2024 – 2025

Club Bonspiel

‘Twas the night before end of the season when all through the house went all of my stones. Could just as well, given my score at the conclusion of our Rhymers Reel Bonspiel. Deferred from our usual slot in January due to the raging storm Eowyn closing down almost everything in the Borders and much wider afield, with the company of eight guests, we found ourselves with a full session of curling to enjoy. As is the way, the format gets everyone scratching their heads as to where to move for their next end, by the time each team had played every other team, there was a fair bit speculation as to who might have topped the table. That reveal was deferred too as we all hurriedly decamped to the Cross Keys for the meal, as the clubrooms had a Hockey booking. After a very enjoyable meal, President James got down to business and announced the winners. John Stevenson’s team took first place on +8 shots. Second and third spot was close though, with +3 shots and 4 ends each and was only determined on the head to head result. That put Graeme Wilson’s rink ahead of Marion’s. Phew! Congratulations to John, Isla Forsyth, Harry and Steven on a great win. Thanks to James for the prizes, to our guests for making it a grand night and to all who brought raffle prizes.

Developers Cup

The Developers cup final was part of the spectacle of Finals Day and as a very well attended gallery watched this and the Ladies and Border League games unfold, it was a Developer team that brought success for one club member – Mike Stevenson. Mike skipped his winning team of Rupert Townsend, Hugh Dawson and Helen Dalley to their win against Andrew Sim’s team in a closely fought game. It was great to hear the welcome both teams received as they entered the club room afterwards and the applause for the winning team. Congratulations to Mike on his success and to all the players for a most watchable final.

Border League

The final of the Border League was played on 13th March there and the club were right in at the sharp end. Having topped their Section with an unbeaten run, they had won their game against Group B winners, Coldstream, in the playoff for the direct spot in the final. As it turns out, Coldstream won their next playoff game against Foulden to jump back into contention for the prize. The stage was set.

Act II. We lost the script and straight away, we were up against a determined Coldstream side firing on all cylinders. We managed to keep them pegged in the opening ends but a lost 4 in the third end put the kibosh on our dreams. Coldstream went on to add singles and another big end and despite our best efforts on the day we couldn’t stop the inevitable. With a final score of mid-teens something to our two shots, the game was conceded. One game lost in the whole Border League campaign, but it was the most important. Our congratulations go to the Coldstream boys on their win. It was well deserved. We won the Stirling Salver for our efforts. Jim, Graeme Wilson, Bill and John Burns played the last two games but thanks to all who played a part through the season.

Where’s Waldie?

Well actually, staying for now in the Borders. In the Waldie Griffiths competition this year Borders had drawn East Lothian Province in a home match. That was held yesterday with four rinks battling it out against members from various clubs in East Lothian. We had three members playing, John Stevenson, Bill and Graeme Cowe. Borders won the event with +3 shots which is a fraction of what is likely to be required to win the Waldie trophy. Ah well! We can be happy with the win. As it happens, the event was also used to determine the fate of the Potty Challenge which is an annual contest between the two Provinces and this had been deferred from earlier in the year. Yey! Borders also won the Potty.

Directors Success

We had two teams almost entirely made up of Earlston players, contesting the Director’s Cup final. Graeme Wilson’s team started their road by winning their game 6-2 against Alistair Hodge and then a Semi Final against Emma Neill’s young curlers in a nail biter 8-7 game. John Stevenson’s team won 10-6 against Lucy Tile and then their very close 7-6 semi final against Colin Martin. To the final then. Graeme, Ewan, Cammy and John Burns against John, Bill, Bruce Porteous and Graeme Cowe. Graeme got first blood with a single, John won it back, then that happened again. In the fifth end, Graeme got a two, then John won it back to square the match 4-4 going into the last, where GW had the hammer. Phew! a decent gallery was observing it all and the Morton girls were back in party mood as it all came down to a very tricky shot (which admittedly, took a lot of time considering) for John to push in a stone to steal shot with his last. That just failed to curl enough and feathered off a guard. Graeme didn’t need to play his last. The tie was won. Cracking game Grommet. Well done to Graeme, Ewan, Cammy and John Burns. Also worth noting the other Earlston players who played in this competition in earlier games – Phil, Marion, Andy, Rosie & Thomas

Morton

The Border Ice rink ladies won through to the Morton Cup finals which were held yesterday at Dundee Ice bowl. We only had Marion representing the club in the list of players for the day and she had a notable success in her semi final game against Stranraer. Unfortunately, the other two games went Stranraer’s way and it was they who progressed to the final against Lanarkshire and ultimately lifted the cup. A close tie was played for 3rd spot against Dundee and with matches only scheduled for 6 ends, it was the home team who prevailed. Anyway. Well done Marion on the Gail game. A very nice way to celebrate your birthday. Congratulations.

Open Pairs Finals

If you check back a couple of Posts you’ll see that Jim, together with Paul Jess, managed to get the golden ticket to head off to the finals of the National Pairs competition at Stranraer. It looked a pretty hefty schedule for the round robin games with seven matches to be played. With a couple of draws on day one against Stranraer 1 and Lockerbie 1 and a defeat to Kinross, it was proving to be a tough road. Day two saw three decent wins against Stirling, Stranraer 3 and Edinburgh teams though and with a final game on Sunday being another Peel against Greenacres 1, it left them on nine points, in third place, just short of the qualification spot. Three wins, three draws and a solitary defeat? Not at all shabby. Well done to them both.

