What's in store for the weekend?

Tommy Campbell and his Lanarkshire team will be trying for a fourth consecutive Senior Mixed title as that championship gets underway at Stranraer tomorrow (Friday). The event was postponed from earlier in the season, but there are still sixteen teams in the draw (here).

Lockerbie is the venue for the annual Junior Invitation competition. Juniors are also competing at Braehead in the Festive Cup. Just why junior events have to clash on the same weekend is a mystery to me - there are few enough opportunities for our young curlers to compete. But maybe I'm just being grumpy again!

Still, given the choice for seasonal good will, I would be headed south. Fenton's rink in Kent, which is England's only dedicated curling rink, is having the world's first Santa Claus Bonspiel, which will see twenty-four Santas on the ice. The event is in aid of local charity, Hospice in The Weald! See here.

Jingle Bells to you too.

Top: Tommy Campbell. Pic by Bob.

Scottish Curler cartoonist, the talented Ian Rodney of the Alternative CC, drew this Santa curling for the Christmas issue in 2004!

News from England

Regular readers of Curling Today will recall that we trailed with some enthusiasm back in November the fact that the Fenton's rink in Kent was to stage the Ramada Jarvis Cashspiel. That would have been this coming weekend. We were disappointed to learn that the event has been cancelled. Not enough support apparently. That's a pity.

Happier news is that the rink hosted the English Championships successfully last weekend. Andrew Reed and Kirsty Balfour defended their titles. Details are here. These teams will represent England at the Le Gruyere European Championships in Sweden in December.

A professional photographer Gerry Walden was at the English Championships and you can see his efforts on his website www.gwpics.com by entering the word 'Fentons' in the password box.

Kirsty Balfour and Andrew Reed practising at the Euro Championships in Fussen, December 2007. Photos by Bob.

Cashspiel at Fenton's Rink

I am somewhat embarassed to say that I have not yet had the opportunity to visit Fenton's Rink near Tunbridge Wells, the only dedicated curling ice pad in England. The three-sheet facility is three years old. I hear lots of good things about it.

It is always interesting too to read something of the questions, problems and concerns of our southern neighbours on the English Curling Forum, many of whom are quite new to the sport. From there I note that one of the moderators, Gordon Bryan (aka The Great Gordino), has been experimenting with the best way to video curling. His first efforts are on YouTube and show well what the rink is like. See here and here.

Here is your chance to curl at the rink. Fenton’s Rink will host the Ramada Jarvis Cashspiel in February. The tournament is open to teams of any four curlers from the UK and abroad. You will be welcomed at the Ramada Jarvis, Tunbridge Wells. The competition is to be held on Saturday and Sunday, February 9-10, 2008. A cash prize of up to £1000 is on offer to the winning team, with cash prizes to second and third place, and, depending on the number of entries, to lower placed teams as well. The more teams that enter, the more prizes!

Details of the competition and prizes will be posted on the rink website www.fentonsrink.com.

Good to see increased support for curling from Ramada Jarvis Hotels, who already sponsor the Perth Masters.

Curlers in the news ....... in England!

Congratulations go to Jim Buchanan, the RCCC Area Development Officer for the Borders, who received a 'Services to Sport' award at the North East Disability Sports Achievement Awards hosted jointly by NPower and the English Federation of Disability Sport at the Riverside Suite, Durham County Cricket Club, last Monday. Well done Jim.
Alister Martin was ice technician at Gogar Park for eight years, training under Scott Henderson. The 31 year old from Edinburgh is to be the new manager at Fenton's Rink in Kent. For the last couple of years Alister has been helping out in different ways at Murrayfield. Popular and multi-talented, Alister will be a real asset to the English rink. Good luck to you, Alister.