søgaard and Bo Bakke, lost to Germany in the semifinals, but beat Denmark in the game for the bronze medals. (From a 35mm transparency, photographer unknown.)

CIP-125. The Canadian team at the 1987 Hexagon World Curling Championship was skipped by Russ Howard (above) with Glenn Howard, Tim Belcourt and Kent Carstairs. They won the Championship. More photos from the final later. (From a 35mm transparency, photographer unknown.)

CIP-126. Göran Roxin, Claes Roxin, Björn Roxin and Lars-Eric Roxin were the Swedish representatives at the Hexagon World Curling Championship at Vancouver in 1987. Here, Goran delivers. The Swedish team finished with a 4-5 win-loss record. (From a 35mm transparency, photographer unknown.)

More photos from the 1987 batch of slides to come in the future. Photos are as credited where the photographer is known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

CIP-127. Brian Alderman directs, and the Davie Porteous team also watches the progress of the shot from skip Graeme Adam, at the Lockerbie Invitation competition in 1978. In the photo from front to back behind Brian are Leslie Robertson, Willie Halliday, Davie Porteous and Bob Carruthers. It's not a posed photograph, but newcomers to the sport should note that such enthusiasm to see what is happening is no longer approved! Great image though. #fancypants. (7x5in print, perhaps by Sandy Smith.)

CIP-128. The John Fyfe East of Scotland Ladies Open Curling Championship was held March 5-9, 1990, at Gogar Park. John Hume, the Managing Director of John Fyfe Ltd, presents the Low Road Champions. L-R: Margaret Mauchline, Glenda Barrowman, Johan Steele and Irene Hird. This photo is another in the series 'interesting prizes'. These were silver grey Kemnay granite clocks! The Kemnay quarry was opened by John Fife in 1830. (9.25x6.5in print, photographer not stated.)

CIP-129. Leslie Ingram-Brown, the RCCC President, with the winners of the Scottish Mixed Curling Championship at Aberdeen in 1996. L-R: Brian Binnie (skip), Claire Milne, Duncan Bertram and Alison Binnie. Brian's team beat Neil Wilson, Lorna Rettig, Brian Smith and Sandra Hynd in the final. (8x6in print, photographer not recorded.)

CIP-130. A wonderful photo of play on outside ice! I suspect this is a bonspiel on Stormont Loch in February 1969, but I have no further details. I've seen this photo in print somewhere, but cannot find the reference. (8x6in print, D Wilson Laing and Co, Blairgowrie.)

CIP-131. This looks like a simple 'presentation' photo. But I was intrigued when I found that it was published in the September 1961 Scottish Curler with the caption, "This picture was taken at Interlaken, Switzerland, on 1st August. The curlers played on Poly-ice, a new kind of artificial ice. Interlaken is the only centre in Switzerland to use this new type of ice. L-R: Mr Bettoli, Mr Hess, Henry Balmer, Mr Bollman (skip), Mr Urfen, two ladies from Flims CC, Mrs Buhler and the Icemaster Mr Argarter." So I think the first question has to be, what was 'Poly-ice'? It is likely to have been an early form of synthetic ice, see here. I'm wondering if these are regular stones, or have been modified in some way. Further research is definitely required. (7x5in print, by H Heiniger.)

CIP-132. Lockhart Steele and Graeme Adam both appear to be 'thoughtful' in this photo from the 1982 Edinburgh International at the Murrayfield rink. Other captions are welcome! (6.5x8.5in print, by Norman Wilson.)

CIP-133. A Hutchesons' Grammar School team won the Scottish Schools Championship which was held at Dundee in 1974. L-R: Charles Wighton, Bank of Scotland, Willie Jamieson, Keith Douglas, Sir Alastair Blair, Director of the Bank of Scotland, Ken Horton (skip) and Graham Govan. (10x8in print, by Ron Gazzard.)

All photographers are credited when they are known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

CIP-134. More photos the Hexagon World Curling Championship in Vancouver in 1987. This was taken during the seventh or eighth end of the final game, between Germany and Canada, with the score tied at 4-4. Rodger Schmidt delivers, with sweepers Johnny Jahr, and Hans-Joachim Burba. (35mm transparency, photographer unknown.)

