The Curling Image Project (Week 21)

CIP-141. In 1970, the incoming Canadian tourists lost the Strathcona Cup but 'won all hearts' during their four-week programme. Here, at the Haymarket rink, are some of the visitors surrounding George Crabbie (Captain of the Midlothian Province team). L-R: Bob Arseneau, Ron Collette, Bill Thompson, Doc Campbell (the Canadian Tour Captain), John Eccles, Ken McKenzie, Bill Meyer, Collie Campbell, Bob Galloway, Randy Shedd and Frank Hastings. (8x6in print, Scotsman Publications.)

 

CIP-142. A moment from the final of the 1982 European Curling Championships at Kirkcaldy.
Scotland (Mike Hay, David Hay, David Smith, Russell Keiller) v Germany (Keith Wendorf, Hans Dieter Kiesel, Sven Saile, Heiner Martin). David Hay sweeps a German stone out of the house, encouraged by his skip, Mike Hay, as the German team watches on. Scotland won the game 6-5, to take the championship. (8x6in print, by William Hill, Press Photographer, Pittenweem, Fife.)

CIP-143. Everyone who has ever won a 'cup' is under pressure to fill it. Here's evidence of that actually happening. L-R: Anita Duncan, Jack Brown (skip), Mabel Christie and Kathy Kerr of the Fochabers CC had won the Christie Cup, a club competition, and were no doubt about to pass the trophy around! (8x6in print, photographer unknown.)

CIP-144. It's a scene, I think, from the World Junior Curling Championships at Portage la Prairie in 1990. The photographer has caught three of the Scottish women's team in what can best be described as a 'caption competition'. Laura Scott, on the right, has turned away and is thinking, "I've absolutely no idea what Kirsty (Addison) and Joanna (Pegg) are talking about, and I'm certainly not going to ask." Other captions are available. (8x5in print, photographer not stated, but probably Michael Burns.)

CIP-145. Significant this one. The Inverness rink was the first to host a weekend invitation for Scotland's competitive women curlers in 1981. Previously there had been nothing to compete in if you worked or studied during the week. The Sylko Supreme Ladies Invitation Curling Competition was won for the first time by the Beth Lindsay team. Back L-R: Graham Bradley, Chairman of Sylko, Helen Burton, Beth Lindsay, Kathleen Clark, presenting the Kathleen Clark trophy, George Crawford, Scottish sales manager for Sylko. Front: Carolyn Hibberd and Alison Brown. (6x7in print, photographer not stated.)

CIP-146. L-R: Hammy McMillan, Norman Brown, Mike Hay and Roger McIntyre, having won the Bull Trophy at Grindelwald, in 1995. The winning team did not have to take the animal home, and someone, I'm sure, will be able to explain what happened to the winners' prize! (6x4in print, by Ernst Schudel.)

CIP-147. Mrs T Donaldson, perhaps of Drummond Castle CC, throws the first stone of a new season at the Central Scotland Ice Rink, Perth, in September, 1956. Note the skating on the end ice, behind. She is playing off a hack, set in front of the crampit, and is adhering to the rules of the time which stated that the stone had to be released from the hand before it crossed the tee. Note that the house is not painted, and, assuming the outermost circle is indeed at six foot radius, the inner circles seem to be marked at one foot, three foot and five foot! (8x6in print, Star Photos, Perth.)

Photos are credited where the photographer is known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

The Curling Image Project (Week 20)

CIP-134. More photos the Hexagon World Curling Championship in Vancouver in 1987. This was taken during the seventh or eighth end of the final game, between Germany and Canada, with the score tied at 4-4. Rodger Schmidt delivers, with sweepers Johnny Jahr, and Hans-Joachim Burba. (35mm transparency, photographer unknown.)

CIP-135. Canada's Russ Howard watches behind as the German team plays a runback in the final of the Hexagon World Championship at Vancouver in 1987. (35mm transparency, photographer unknown.)

CIP-136. Russ Howard is already shouting as he delivers in the final game of the Hexagon World Championship in Vancouver in 1987. The sweepers are Kent Carstairs and Tim Belcourt. Note that one sweeper has a hair brush, the other, a pad. (35mm transparency, photographer unknown.)

CIP-137. The Perth Masters remains one of the most important of Scotland's competitive events. But this is the presentation group from 1996, when the competition had Stakis as sponsor. L-R: Provost Jean McCormack, Peter Loudon (3rd), Bob Kelly (2nd), Gordon Muirhead (skip), Russell Keiller (lead), Mark Foster (Manager, Stakis City Mills Hotel). (7x5in colour print, Louis Flood Photographer.)

