Club Bonspiel 2012

Cathy, Sheena, Karen & Pauline

Well done to Dale Callander, our Vice President who, with his team managed to negotiate their way past Graeme's rules into a narrow one shot victory over a jet lagged Mike Wood.  Graeme also managed to beat Morgan by a single shot and with the same number of ends won, they headed into a simultaneous (on different sheets) draw the shot.  In keeping with the evening, the rules for the final shot were changed as both players commenced their deliveries.  The overall results show that Dale and his team of Sandy Nicoll and Rosie Clark were the actual winners, but in keeping with the air of festivity, everyone was a winner.
A great night was enjoyed by all.
John Smail's photographs have now been added to our Flickr account.

E.L Province Knock-out

Congratulations to our team of Nicoll, Nicoll, Nicoll and Maguire who eased their way past Yester to progress to the next round.  Morgan, Graeme, Sandy and Lorna, took a three at the first end and a single at the second to earn a four shot lead.  After that all the remaining ends went to a single, with the hammer, leaving Aberlady six points to three winners.
We will face Doo'cot in the second round, who pulled off the surprise result of the night by beating East Linton thirteen shots to six.  All East Linton's six shots were scored in one end !

The team for our second round match will have a very different look with both skip and third off on Canadian duties.

Aberlady Bonspiel - Monday 17th December

The Aberlady Bonspiel will be held on Monday 17th December.

There is a supper at the ice rink and we will be sitting down to eat at 5.45pm before heading on to the ice at 7.30pm.  Please try and be at Murrayfield for 5.30 so that you can order your main course and pudding in time.  All club members, relatives and friends will be welcome at the supper.

The format of the bonspiel has been decided and should give everyone a chance to shine, if they manage to understand Graeme's instructions.  There will even be prizes.

The rinks will be as follows:-
1  Dale Callander  -  Lorna Nicoll  - Sandra Lennie  -  Rosie Clark
2  Mike Wood  -  Sandy Nicoll  -  Liz Nicoll  - Karen Munro
3  Morgan Nicoll  -  Cathy Maclean  -  John Smail  -  Pam Clark
4  Graeme Maguire  -  Ross Balfour  -  Sheena Munro  -  Pauline Alexander.

If any of these players is unable to play, please let Graeme know as soon as possible on 07990 545 792.

Thirds Medal

The Thirds Medal competition got under way with new skip Sandy playing our Vice-President Dale.  It was a tight match all the way.  With the scores at 6 - 6 going in to the final end, Sandy was sitting pretty with a 3 until Dale, with his final shot found the perfect draw for a single and a 7 shots to 6 victory.

Aberlady Pairs

Congratulations to Morgan and Pauline who won the High Road and to George and Rosie who took the Low Road. 
A fuller report will follow.
The full results can be found on the Results page.

High Road finalists

More Photos have been added to our Flickr account

Low Road finalists

Edinburgh International Curling

This is your chance to watch 24 of Europe’s finest curling teams coping with the same ice as we face on a regular basis.  12 of the teams are from Scotland while the others are come from France, Switzerland, Germany, Finland, Norway, Czech Republic, Italy, Russia and Netherlands. A great spread of nations taking part and a very strong lineup.
Last year the winners were Dave Edwards and his squad from Aberdeen.
Play has already started and will continue all weekend with with the finals on Sunday.  At the same time as our club Pairs Competition.
More information can be found on their website.
If you cannot get down to watch try catching up with their live webcast, which this year is FREE.

Another Peel

The final game of the Trophy competition pitted Morgan Nicoll against John Good with the loser destined to collect the wooden spoon.  In the event, there was no loser with the two teams coming up with a peel at 5 all.  Leaving Morgan to collect the kitchenware while John's team slips into the runner-up slot courtesy of their previous result against Mike.
The conclusion of the Trophy Competition also marks the half way mark in the Peter Allan Shield competition, which resumes with the results from our Shots League in February.
Next up is the Pairs competition on Sunday 11th November and the Thirds Medal which commences on Monday 19th November.

And the Trophy winner is.....

Congratulation to Graeme and his team of  Barbara, Sandy And Rosie (with support from Lindsay, Karen and Mike along the way) who fought a rearguard campaign against Mike's team in their last Trophy match.  Right on the bell, Graeme put his last stone 2 feet too heavy but never the less score a three which peeled the game and left them clear winners of the Trophy.
Now there is only the wooden spoon match to complete our second competition of the season.