CIP-135. Canada's Russ Howard watches behind as the German team plays a runback in the final of the Hexagon World Championship at Vancouver in 1987. (35mm transparency, photographer unknown.)

CIP-136. Russ Howard is already shouting as he delivers in the final game of the Hexagon World Championship in Vancouver in 1987. The sweepers are Kent Carstairs and Tim Belcourt. Note that one sweeper has a hair brush, the other, a pad. (35mm transparency, photographer unknown.)

CIP-137. The Perth Masters remains one of the most important of Scotland's competitive events. But this is the presentation group from 1996, when the competition had Stakis as sponsor. L-R: Provost Jean McCormack, Peter Loudon (3rd), Bob Kelly (2nd), Gordon Muirhead (skip), Russell Keiller (lead), Mark Foster (Manager, Stakis City Mills Hotel). (7x5in colour print, Louis Flood Photographer.)

CIP-138. L-R: James Allison (2nd), James Sanderson (3rd), Jim Moffat (skip) and Alex Allison (lead), winners of the TB Murray Trophy, for curlers of 25 years and under, in 1965. They beat the Robert Smellie team 17-2 in the final. (6x4.5in print, Scottish Studios and Engravers Ltd.)

CIP-139. Tateshina is a town in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. A curling demonstration and a bonspiel was organised there in 1983 by the Tokyo Curling Club. Can anyone add additional information? Note that play appears to have been on outside ice. (4.5x3.25in colour print, photographer not stated.)

CIP-140. It's not a very clear photo, but it is a very significant one! This is the youngest team ever to win the Royal Caledonian Curling Club's Rink Championship, which was held in 1971 at the Border Ice Rink, Kelso. L-R: John Brown, Ian Webster, Ken Horton, Graeme Adam (skip). Such was the unusual nature of a young rink winning a major competition against older and more experienced opposition, that Robin Welsh, the Editor of the Scottish Curler magazine, wrote, "Graeme Adam and his ridiculously young rink of Glasgow schoolboys beat Tom McGregor's Lesmahagow rink to win the Royal Club Rink Championship at the Border Ice Rink in Kelso." I don't know quite what to make of his words 'ridiculously young'. John was 16, Ian was 15, Graeme was 17, and Ken, 14. We would not think much of that today, but in the 1960s, and even into the 1970s, the few young curlers in Scotland (of which I was one) were looked on as something of a curiosity by many, as undesirable by some, but actively encouraged by a few, to whom I will always be grateful. (3x3in colour print, by Leslie Ingram-Brown.)

Photos are as credited where the photographer is known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

CIP-141. In 1970, the incoming Canadian tourists lost the Strathcona Cup but 'won all hearts' during their four-week programme. Here, at the Haymarket rink, are some of the visitors surrounding George Crabbie (Captain of the Midlothian Province team). L-R: Bob Arseneau, Ron Collette, Bill Thompson, Doc Campbell (the Canadian Tour Captain), John Eccles, Ken McKenzie, Bill Meyer, Collie Campbell, Bob Galloway, Randy Shedd and Frank Hastings. (8x6in print, Scotsman Publications.)

CIP-142. A moment from the final of the 1982 European Curling Championships at Kirkcaldy.
Scotland (Mike Hay, David Hay, David Smith, Russell Keiller) v Germany (Keith Wendorf, Hans Dieter Kiesel, Sven Saile, Heiner Martin). David Hay sweeps a German stone out of the house, encouraged by his skip, Mike Hay, as the German team watches on. Scotland won the game 6-5, to take the championship. (8x6in print, by William Hill, Press Photographer, Pittenweem, Fife.)

CIP-143. Everyone who has ever won a 'cup' is under pressure to fill it. Here's evidence of that actually happening. L-R: Anita Duncan, Jack Brown (skip), Mabel Christie and Kathy Kerr of the Fochabers CC had won the Christie Cup, a club competition, and were no doubt about to pass the trophy around! (8x6in print, photographer unknown.)

