Kinross 350th Anniversary

Team Orwell Ladies - Eileen, Sue, Angela, Susan, Edna, Maggie

Orwell Ladies were honoured to be invited to take part in an international bonspiel that took place over the weekend of Thursday 27th September to Sunday 30th September 2018 to celebrate the 350th anniversary of Kinross Curling Club. The team was Susan Scougal, Angela Wilcox, Edna Nelson, Sue Cameron, Eileen Thomas and Maggie Saunderson.

Kinross CC had invited the oldest curling clubs from a number of countries to take part. Attending were Royal Montreal (Canada), Milwaukee (USA), St Moritz (Switzerland), Düsseldorf (Germany), Rungsted (Denmark) and Preston (England). In addition, the local clubs of Orwell, Dunfermline, Kinross Ladies, Orwell Ladies, Bishopshire, Dollar and Devon Vale, Fossoway and Glenfarg were all participating. 6 teams from Kinross made up the complement of 20 teams divided into 4 groups of 5 teams.

Over the Friday and Saturday a round robin was played with all games being 6 ends. Orwell Ladies played Milwaukee first and started well, but once the USA lads got the hang of the ice they took control of the game. The result was 8 – 3 to Milwaukee. The USA team went on to win all 4 group games and only lost the high road semi-final after having to draw the button when their game was tied. What a great team they were. We had a lot of fun chatting afterwards and they had all brought their families as supporters.

Our second game was against Kinross 4, skipped by Bruce Robbie. We outplayed the men and won 7 – 3.

On Saturday a strong Fossoway team nearly had it but a great finish from the ladies stole a 1 and tied the game 4 – 4.

The final group game was against St Moritz, who were loving the ice but were at a bit of a disadvantage as they only play outdoors at home. Although we often had lots of stones counting, the Swiss always managed to get in there somehow and so we traded single shots for the whole game. The final result was 4 – 2 to us.

So, after the round robin, Orwell Ladies were second in their group and would progress to the low road.

Saturday evening was a dinner and ceilidh at the Windelstrae attended by over 120 people. It was an great evening and the locals certainly made sure that all the visitors learned some Scottish dancing. The visitors all joined in with great enthusiasm and it was a hugely enjoyable event.

9.15am brought us back to the ice rink to play Dollar & Devon Vale, skipped by Boyd Houston. We really tried but were outplayed and outswept by the boys. A 4 in the 7th end finished it for us at 10 – 3. This was a most enjoyable game, played in the very best spirit of curling. It was followed by lunch where we were entertained by the Dollar boys.

The ice men and bar staff were kept extremely busy but the ice was good and the food and bar service was great. The organisation of the event by Kinross CC was exceptional and everything ran smoothly due to a lot of hard work in the background.

A full set of teams and results can be seen at http://kinrosscurlingclub.com/350-years.

The following photos are courtesy of Steve Kinninmonth, Eileen Thomas and Angela Wilcox.