It has come to our notice that our Honorary President Walter Brown has had a bad fall in which he sustained both a broken ankle and a head injury, resulting in a stay in hospital.
Walter is recovering and is receiving physiotherapy, in the hope that he can get home as soon as possible. Our best wishes go to Walter and also to Christine, his devoted wife, who sadly is unable to visit him at this time because of coronavirus restrictions.
Curl Edinburgh have confirmed that, following today’s Scottish Government announcements, Murrayfield Curling Rink will not reopen as planned on 26th October but will remain closed for at least another week until 2nd November.
The following announcement was received this evening from Edinburgh Curling Club and Murrayfield Curling Limited.
“Following the Scottish Government’s announcement yesterday (Wednesday 7 October 2020), and ongoing discussions with Scottish Curling, we regret to announce that as part of regional restrictions, our curling rink will be closed after Friday 9 October and for 16 days, reopening Monday 26 October.
The Office will be in contact with Club Secretaries next week to re-arrange affected fixtures.
For the latest information from us, please keep an eye on our website and social media. We will also email subscribed members regarding any major updates.”
The Annual General Meeting of Penicuik Curling Club will be held virtually over Zoom on Thursday 17th September at 7.30pm.
The Access link and codes were sent out to all members on 2nd September.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Hold on tight.
Teamwork at it’s best
Formal Notice is hereby given that the 2019-20 Annual General Meeting that was due to take place on 21st May will not now go ahead due to the current Government restrictions.
If social distancing rules are eased in the months ahead then it is hoped that the AGM can be rescheduled for a later date , whilst giving members the statutory three weeks’ notice period as per the Constitution.
Many thanks to all those who took part in our ‘virtual’ Annual Dinner and Toast.This was an excellent idea to celebrate our Club, remember old friends and to bring some cheer in these uncertain times.
Printed copies of this booklet will be available in the future.
Annual Dinner – remembering old friends
Club Toast
2019-20 Competition Winners
As you know Ian McKay, one of our longest standing members, very sadly died earlier this month after a long illness and his funeral took place on Friday past. Our President, Liz, had sent flowers and a Sympathy Card to Linda on behalf of Club members and Linda has since responded with the message below.
All our thoughts and prayers are with Linda at this sad time.
With our wounds still raw following relegation from league 2 to league 3 last season, Penicuik approached their first game against Edinburgh Rotary in September fully determined to leap back to league 2 in one season; and proceeded to get thumped 10-2! We started the game well, but the wheels came off as early as the second end, and there was nobody in the team able to put them back on again!
This season’s pool of players was similar to last: Murray Hope, Iain Scott, Jim Ramsay, Dave Anderson, Robert Beaton and Ronnie Hope. As it turned out Robert was unable to play until the latter part of the season, and Murray and Jim were unable to play in the latter part of the season!
Despite this reduction in selection choice, the team bounced back from the early setback and put in a solid performance for the remainder of the games: November, a 5-3 win against Bank of Scotland; December, a 7-4 win against Holyrood; February, a 6-4 win against Watsonians; and March, a 7-2 win against Merchiston.
At the end of the season we ended up on equal points with Bank of Scotland at the top of the league, their only defeat coming against us, but our heavy defeat against Edinburgh Rotary put us well behind them on ends and shots. No matter, two teams are promoted and the winners of the three Province Leagues are finally decided by play-offs between the two top teams in each league. Traditionally, these games take place on the same night and are followed by a dinner. The grand play-off was due to be played on 26th March but sadly, for obvious reasons, this was cancelled.
So back to league 2 next season. Possibly something to look forward to in these difficult days?
Report by Ronnie Hope
In the few days before the closure and in view of the latest Government advice on Coronavirus, it was left up to individual Skips to decide whether or not they would play their remaining matches. Most had justifiable concerns over their own health or that of family members. As a result, only one of the two Thirds games was played on Monday 16th, and neither of the two remaining Kettle games was played on Wednesday 18th.
With no way of knowing how long Murrayfield will remain closed, or Rule to cover these extraordinary circumstances, it has been agreed that the results of the Kettle and Thirds competitions will stand as of now.
Many congratulations to Iain Scott and his rink of Ken Hunter, Barbara Gillespie and Jenny Wray on winning the Kettle League, after a very closely fought final few matches where in fact any one of three or four teams were in contention to win.
Also many congratulations to Craig Brown, in his first year as Skip for Penicuik, and his team of David Ballantyne, Kirsty McWilliam and Frank Duffy on winning the Thirds League.
It is increasingly unlikely that the Annual Dinner and Prize-giving will go ahead this year but hopefully the winners of all the Competitions can be presented with their Trophies at some point in the near future.
Enjoy your summer and keep well.
Jean Noble
Penicuik Curling Club 