CIP-144. It's a scene, I think, from the World Junior Curling Championships at Portage la Prairie in 1990. The photographer has caught three of the Scottish women's team in what can best be described as a 'caption competition'. Laura Scott, on the right, has turned away and is thinking, "I've absolutely no idea what Kirsty (Addison) and Joanna (Pegg) are talking about, and I'm certainly not going to ask." Other captions are available. (8x5in print, photographer not stated, but probably Michael Burns.)

CIP-145. Significant this one. The Inverness rink was the first to host a weekend invitation for Scotland's competitive women curlers in 1981. Previously there had been nothing to compete in if you worked or studied during the week. The Sylko Supreme Ladies Invitation Curling Competition was won for the first time by the Beth Lindsay team. Back L-R: Graham Bradley, Chairman of Sylko, Helen Burton, Beth Lindsay, Kathleen Clark, presenting the Kathleen Clark trophy, George Crawford, Scottish sales manager for Sylko. Front: Carolyn Hibberd and Alison Brown. (6x7in print, photographer not stated.)

CIP-146. L-R: Hammy McMillan, Norman Brown, Mike Hay and Roger McIntyre, having won the Bull Trophy at Grindelwald, in 1995. The winning team did not have to take the animal home, and someone, I'm sure, will be able to explain what happened to the winners' prize! (6x4in print, by Ernst Schudel.)

CIP-147. Mrs T Donaldson, perhaps of Drummond Castle CC, throws the first stone of a new season at the Central Scotland Ice Rink, Perth, in September, 1956. Note the skating on the end ice, behind. She is playing off a hack, set in front of the crampit, and is adhering to the rules of the time which stated that the stone had to be released from the hand before it crossed the tee. Note that the house is not painted, and, assuming the outermost circle is indeed at six foot radius, the inner circles seem to be marked at one foot, three foot and five foot! (8x6in print, Star Photos, Perth.)

Photos are credited where the photographer is known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

CIP-148. Winners of the 'British Open' at Falkirk in 1972. L-R: Bill Carruthers (second), Willie Young (lead and skip), Jim Steele (fourth), Harry Ewing (MP for Stirling and Falkirk, presenting), and Willie Kerr (third). This was Willie Young's seventh win of this major competition. His team beat Graham Findlay and his Dunfermline team in the 1972 final. (6x8in print, Falkirk Herald.)

CIP-149. This is a group shot of visiting curlers at Crossmyloof, with their hosts. I haven't as yet been able to work out which tourists they are. Can anyone tell me? David Duncan is on the right, so that suggests the 1970s or early 1980s. The reproduction is really too small to be identifying other individuals, but I like the photo as it shows the extent of the seven-sheet curling rink at Crossmyloof, which holds fond memories for me, as that's where my curling career began! (9x7in print, photographer not stated.)

CIP-150. This is a promotional shot for the CBC Championship Curling event in Toronto in December 1969. L-R: Ron Northcott (Canada), Bud Somerville (USA), Bill Muirhead (Scotland) and Christer Wessel (Sweden). These were four of the skips of teams that had played in the Air Canada Silver Broom at Perth earlier that year. Wessel had skipped and played lead for Sweden in 1969. His fourth player was Kjell Oscarius. This eight rink competition was 'videotaped' to produce a ten-week series of hour-long programmes for television in Canada. The event was won by Saskatoon's Merv Mann, who beat Somerville's team in the final. (8.5x6.5in print, CBC photo.)

CIP-151. The third 'Arctic Winter Games' were held in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1974. The photo is of the Alaska Junior Girls who won gold in the curling competition. L-R: Jodi George (3rd), Theresa Gryder (skip), Lisa Baucher (2nd) and Donna Gryder (lead). Next to the podium, in the sheepskin jacket, is three times Canadian and World Champion skip Ron Northcott who presented the medals. On the right is Lt Col Roy Fisk, the 'Chief Referee', as he is described in the article in the April, 1974, Scottish Curler. The multi-sport competition is still held every two years, see here. (7x5in print, photographer not known.)

CIP-152. Winners of the Scottish Mixed Curling Championship 1991. L-R: Rhona Martin, Bobby Wilson, Mrs Rose Anderson (presenting), Robin Gray (skip), Joan Wilson, and RCCC President, Dr Derek Anderson. (8x5in print, Ron Vavasour, Photographer.)