CIP-138. L-R: James Allison (2nd), James Sanderson (3rd), Jim Moffat (skip) and Alex Allison (lead), winners of the TB Murray Trophy, for curlers of 25 years and under, in 1965. They beat the Robert Smellie team 17-2 in the final. (6x4.5in print, Scottish Studios and Engravers Ltd.)

CIP-139. Tateshina is a town in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. A curling demonstration and a bonspiel was organised there in 1983 by the Tokyo Curling Club. Can anyone add additional information? Note that play appears to have been on outside ice. (4.5x3.25in colour print, photographer not stated.)

CIP-140. It's not a very clear photo, but it is a very significant one! This is the youngest team ever to win the Royal Caledonian Curling Club's Rink Championship, which was held in 1971 at the Border Ice Rink, Kelso. L-R: John Brown, Ian Webster, Ken Horton, Graeme Adam (skip). Such was the unusual nature of a young rink winning a major competition against older and more experienced opposition, that Robin Welsh, the Editor of the Scottish Curler magazine, wrote, "Graeme Adam and his ridiculously young rink of Glasgow schoolboys beat Tom McGregor's Lesmahagow rink to win the Royal Club Rink Championship at the Border Ice Rink in Kelso." I don't know quite what to make of his words 'ridiculously young'. John was 16, Ian was 15, Graeme was 17, and Ken, 14. We would not think much of that today, but in the 1960s, and even into the 1970s, the few young curlers in Scotland (of which I was one) were looked on as something of a curiosity by many, as undesirable by some, but actively encouraged by a few, to whom I will always be grateful. (3x3in colour print, by Leslie Ingram-Brown.)

Photos are as credited where the photographer is known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

The Curling Image Project (Week 19)

CIP-127. Brian Alderman directs, and the Davie Porteous team also watches the progress of the shot from skip Graeme Adam, at the Lockerbie Invitation competition in 1978. In the photo from front to back behind Brian are Leslie Robertson, Willie Halliday, Davie Porteous and Bob Carruthers. It's not a posed photograph, but newcomers to the sport should note that such enthusiasm to see what is happening is no longer approved! Great image though. #fancypants. (7x5in print, perhaps by Sandy Smith.)

CIP-128. The John Fyfe East of Scotland Ladies Open Curling Championship was held March 5-9, 1990, at Gogar Park. John Hume, the Managing Director of John Fyfe Ltd, presents the Low Road Champions. L-R: Margaret Mauchline, Glenda Barrowman, Johan Steele and Irene Hird. This photo is another in the series 'interesting prizes'. These were silver grey Kemnay granite clocks! The Kemnay quarry was opened by John Fife in 1830. (9.25x6.5in print, photographer not stated.)

CIP-129. Leslie Ingram-Brown, the RCCC President, with the winners of the Scottish Mixed Curling Championship at Aberdeen in 1996. L-R: Brian Binnie (skip), Claire Milne, Duncan Bertram and Alison Binnie. Brian's team beat Neil Wilson, Lorna Rettig, Brian Smith and Sandra Hynd in the final. (8x6in print, photographer not recorded.)

CIP-130. A wonderful photo of play on outside ice! I suspect this is a bonspiel on Stormont Loch in February 1969, but I have no further details. I've seen this photo in print somewhere, but cannot find the reference. (8x6in print, D Wilson Laing and Co, Blairgowrie.)

CIP-131. This looks like a simple 'presentation' photo. But I was intrigued when I found that it was published in the September 1961 Scottish Curler with the caption, "This picture was taken at Interlaken, Switzerland, on 1st August. The curlers played on Poly-ice, a new kind of artificial ice. Interlaken is the only centre in Switzerland to use this new type of ice. L-R: Mr Bettoli, Mr Hess, Henry Balmer, Mr Bollman (skip), Mr Urfen, two ladies from Flims CC, Mrs Buhler and the Icemaster Mr Argarter." So I think the first question has to be, what was 'Poly-ice'? It is likely to have been an early form of synthetic ice, see here. I'm wondering if these are regular stones, or have been modified in some way. Further research is definitely required. (7x5in print, by H Heiniger.)

CIP-132. Lockhart Steele and Graeme Adam both appear to be 'thoughtful' in this photo from the 1982 Edinburgh International at the Murrayfield rink. Other captions are welcome! (6.5x8.5in print, by Norman Wilson.)

