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The Bonspiel at Lochwinnoch: Fact or Fiction?
The photo above is from 2010, when I paid a visit to Lochwinnoch to see the Erskine Curling Club on outside ice on Castle Semple Loch. The loch has seen many bonspiels over the years.The old Annuals of...
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The 'Boulder Age': When Your Curling Stone Had a Name!
Curling's history can be traced by studying old stones. The earliest curling stones are called 'loofies', and were without handles. In the photo above, David Smith is demonstrating how he thought a...
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The Muses Threnodie, and Scotland's First Curlers
"When was the sport of curling first played?" is a question that is often asked. "Sixteenth century Scotland", is probably the best response, but that answer needs qualification.What can be said with...
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Transporting your stones
The construction of the railways in the nineteenth century facilitated curling matches, especially those between clubs for District Medals, promoted by the Royal Caledonian Curling Club. And large...
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When the Scottish men faced the Canadian women in 1903
When I first read that the Scottish curlers who visited parts of Canada and the United States in the winter of 1902-03 had come up against Canadian women's sides, and lost on three occasions, I was...
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The Two Grannies
When writing about named curling stones recently, see here, I mentioned the 'Grannies from Meigle'. These distinctive stones from curling's 'boulder age' belonging to Andrew Henderson Bishop had been...
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Cramp-bits, crampets, crampits, and tramps
My curling history research has taken me to many interesting places in the past year - sites of old curling ponds, curling huts, museums, art galleries, archive centres and libraries. It was a pleasure...
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The Women Curlers of Buxton
Since starting to write about curling's women pioneers at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries, see here, here and here. I've been on the lookout for photographic...
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More than a new book - it's a celebration of curling
Review by Bob CowanThe World Curling Federation had its origins with the international committee of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club back in 1966. This soon became the International Curling...
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Summer Ice
'Summer Ice' is a traditional game played on a long, narrow table, with a marked target at each end. There is a channel round the table to catch any wayward stones. The rules of the game are very...
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Jeff Lutz and Andrew McClune
December and Christmas is a happy time for many. But for others, there are never to be forgotten anniversaries at this time of year. The terrorist bombing of Pan Am flight 103, with the loss of 243...
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'Soop it up!' : The Story of a Christmas Postcard
Yes, it's a Christmas greeting on an old postcard which depicts a curling scene. I enjoy collecting postcards which show our sport of curling - I suspect that makes me a 'curling deltiologist' - and I...
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Carsebreck 1928: 'A black day in the annals of curling'
The photo, from the Dundee Courier of January 2, 1928, shows the depth of the ice being checked at the Royal Caledonian Curling Club's pond at Carsebreck, in anticipation of a Grand Match. William...
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Curling at the Prince's Skating Club in London
The Prince's Skating Club in Knightsbridge, London, opened on November 7, 1896. The artificial ice rink was installed in a refurbished building, the new interior by JM Boekbinder, a well known...
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William Andrew Macfie and Curling in Sweden
Last year saw the centenary of the Swedish Curling Association. This was marked in a number of ways, not least by the publication of a substantial book, above. This was put together by Hakan...
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The T B Murray Trophy
Thomas Blackwood Murray was one of the best curlers in the first half of the twentieth century in Scotland. He played second in the GB team, skipped by Willie Jackson, which won the first gold medals...
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The station master's horse
In the 1800s, the railways brought curlers from far and wide to participate in Scotland's great bonspiels. Chief amongst these was the Grand Match. The Royal Club's pond at Carsebreck had its own halt...
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The Curling Paintings of Charles Altamont Doyle
In the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh can be found an interesting painting. It forms a backdrop to a display of sporting items, including a pair of curling stones, a broom and a spectacular...
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The Bishop of Orkney
Construction of the St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, Orkney, began in 1137. The photo above is by Chris Downer and was taken in 2011. The history of the cathedral can be found here. The link to the...
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Curling Mugs
It's that time of the season when the curling enthusiast spends far too much time engrossed in watching major curling events in front of the television, tablet or computer screen. Sustenance is needed...
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