Weekend wanderings

This was the first season of the McMillan Hotels' sponsorship of the Scottish Senior Mixed Championship at the Stranraer rink. Sixteen teams contested the finals.

After reaching the semi Bob Kelly's team were probably the favourites to go through against George Kirk and his team, but Bob turned his last takeout in, it caught the guard and Kirk was through. On the other sde of the draw, Sandy Nelson's team overwhelmed Jacqui Crawford's team with Gary Macfarlane throwing the last stones for the team.

In the final, Kirk, with Isabel Gillespie, John Gillespie and Alison Kirk took the initiative at the fourth end counting a three. They were three up without at the last. Sandy Nelson, Edna Nelson, Jimmy Johnson and Alice Johnson played the eighth well and Kirk was looking at two well hidden stones as he went to play his last. His well played takeout on swinging ice scraped past the guard and removed one of the Nelson counters, giving the Kirk team the title.

All the results are here.

Top L-R: George Kirk, Isabel Gillespie, John Gillespie and Alison Kirk with the Championship trophy which began its new life at Stranraer after a career at the already much missed Atholl rink. Pic by Bob. More pics from yesterday's Stranraer visit below.

Isabel Gillespie in charge in the final, as Edna and Sandy Nelson watch behind.

George Kirk and Sandy Nelson in the final.

George helping his front end with some sweeping in the semifinal against Bob Kelly's side.

Bob Kelly

The rest of Bob's team - Lesley Arrowsmith with Colin and Elaine Semple sweeping.

Sandy Nelson in festive pose!

Caption competition time: Jacqui Crawford.

Gary Macfarlane plays the game with such intensity. Great guy too - I have to say that as he probably won't think this is the most complimentary pic of him. But it is my favourite of the weekend!

Elsewhere, congratulations to Jamie Dick and his team for winning the Junior event at Lockerbie, defeating Kerr Drummond in the final. Eve Muirhead's team was skipped by Kay Adams and won the junior women's event, over Claire Hamilton's side.

Michael McCreadie's GB Paralympic Squad team reached the semifinal of the Richmond International Cashspiel in BC, Canada.

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!

A busy junior weekend

Lockerbie Junior Invitation winners: L-R Glen Muirhead, Scott Macleod, Gordon McDougall and Scott Andrews. Photo by Bob.

Lockerbie Junior Invitation winners: L-R Sarah Macintyre, Vicki Adams, Kerry Barr and Eve Muirhead. Photo by Bob.

Junior curling was very much to the fore at the weekend. Ten girls' teams and sixteen boys' teams competed in the Lockerbie Junior Invitation. Eve Muirhead's side defeated Kay Adams' team in the final of the junior women's competition. Glen Muirhead beat Jamie Dick for the junior men's trophy.

A full entry of sixteen teams were at Braehead for the Festive Cup on Saturday. The format of five end games in a strongly contested under-21 section saw Stuart Dodds and David Miller match up in the final. David won 4 - 2. In the oversubscribed under-16 section Andrew Ballantyne beat Hamilton McMillan in the last game.

Festive Cup U-16 winners: Hazel Smith, Euan Paterson, Andrew Ballantyne and Andrew Neilson. Photo by Corinne Shand.

Festive Cup U-21 winners: David Miller, Greg Matthew, Gary Cannell, Fraser Davidson. Photo by Corinne Shand.

The curler in the stamp

One of the many interests I have in connection with this sport of ours is postal history - curling in stamps, cancels/postmarks, first day covers, and assorted postal ephemera. The attractive stamp above was produced to mark the last Olympics by the Czech Republic.

I discovered yesterday who the figure depicted in the stamp is! The young man in the stamp is Krystof Chaloupek (below), just one of a group of Prague juniors who were photographed by the stamp's designer some years back when seeking inspiration for the stamp's design.

And what relevance is this to anything?

Krystof is in Scotland this weekend, with his team, to play in the Lockerbie Junior competition which begins today. Two Czech teams, one from Sweden and one from the Netherlands provide the opposition for Scotland's top junior sides.

Photo by Bob.