East Lothian Province Competitions

The draws for East Lothian Province Competitions can now be found at the bottom of the Fixtures Page.

Trophy Competition - underway

The Trophy competition got under way last night and a superb effort was made by all 8 players who managed to play 8 ends in the time allowed.
The game was between Mike's team and Morgan's team with Morgan taking first blood going 3 up after the first two ends.  Mike struck back with a 3 in the third with Morgan taking his one leaving the scores 4-3 after 4 ends.  The fifth end was to prove decisive with Mike scoring a whopping 6 and following that with a steal of 2.  The final ends were split one to each team leaving the final score line of 12 shots to 5 in Mike's favour.

The league tables can be found on the Results 12/13 tab above.  Last seasons results have moved to a new Results 11/12 tab

Karen strikes gold - again

Copyright - Kinross Classic website

October seems to be a great month for Karen.  For the last 2 years her team, skipped by Rebecca Steven, has been the winners of the Dunvegan Trophy.
This year, assisted by Jennifer Paul and Claire Dagen they have gone on to win the Kinross Junior Classic.  Previous winners have included numerous World and Scottish senior and junior champions, so no pressure there Karen.  Congratulations from all in the club.

Its a Knock-out

Congratulations to Morgan and his team of George, Sheena and Pauline who collect the first trophy of the season.
In a tight game against Graeme, Barbara, Sandy and the ever smiling Rosie they took the title 8 shots to 5.  The Fifth end was decisive with the score at 3 all Morgan was lieing with a well guarded 4.  Despite their best sweeping efforts Graeme's wide draw kept straight on the slow side of the sheet and only managed to cut the score down by 1 to 3 shots.  The final ends were traded with 2 shots a piece, leaving Morgan the deserved victor.

The View from the Hack

Following the sad retirement of Bob Cowan and his excellent skipcottage blog site at the end of last season, Ted Edmunds, has decided to try and step into Bob's very large shoes.  He has started The View From the Hack blog.
This site has some interesting items and contains a lot of links to other curling and curling related sites.  We would like to wish Ted every success, so why not visit the site and have a look round.
The more traffic that sites like this generate shows the demand for this type of information.

And we are off ........

Our season got underway with the Knockout competition on Tuesday night.
In a hard fought game Morgan edges out Mike's team 6 shots to 2, while on the other sheet John Good's team looked to have the edge over Graeme's squad with a 5 - 1 scoreline after 4 ends.  Thanks in part to Sandy's double takeout and raise a comeback was mounted and Graeme ran out the winner 11 shots to 5.
With all 4 teams playing there was a chance to compare notes on who had the wettest summer and to meet Pauline Alexander, our newest player, over supper.  This also gave us the opportunity  to try out and welcome the new caterers at Murrayfield, Lorette and Bruce.

The competition result is, as usual posted on the results page.

Letter from our President

Dear Sister & Brother Curlers,
It gives me great pleasure as President of Aberlady Curling Club to welcome you all to the new season. It is hard to believe it is coming round so soon and we will be curling before the end of this month. Hope you all managed to find some sunshine over the summer, you may have had to venture further afield!
We start the new season in a healthy position regarding membership. We welcome Pauline Alexander as a new full playing member. We also have a few more reserves than last season, including new member; Raymond Preston. Hopefully we will maintain this position for the duration of the forthcoming season. Thanks to all our members for your commitment to the Club.
Circulated with your syllabus is information about 'Come & Try' session for beginners, as you will see it is being offered at the very start of the season, so please feel free to encourage/invite any friends/colleagues who may be interested in trying out the game. If you could let John Smail or myself know any names asap.
Also, please note we have included some 'social' opportunities, supper after one or two of the games;when all four rinks are playing. We will assume everyone will be staying, unless they advise otherwise. There is a change to the Bonspiel this year, it is being played on Monday 17th December, to maximize the number of members who can play & give it a Christmas theme. We propose eating prior to the game that evening.
The Pairs competition is also being played at a different time, it is November. Hopefully you can all put it in your diary early and we can have a full complement playing. The thirds medal is the only competition where you will change rinks, the other three competitions;you will be in your main rink (1-4).
Congratulations to one of our members- Cathy Maclean on her appointment to the board of the RCCC. In the voting process at the AGM in June Cathy was voted for and appointed. We wish her well in this and know that she shall carry the name of Aberlady Curling Club with her.
Also, I would like to send best wishes on behalf of the club to Morgan and Graeme who;as you know were selected to play in the Scottish Strathcona Cup team in Canada in January 2013. I'm sure they will have plenty to share with us on their return. Again, the Aberlady Curling Club name will be carried to rinks abroad.
Score Cards should be returned to Graeme for inclusion on the website, this can be done via email or left on the Aberlady board at Murrayfield,if he is not about (this is very rare as Murrayfield becomes his second home in the winter!!). Please ensure all names of players are clearly written on the cards, this helps when identifying 'reserve' players for payment at a later stage. Information regarding payment for all members is with you, please note the deadline date, payment should be sent to Mike or directly into the Aberlady a/c.
Finally, I look forward to our first game and meeting up with everyone again. Wishing you an enjoyable and successful curling season.
Sincerely yours, 
Liz Nicoll, President