CIP-133. A Hutchesons' Grammar School team won the Scottish Schools Championship which was held at Dundee in 1974. L-R: Charles Wighton, Bank of Scotland, Willie Jamieson, Keith Douglas, Sir Alastair Blair, Director of the Bank of Scotland, Ken Horton (skip) and Graham Govan. (10x8in print, by Ron Gazzard.)

All photographers are credited when they are known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

The Curling Image Project (Week 18)

CIP-120. England's representatives at the 1992 European Championships at Perth. L-R: Sally Gray, Sarah Johnston, Janice Manson, Alison Bowman and Pam Wright. The English squad qualified to play in the 1993 World Championship in Geneva, after a rather complicated procedure at Perth. In their section they played the other three teams (France, Netherlands, Bulgaria) twice and then won a semifinal against Austria and final against Italy. (6x4in print, by Willie Kemp.)

CIP-121. This is Jerry Edwardson with the Johnnie Walker Gold Plate, his Canadian rink having won the 1975 Johnnie Walker Highland Week at Aviemore. Forty rinks from ten countries took part. The Canadians beat Eric Brown's local side in the final. I don't have the names of the Edwardson team, one of whom is sporting a rink rat! Anyone? (8x7.25in print, by Pavel Satny, Photographer, Aviemore.)

CIP-122. Lots of seats to fill at the opening ceremony of the Hexagon World Curling Championship in Vancouver's huge BC Place in March, 1987. (7x5in print, Bob Cowan.)

CIP-123. Let's get into the New Year with some more pix from the Hexagon World Curling Championship in Vancouver in 1987. Here is Jim Vukich, skip of the USA team. Vukich, Ron Sharpe, George Pepelnjak and Gary Joraanstad just missed the semifinals, finishing the round-robin with a 5-4 record, and losing a tie-breaker to Germany. (From a 35mm transparency, photographer unknown.)

CIP-124. One of my favourite curlers, Norway's Eigil Ramsfjell, whose name I always had to spell out clearly and slowly for the copytakers at the paper when reporting on his Norway team over the years. In 1987, at the Hexagon World Championship in Vancouver, Ramsfjell, with Sjur Loen, Morten Søgaard and Bo Bakke, lost to Germany in the semifinals, but beat Denmark in the game for the bronze medals. (From a 35mm transparency, photographer unknown.)

CIP-125. The Canadian team at the 1987 Hexagon World Curling Championship was skipped by Russ Howard (above) with Glenn Howard, Tim Belcourt and Kent Carstairs. They won the Championship. More photos from the final later. (From a 35mm transparency, photographer unknown.)

CIP-126. Göran Roxin, Claes Roxin, Björn Roxin and Lars-Eric Roxin were the Swedish representatives at the Hexagon World Curling Championship at Vancouver in 1987. Here, Goran delivers. The Swedish team finished with a 4-5 win-loss record. (From a 35mm transparency, photographer unknown.)

More photos from the 1987 batch of slides to come in the future. Photos are as credited where the photographer is known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

The Curling Image Project (Week 17)

CIP-113. The members of the Holyrood Curling Club opened their new pond at Mayfield in 1881. But this photo probably dates from the early twentieth century. On the hack is John Murie, the club's 'poet laureate', who, in 1903, became also the club's 'ice master'. (10x8in print, photographer unknown. Another version of this photograph exists in an old photograph album belonging to the club.)

Here are a few verses of Murie's poem 'The Curler's Dream':

"One night as I lay asleep in my bed,
With never a care to bother my head,
The goddess of dreams took hold of my hand,
And carried me off to a wondrous land.

Oh, what a land; not a flower was there;
Everything cold, and bleak, and bare;
The little birds even had ceased to sing,
And sat on the trees with drooping wing.

Like a ball of fire was the sun on high,
Riding along through the frosty sky,
Trying his best, though trying in vain,
To bring back heat to this world again.

For 'twas winter there, and I saw in my dream
That frozen hard was each loch and stream:
All round me there 'twas snow and ice —
To a curler it seemed a paradise...."

(The full poem can be found in the Royal Caledonian Curling Club Annual for 1901-02.)

CIP-114. An elegant crampit delivery, without resort to a brush for balance, somewhere in Switzerland. (7x4.5in print, photographer not known.)

