Penicuik met our friends from 37 Club for a double rink match on Monday 19 March. The Penicuik Teams were Jim Ramsay, Dave Anderson, Robert Beaton, and John Glidden; and Andrew Lambie, Keith Morris, Ken Hunter, and Ronnie Hope. Team A (Ramsay) got off to a slow start but recovered to end their game 3-5 down. Team B started with a three in the first end but ran out 3-10 down.
Congratulations to 37 Club on a second consecutive win in the challenge.
Nine members contested the medal for the Intermediate Points yesterday evening (13 March). Seven disciplines were completed, with Wick & Curl In being omitted. Craig Brown established a narrow lead from the early stages and managed to hold on to win the medal on 26 points. Barbara Gillespie emerged from the chasing pack to finish second on 23 Points, and Vic Ramage came in third on 21 points. Barbara, along with Janette Lambie and Jean Noble, scored at each of the disciplines played.
In the Thirds League games this evening (Monday 12 March) Team Beaton had a win over Team Carr and thereby established themselves as league winners with one game still to play.
Congratulations to Robert and his team of Christine Hope, Barbara Gillespie, and Jim Hume.
The Pairs competition was played out on Sunday 11 March. Teams Carr & Lambie, Hope & Moir, Hope & Ramage, and Lambie & Brown won through the preliminary skirmishes to go into the High Road.
In the Low Road, Hunter & Beaton beat Anderson & Ramsay, and Ramsay & Anderson beat Scott & Carr to reach the final. Hunter & Beaton stole successive singles in the first three ends of the final to lead 3-0. Ramsay & Anderson conceded when their fourth stone draw went through with Hunter & Beaton lying two at the front of the outer circle.
In the High Road, there was a tight tussle between Hope & Moir and Carr & Lambie with the advantage going to Hope & Moir in the fourth end. In the other semi-final Hope & Ramage pressurised Lambie & Brown in the early ends but ultimately lost out in the fourth end. Lambie & Brown took first blood in the final with a three in end one. Hope & Moir responded with a single in the second end, but yielded a two to their opponents in the third. Hope & Moir took another single in the fourth end, and followed it up with a steal of two in the fifth end to go into the final end 4-5 down. Lambie & Brown succeeded in setting up a strong position in the final end and prevailed to win the competition (7-4).
In late February Jean Allan of Dundee sent an enquiry to the Club via our web site.
I have a small curling stone that belong to my late father. It is inscribed – Presented by the Dowager Lady Clerk and on the base – Won by T Brown 1893. Wondered if you have information about this little stone. Would be very grateful if you could let me know anything about it.
We were able to reply as follows;
The trophy that you hold was provided by the Dowager Lady Clerk for a Penicuik Curling Club competition played on 13 January 1893, probably on the Low Pond on Penicuik House Estate. Four rinks played against each other on a knock-out basis, with the rink skipped by Thomas Tudhope winning. The four members of that rink then played off at Points to establish an individual winner of the trophy. Thomas Brown who played at Third in the rink was the eventual winner after an extra end at Striking. Our minutes indicate that the trophy was presented the following day at Monks Burn, whilst the Club members were on route to play West Linton.
Mr Brown appears to have joined Penicuik Curling Club in 1883 and remained a member until 1900. He became a Skip for some competitions and there are a number of specific references in our minutes particularly for the year 1892. These minutes can be accessed via the History page of our web site.
Jean Allan subsequently replied to indicate that Thomas Brown was her grandfather, and that he had lived at Monks Burn Cottage, Nine Mile Burn. Mr Brown was born in 1847 and passed away in 1902 at the age of 54. Another Thomas Brown, who was a member of the Club between 1824 and 1846, may be Jean’s great-grandfather.
See photograph on Gallery Page
The Second Points competition was played on Tuesday 20 February, with five members contesting the medal. The ice was tricky but better than that for the Merchiston Team Points match, and probably than for the First Points. There was time to include the tenth disciple, Outwicking, which is normally used as a decider in the case of a tie. Ken Hunter established an early lead but was doggedly pursued by Dave Anderson. A very strong performance over disciplines 8 & 9 allowed Craig Brown to pip Dave for second place by a single point. Final scores Ken Hunter (48pts), Craig Brown (41pts), and Dave Anderson (40pts).
Sunday 18th February: PENICUIK v FORFAR
The two Penicuik rinks had a torrid time of it against two strong Forfar rinks in the District Medal match at Murrayfield on Sunday afternoon; it is fair to say that the better side won.
The Vice-President’s rink of Jim Ramsay, Dave Anderson, Liz Anderson and Andrew Lambie kept the opposition at bay for most of their game, but the consistency of the Forfar four eventually prevailed and they ran out winners by seven shots to three.