Welcome to Season 2012 - 13

Preparations are well under way and its only about a month till we kick off with a new season.
The Welcome & Subscription Pack  has now been issued for a while and I would urge everyone to respond quickly to the subs requests.
The season's fixture list, together with details of the individual rinks and a copy of the full Syllabus can be found by clicking on the Fixtures Tab

The Waldie Griffith in East Lothian

Following last years win of the Waldie Griffith Trophy by East Lothian Province, which included three Aberlady players in the squad of 16, the Sir Richard Waldie Griffith Trophy is now on public display.  This is as part of the exhibition at the new John Gray Centre in Haddington by East Lothian Council Celebrating Sport.
For over 100 years, curlers from around Scotland have competed for the honour of taking this huge silver trophy back to their home area. East Lothian first won it in 1911, the second year of the competition. It has not been seen in public in East Lothian since that date although East Lothian won it again in 1965 and 2010. In February 2012,  East Lothian won it again for the second time in 3 years.  The sixteen curlers from six East Lothian Clubs took the competition with the highest average shots-up, more than twice that of the runners-up !

It is planned to have a further exhibition on two aspects of East Lothian’s Curling history in the John Gray Centre in the autumn.


This is an extract and adaptation from the press release by David Affleck.  The full press release can be found by clicking here

Board of Curling

 Congratulations to Cathy MacLean.
At the RCCC AGM she was voted onto the Board of the RCCC for a two year term.  If anyone has any complaints about the running of the sport, you know who to contact ! 

Season 2012 - 13

Yes, Season 2012-13 starts here.
You should already have received your forms asking you to let us know your playing intentions for next season.
Please return these forms to John Smail by SATURDAY 30th JUNE.  Please note that John has a new email address for club activities
We have also added some links to other websites in the right hand column. These links are currently to the Strathcona Cup Tour website which is under construction, The East Lothian Province Website and to the RCCC Website.

Finally, don't forget that our Cathy MacLean is standing for the board of the RCCC.  If you are a member of the RCCC you can vote on-line by visiting the Membership Database and logging in, or at the AGM on Saturday at Murrayfield (you will need your membership card).

2012 Dinner & Prizegiving

© Priscilla Smail - Vice President and President

Our thanks go to Liz for organising a very enjoyable dinner, with exceptionally fine food, and good company.  It was good to see everyone in a relaxed situation away from the cauldron of competition (eh !).
The night was enjoyed by all and not just the prize winners.
Thanks are also due to Priscilla Smail who took photos of the prize giving which have now been added to our Filckr account which can be found by clicking HERE

Canada Tour 2013 - update

Morgan Nicoll and Dave Munro will now be joined by Graeme Maguire on the Strathcona Cup tour to Canada.  John Good remains on the reserve list and we all wish him well.
The tour takes up most of January so this will be a busy time for the club's reserves.

AGM & President v Vice President Match

Monday 26th March at 5.30 sees the last game of the season for us, followed by a (I am told brief) AGM and supper at the ice rink.  All are welcome to attend the AGM and supper, whether playing in the game or not.
The Presidents players are Michael, Ross,Cathy, John S, Graeme, George, Pam and (obviously) Liz.

I will add the Vice Presidents players when notified.

Still to Come

The main competitions are all decided but there is still the Grand President v The (also Grand) Vice President  followed by the AGM and supper at the ice rink on Monday 26th March 2012 at 5.30.