CIP-115. I know that this is a curling team, as they are standing in front of the Charles Martin Hardie painting of 'Curling at Carsebreck' which for many years hung in the bar of the Central Scotland Ice Rink, Perth. (It's now at Scone Palace.) L-R: William Drummond, A Morrison, J Strobing and H Morrison were runners-up in the Farmers Trophy competition at the Perth rink in November, 1954. They were from Newburgh, Fife, and received brushes and combs as their prizes! Can anyone supply first names? (8.25x6.25in print, Star Photos, Perth.)

CIP-116. Merry Christmas! Danny McMillan, the Stirling Ice Rink manager, is Santa in December 1992 at a Christmas Bonspiel for the local Ladies' Branch of the RCCC. The photo shows the winning rink. Back L-R: Alexa McGillvray, Liz Dailly. Front: Eileen Prentice, Margaret Jarvie. (4x6in print, photographer not known.)

CIP-117. L-R: Jean Caldwell, Hammy McMillan, Eddie Rodger (Sports Editor of the Glasgow Herald, which sponsored the competition), Andrew McQuistin (skip), and Joyce Kinnear, winners of the Scottish Mixed Championship in 1981. (9.5x6in print, official Glasgow Herald photograph.)

CIP-118. This kilted 'Bugs Bunny' mascot helped the Gordon Deakin rink win the Gilbeys/Scotlands Hotel sponsored competition at the Atholl Curling Rink, Pitlochry, in 1991. Front L-R: Gordon Deakin, Gerry Parker, Lilian Deakin and Maimie Scott. Back: Jean Meikle, sales representative for Gilbey's Wine and Spirit Merchants, and Erhard Penker of the Scotlands Hotel. (8x6in print, by Richard Allan, Photographer, Perth.)

CIP-119. The winners on the podium at the 1980 Cutty Sark Scottish Curling Championship at Dundee, with RCCC Chairman Tom Dickson at the microphone. L-R: Alastair Sinclair, Bill Henderson, Greig Henderson, Barton Henderson. The winners seem to be acknowledging the runners-up - Andrew McQuistin, Norman Brown, Hew Chalmers and Peter Wilson. At the end of the three-day round robin, seven of the eight competing teams were still in contention for the semifinals, and two tie-breaker sessions were played. In the semifinals, McQuistin's side (the tiebreak survivors) beat the Jimmy Waddell rink, and Henderson beat Bill Muirhead's team. The final was tied 4-4 at the halfway stage, when the ice became soft due to the television lights and the large crowd. Barton Henderson's side held on for the win, and went on to represent Scotland at the Silver Broom in Moncton, and at the European Championships at Copenhagen, winning gold there.
        I should mention the controversy in 1980. Had Andrew McQuistin and Norman Brown won, by the rules of the International Curling Federation at the time, they could not have gone on to play at the World Championship, as they had not had their eighteenth birthdays before June 30 prior to the beginning of the 1979-80 season. The RCCC had lobbied hard to change this rule, arguing that entry to the World Championship should be quality based regardless of age, and this view eventually prevailed. (8x6in print, by Ron Gazzard, Dundee.)

Thanks to Margaret Robertson for help in naming those in CIP-116. Photos are as credited where the photographer is known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts. 

The Curling Image Project (Week 16)

CIP-106. The 1996 Scottish Champion teams with their trophies. Back L-R: Karen Addison, David Hay, Katie Loudon, Peter Smith. Front: David Smith, Kirsty Hay (skip), Warwick Smith (skip), Edith Loudon. (8x6in, Louis Flood Photographer.)

CIP-107. In 1970, a young German team toured Scotland, playing in five different ice rinks. That's them in the front of this photograph, L-R: Rick Koester, Rick Mittag, Hans Werner, Joel Mittag. One of the teams they played against was the recent winners of the TB Murray Trophy. Back L-R: John Lawrie, David Macdonald, Archie Ballantyne (skip), and Douglas Armit. (8.25x6.25in print, by Photo Illustrations Scotland, Cockburn Street, Edinburgh.)

CIP-108. Members of the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club playing on their Cairnie-style outdoor rink in December 1944. The rink was beside the club house, and is now a car park. (8x6in print, Planet News Ltd, London.)

CIP-109. Aviemore junior curlers prepare for the opening ceremony of the Johnnie Walker Highland Week at the Aviemore rink in 1976. Recognise anyone? (8x6in print, stamped simply Johnnie Walker Picture Library.)

CIP-110. Lenzerheide in Eastern Switzerland. Is the skip really giving negative ice for the next shot! (6x4in print, by Erwin Sautter.)