The President’s rink faired even worse against a Forfar rink who played almost every stone to perfection. Iain Scott, Robert Beaton, Roger Scott and Ronnie Hope had some very unlucky losses of handle, and came so close to taking at least two more ends, but they were never really in the race. Iain’s beautifully controlled final shot to take a two spat the final end spared some of their blushes, but overall the opposition were in crushing form to take the game by eight shots (10-2).
Overall, a loss by twelve shots and a disappointing day out for Penicuik, but our sincere congratulations to Forfar who were magnanimous in their win and great fun to be with throughout the day.
Ronnie Hope
The Midlothian Bonspiel was played throughout Monday (5 Feb). Penicuik 1 played Haymarket at 10.00am and enjoyed a good victory of 12-3. Dave Anderson with Liz Anderson, Dave Carr and David Gillespie. (Many thanks to David for stepping in to take the place of your Web Master at the very last minute). Penicuik 2 took on Abbotsford in the 2.00pm session and came away with another victory (10-6). Andrew Lambie, Keith Morris, Reg Dunbar and Martin Hobbs. Penicuik 3 played in the 6.00pm session and enjoyed a comfortable victory over Sweepers (12-1). Jim Ramsay, Roger Scott, Robert Beaton and Margaret Carr.
Overall Penicuik finished on an aggregate score of +8, and ended up in fourth place. The winners were Gogar Park Young Curlers (+14). Carrington were in second place (+10) and they also won the Colin Black Trophy for the highest up rink (+20), and Corstorphine were in third place (+9.5).
The Canadian Tour arrived in Edinburgh in the final week of January to play Edinburgh Area. The tourists had amassed a high score in their previous games throughout Scotland, so it was unlikely that the Strathcona Cup would retained by Scotland. Edinburgh Area (East Lothian, Midlothian, and Peeblesshire Provinces) fielded 4 Teams on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and afternoons to Play against the Canadian North Tour team, and 4 teams on Thursday morning to play against the Canadian South Tour team.
Jim Ramsay was the flag bearer for the home side in the morning parade of teams on Tuesday Morning. He went on to play with Colin Baxter, President of Edinburgh Curling Club, John Stevenson, and Malcolm Patrick, and this team enjoyed an 11-5 win. On Tuesday afternoon, a Penicuik rink of Ken Hunter, John Jacobs, Iain Scott, and Dave Carr took to the ice. A good position they established in the first end was total wiped out by the Canadian opposition, and all that was left was a draw. A fair draw was achieved, and protected, but the Canadian Skip drew to the four foot to take the end. Penicuik replied with a single at the second end, and the game ended level at two all after four ends when the brooms were stacked for a refreshment. After the break Penicuik stole three consecutive singles to go into the last end 5-2 up. The Canadians almost recovered the lost ground, but a split in the house with our last stone forced them to take a single, final score 5-3. On Thursday morning Roger Scott played in a Peebles rink which narrowly lost their game by 2 shots (7-9).
The home players enjoyed a dinner at Myreside on Wednesday evening with the Tourists, where a good meal and a few refreshments were shared.
Finally, thanks go to Roger Scott for his work on the Organising Committee, and to Aileen Beaton who was co-opted onto the Committee to use her profession skills in Media and Communications.
Well done to the Canadian Tourists who took the Strathcona Cup back to Canada; the overall result being Canada 1593-Scotland 1268.
Photographs can be viewed on the Gallery Page.
Our forces were marshaled for the annual campaign against our friends from Merchiston on Sunday evening (28 Jan). the troops making up our battalion were Craig Brown, Dave Carr, Reg Dunbar, Ken Hunter, John Jacobs, Alex Moir, Jim Ramsay, and Iain Scott.
After the smoke had cleared from the opening salvos (Striking), our artillerymen had failed to established their customary dominance. Worse was to come with the encounters on difficult terrain in trying to seize the initiative at Inwicking; our opponents had succeeded in establishing the forward area and a 6 point lead. Our men came back at them to recover some of the lost ground by gaining 4 points at the Draw, only to be thrust back by a counter attack at Guarding. Merchiston took the initiative at Chap & Lie, to increase their overall lead. A rally by the Penicuik men at Raising give some hope that the day could be saved, but alas it was not to be and our worthy opponents left the field of battle with a 121-114 victory.
The two teams joined together for a refreshment in the bar and to view the results of past encounters. The Merchiston President Avril Anderson was presented with the trophy and her team congratulated on their fine win.
Top scorers for Merchiston were John Addinall (22), David Cunningham (22), and Avril Anderson (19), the top scorers for Penicuik were Jim Ramsay (20), Ken Hunter (19), and John Jacobs (16).
Penicuik Curling Club 