There is also the Club Dinner on Friday 20th April 2012 at the Old Inn, in Aberlady, before our summer break.

Peter Allan Shield Domination

Well done to Morgan and his team  of Dale, Callander, Sheena Munro and Rosie Clark for dominating this years Peter Allan Shield Competition.  With 5 wins from his 6 games, only slipping up at the very last they ended 4 clear points ahead of Graeme.
At the other end of the championship, it went to the very wire with both John Niven and Mike Wood with two wins, they had also beaten each other once, and both having won 6 ends against each other.  The clincher was, over the two head to head games, John Niven was up ten shots to nine and therefore Mike takes the wooden spoon.

Shots Title Defence Successful

Graeme in summer plumage

Congratulations to Graeme and his team of George Chisholm, Liz Nicoll and Pam Clark, who last night (in the comfort of their own homes) won the Shots Competition.  It was down to the last match between John Niven and Mike Wood.  Mike was still in with a chance of winning but required a winning margin of 9 shots.  In the event he rolled out the winner by 2 shots and the title remained safe in Graeme's hands for another year.

Season Update

With 1 round of the Shots Competition and the Peter Allan Shield remaining, Morgan is still the man to beat.  He has now opened up a decisive lead in the shots and is still on a 100% win rate for the Peter Allan with 5 wins from 5.

The Shots Competition - Underway

The Shots competition, decided only by shots up over 3 games, started last night.
In the absence of his skip, John Good battled against Morgan.  The game was an uphill battle with 5 of the first six ends going to Morgan with a single shot (Unfortunately the other end went to Morgan with a 2).
With the scoreline at 7 - 0 John came to play his final stone of the last end with the comfort of 2 scoring stones.  He delivered a light take out to Morgans only counting stone, wide on the left wing and played a perfect shot coming past the guard, removing the stone and sitting for a count of 4.
Final score 7 - 4.  With a point difference of only 3 there is all to play for.

This win extended Morgans lead in the Perter Allan Shield competition to 4 wins out of 4.

Pam and her Pair of Pairs

The long and the short of it is, They Won !

Well done to Pam Clark who successfully defended her club pairs crown, this time with Morgan as her partner.  With only 8 players, the competition was run as a round robin, with Pam and Morgan coming through undefeated.
Pam and Morgan have to work hard for their prize and the gallery was astounded witness Morgan stripped to his tee-shirt and looking 'in the pink'.
Congratulations to Dale for organising the competition and keeping it running smoothly.  All this on his daughter's birthday too !  Hope you were not in too much trouble.

Canada Tour 2013

Morgan Nicoll

Congratulations to Morgan Nicoll and Dave Munro (you know Sheena's man) for being selected for the 2013 Tour of Canada.  Selection was a hard fought process with over 90 curlers applying for the 60 places.  Mention should also be given to John Good and Graeme Maguire who are on the reserve list.

Waldie Griffith Trophy

Cathy MacLean

Well done to Cathy McLean, Mike Wood and Sandy Nicoll, who represented Aberlady in this years Waldie Griffith Trophy match.  The Waldie Griffith is an inter province tournament which this year pitched four East Lothian teams against Breadalbane.  We returned with 3 outstanding wins (which featured our players) and 1 loss yielding and average win of 7.5 shots up, the last time that it was won by East Lothian, we did it with a 6.5 average, so things look hopeful that we can achieve another win.
For a fuller report and link to the current standings please see the Province Website

4 Nations 2012

Another year, another 4 Nations.  Once again, I had a great time and helped the Scottish Men (officially this time) retain the Tom Ballantyne Trophy from the English.  With only the result from the eighth and final match to come England were beating Scotland by 5 shots however a 12-3 scoreline saw the result reversed to give a Scottish win by 4 shots.  I was privileged to play with a great skip and third combo, Hamish Lorrain-Smith and Alan Chalmers, both of (Musketeers) and we contributed a total of 16 shots up, over our two games, to the overall Scottish winning margin of +4.

Alan Chalmers, David Wright,  Graeme & Hamish Lorrain-Smith

Scotland also won the Connie Miller Trophy (Scot v England ladies) and the Marshall Millenium Trophy (Scot v Ireland)

Our rink also won the ECA Medal for the best Scottish rink, the second year in a row that I have won this.