CIP-111. This is the presentation group at the Inverness and Highland Region Licensed Trade Association Curling Competition, sponsored by Stewart and Son, Dundee, and Alloa Breweries. L-R: Ian Foster (Alloa Breweries), Nigel Grant (Seafield Lodge Hotel, organiser of the competition), Brian Wilkie, David McKenzie, Chris Franks, John Gair (skip), Ian Livingston (Stewarts Cream of the Barley), Nicol Manson (President IHRLTA). I do not know the year. The Aviemore Rink was opened in 1966, and I would guess this photo might date from the early 1970s. Anyone know for sure? (10x8in print, photographer not stated.)

CIP-112. This from the 2000 Ford World Curling Championships at Braehead - a spectacular way to display your collection of curling pins. A name, anyone? (5x7in print, Bob Cowan.)

ADDED LATER: Lynne Stevenson has remembered this lady as Jean Dubroy, also known as the 'Pin Lady'. See this article.

All photographers are credited when they are known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.

The Curling Image Project (Week 15)

CIP-99. These are the winners of the annual Ladies Invitation Curling Tournament at the Pitlochry rink in 1991, sponsored jointly by Watson and Philip PLC, ICCS (Northern) Ltd, and the Atholl Arms Hotel. Ena Smith is receiving the trophy from Neil McLennan, purchasing manager for ICCS. Looking on are, L-R: Ena Stevenson, Alex Tarvit (general manager ICCS, Dundee), Cate Brewster, Ian Robb (Atholl Curling Rink director), Ray Knox, and Eileen Watson (Atholl Arms Hotel). (8x6in print, by Richard Allan, Perth.)

CIP-100. I've chosen this special photograph as the 100th upload of the Curling Image Project because it is a rare thing, amongst the most unusual in my photograph collection. It's a wirephoto, although more correctly this example is a 'laserphoto'. In the days before digital cameras, the internet and email, a sports photographer had quite a challenge to get photographs back to the newspaper. Film would be developed on site at the event and then passed through a special fax-like machine, down the telephone lines, and printed out on an identical machine at the newspaper. The photo above shows the Scottish team (Christine Allison, Margaret Scott, Kimmie Brown and Carol Dawson) in action at the 1989 World Championships in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. The photographer was Jacques Boissinot working for Canadian Press. The original shown above is on very flimsy paper, the output from the laserphoto machine at the newspaper. More about wirephotos here. (The photo itself is 7.7x8.25in, plus the margins.)

CIP-101. I acquired this photo at an antiques fair earlier this year. It shows a group of curlers posing outside, but where and when? The photograph is rather grubby, but is remarkable for its large size. (14.5x11.5in print, photographer unknown.)

CIP-102. William and Rebecca Kesley are on the temporary 'Winter Wonderland' ice rink in Princes Street Gardens in 1999. This photo appeared as the cover of the December 1999 Scottish Curler magazine. The Currie and Balerno Curling Club eventually managed to stage a bonspiel on the rink with four teams on a Sunday morning, although their first attempt had been rained off. Used in the Xmas season for skating it was quite a challenge for Scott Henderson to prepare curling ice on the temporary rink. This was the second year in a row that the Princes Street Gardens' rink had seen curlers on the ice. (5x7in print, probably by Robin Crearie.)

CIP-103. L-R: Cesare Canepa (skip), Werner Oswald, Jakob Kluser, Hans-Ruedi Werren. This Zug CC team had just won the Swiss Championship in 1971 at Geneva. The Swiss team went on to compete in the Air Canada Silver Broom World Curling Championship at Megeve, finishing in fourth place after winning a tiebreaker against Sweden, but losing the semifinal to Don Duguid's Canada (who beat Scotland in the final). (8x6in print, by Ervin Sautter.)

CIP-104. Ted Pattee leads Bill Mackay, Geoff Rogers and Hal Clarke on to the Haymarket rink in the 1960 Canadian Tour in Scotland. The Scots are being led out by the Rev Bill Good. (8.25x6.25in print, Photo Illustrations Scotland, Cockburn Street, Edinburgh.)

CIP-105. I need someone to help me out with this one. The Canadian women's team at the 2000 Ford World Championships at Braehead was Kelley Law, Julie Skinner, Georgina Wheatcroft, and Diane Nelson. Which one of the team is this? (6x4in print, probably by Jim Law.)

ADDED LATER: A quick response on Twitter, and from Janice Rankin on Facebook, confirms this is Diane Nelson (now Dezura). Thanks to everyone. Rock on the 'front end union'!

Photos are as credited where the photographer is known. Check the archive (on the right) for previous Curling Image Project posts.