CIP-153. Jim Law at a coaching weekend at Gogar Park in 1989. L-R: Karen Clark, Suzie Law, Gillian Gray, Fiona Sinclair, Fiona Barrowman, Clare Anderson, Julia Monteith. (10x8in print, photographer not stated.)

CIP-154. Here are the winners of the First Event at the Milwaukee TriScore Bonspiel sometime in the 1950s. The names are HT Ferguson (skip), Ralph E Welton, Dr Graham Fee and Alfred J Hudson, but not sure if it is a L-R. (7x5in print, Erwin F Nell, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.)

Photographers are credited when they are known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

The Curling Image Project is taking a bit of a break, as I contemplate a house move over the next few months. The image above is a good place to start when considering the success, or otherwise, of the project.

But first a bit of history! It all began when in 2015 I learned about Sports Heritage Scotland, see here, and was intrigued by the posibilities of the various reminiscence projects that were being discussed, all to help patients with memory problems and dementia. Curling was one of the sports signed up to the Sports Heritage Scotland, with both the Royal Caledonian Curling Club and the Scottish Curling Trust among the original partners. I provided a number of old photographs to a fledgling Curling Memories Project, against the day that perhaps these might be useful.

Sorting through old photographs made me realise that perhaps I could myself provide a database of curling images for future use. I thought the best way to do this would be to post an image each day, building up a weekly collection of seven images in a Curling History Blog post, which could be viewed on a tablet or computer, or printed out. There are twenty-two weeks' worth of images now online, see here. Any individual week can be highlighted by clicking on the title of the post, and then printed.

The project needed a name, and so 'The Curling Image Project' was coined, somewhat grandly, but better than 'Bob's Old Photos'.

The positive on having these photos now on the blog is that they are there to use, in a permanent form, and I have been heartened by the comments that I have received. The photos themselves are varied in their content, and this is deliberate, given the underlying use to which they might be put.

I am sure that we all will know someone with Alzheimers, be it family or friend. It is just a horrible condition. It is especially bad for those who remember the sufferer when they were fully fit.

The photo above shows (L-R) John McFadzean, John Hutchison, Janet McMillan, John Wilson and Eric Johnston in 1971. The team had won the final of the 'big holiday competition' (now known of course as the Dalrymple Cup) where the winners of fourteen weekend competitions played off at the end of the season, with a Mediterranean Holiday to be won. Although the competition was to become a mixed event, in the early years it was open, explaining why in 1971 it was won by the team in the photograph.

Our team of young curlers from Glasgow were always very well received on our first forays to Stranraer's new rink. In 1971, I met Johnny McFadzean, playing lead for Hutch, and we hit it off from the start. I have the happiest memories of Johnny, May, and the children, at their farm (Airylick). In the mid 1970s, we curled together with our wives, and enjoyed holidays in Ibiza and Tenerife (thanks Hammy!). We hillwalked and we bothied. In the 1980s we walked the West Highland Way together, and then in 1983 hiked across Nepal to the Everest Base Camp area. We shared a love of the outdoors, of books, and of gardening.

Sadly, the Johnny I knew then is no more, a victim of that disease which causes sufferers to completely lose memory. I fortunately still have wonderful memories of Johnny and his family, and the adventures we had together. I wish he had too.

I trust I'll be able to return to The Curling Image Project in some months time.

(8x6 inch photo, by FH McCarlie, Stranraer. My email address is in the sidebar if you want to contact me.)

The 'fung in the mouth' and other stories

The Curling Image Project (Week 7)

The Curling Image Project (Week 8)

Trading Cards

The Curling Image Project (Week 9)

The Curling Image Project (Week 10)

The Curling Image Project (Week 11)

The Curling Image Project (Week 12)

The Curling Image Project (Week 13)

What Future for the Bear?

The Curling Image Project (Week 14)

The Curling Image Project (Week 15)

The Curling Image Project (Week 16)

The Curling Image Project (Week 17)

The Curling Image Project (Week 18)

The Curling Image Project (Week 19)

The Curling Image Project (Week 20)

The Curling Image Project (Week 21)

The Curling Image Project (Week 22)

The Curling Image Project: Midterm Report