Birlin Broom Winners

Well, The Birler proved to be a league of two halves this year. Which is a big improvement on last year since we had sufficient numbers to create two halves. With four teams in the mix, it unfolded that the top two were involved in the final pair of games to determine who swept the board. With Bill’s team in top spot before the match to second spot, Graeme Cowe’s curlers, their game became the decider. Graeme came out the blocks fastest lying a four, which was only just trimmed back to a three with Phil’s last stone. A quick riposte was made by Phil bagging a five and it looked like a rollercoaster game was on. As folk rotated round the playing positions, Bill’s team built on the score and Graeme came back a bit but as they entered the final end, Bill was five up. Graeme managed to take a three in that final end to leave the score at 10-8. A good match with all players getting to play some fine shots and add to the drama. Jeez! It is confusing though, until you get into your stride. Congratulations to Bill, Phil, Liz and Harry. Birlin Broom.

Oakroom Bonspiel Winner

With three club members playing in the Ladies Oakroom and all in different teams, we were in with a shout for some success. As it turns out, Liz was playing in Lucy Tile’s team against Marion and Liz ended up on the overall winner’s rostrum. Lesley Cowe was also playing and ended up in runner up spot in Fiona Hodge’s team. It was a great curling session by all accounts, so very well done to all. Congratulations.

Gala Cup Win

The Gala Cup requires teams of two men and two women in a knockout format and in this, we had two teams. First to take to the ice, back in late November was Graeme Wilson, John Burns, Russet and Lynsey against a Jedburgh team and regrettably, Jed won. Bill, Graeme Cowe, Lesley Cowe and Rosie were our other entry and with a bye into the second round, they had Selkirk to contend with and happily, this ended with the score line in our favour. That saw us through to face Colin Martin’s Ayton Castle and this too resulted in a good win. With a full two months between that game and this week’s final, we took to the ice against Roxburghe. The first end fell to our team when we scored a two. A good four in the third built on that but a very scary five, against, was averted when we got a stone in sitting with some backing, which remained shot. Phew! The outcome of it all was a 10-1 win and congratulations go to the team for that. Well done. Soor Plooms? Not this time around.

National Schools Competition

It was good to see our Kelso High School pupils participating in the Scottish Schools Curling Championships again. This time at Perth, club member Rosie was playing along with Emma Neill, Douglas Redpath and Ben Scott and playing six games in their section, they qualified in second place to Elgin Academy. Their quarter final game against George Watsons was a bit of a humdinger with the scoring being single shot ends leaving them one shot down at 3-2 going into the last. That last end delivered a three to end it in dramatic style. Unfortunately the semi final against Perth Academy was a bit one sided it was they who progressed to the final and ultimately won the competition. Well done folks.

Marie Curie Bonspiel

The Marie Curie event was played out last weekend with a couple of club members taking part. Bill and Mike were in separate teams though and both had a bit of success to bask in. Mike was playing with Colin Martin’s team and together with Dorothy Silver and Hugh Dawson, they made their way to the high road final against George Whiteford’s team. They ultimately came off second best in that to find themselves, well, second, picking up the Glendale Bowl. Bill’s team took the low road to the prizes and managed to come off the better against John Sinton’s curlers. The Hamish Wilson trophy was the prize for their efforts and it was greatly received by Bill, and his trio of Gateway Players – Andrew Sim, Rupert Townsend & Dawny Calder. Well done to all who played the day to make it a success.

Cullen Cup Classic

The Cullen Cup league came to a conclusion in a play off final clash between Cammy’s and Bill’s teams. Take a step back though to the table before the final game in the round robin, it was all very tight (click on the link below to check it out) and it seemed likely that the top two – Cammy and Graeme Wilson would be the contenders. That last game however saw Bill win over Ewan with just sufficient margin to end top. The top three being equal on points and ends scored but with Bill one better on shots difference. The final was a tense affair in each end but Bill was able to edge away a shot at a time. Taking a 3 in the sixth end was where it all ended and Cammy graciously shook hands. Congratulations to Bill’s team of Phil, Bob and Linda on winning the trophy. Cullen Cup

Club Points Challenge

That time of year again when the pretenders to the pinnacle of Points prowess, er? Peter oot. Well, some do get there and this year we had 13 clubs facing the challenge and for us, that meant Cammy, Phil and Graeme Wilson. It was a tough night for all the players with eight disciplines set up across the four sheets presenting slightly different ice. Ultimately Glendale came out top of the class scoring 39 points, Jed were second with 35 and Young Roxburgh one point behind at 34. I think our boys came in with 32 points. Calum McLain won the top men’s score with 21 and Helen Forbes was top women’s scorer with 18. Well done everyone.

Open for Pairs

Sufficient number of members taking part for a couple of pairs in the Open Pairs competition with Rosie, John Stevenson, Jim and Bill all having a pop. Rosie played with Emma Neill, John & Bill together and Jim was with Paul Jess. First off, John & Bill won a tight match against Rosie but after both teams losing to James Stark, it was James & Callum McLain who took the High Road and John & Bill, the Low Road. Jim & Paul meanwhile had won both their games to get the High road route too. John & Bill won their semi final and found themselves in the final against Bruce & Kyla Porteous. That final was hard fought and after going to an extra end, it was Bruce and Kyla who made the winning tape. In the High Road event, Jim & Paul were doing the business and made their final but that was against James & Callum, last year’s winners, who also turned out to be this year’s winners too. A bloomin’ long day but some great curling. Who knows? We may yet have representation in the National Finals at Stranraer. Watch this space.

PS – Jim and Paul got the gig.

Dram Winners

After a keenly contested Dram competition, the final was contested, rather fittingly, by two Pates. Cameron and Andy faced off against Ewan and Lesley Cowe. Cammy set the pace with a starter two and another four in the third end taking the score to 6-1. Ewan quickly responded with a two in the fourth but after that the big guns were firing and Cammy and Andy took the game to an 11-4 conclusion. A hard game, eight ends of doubles curling, and a lot tougher when you cannot find a way to dent the opposition. Congratulations to Cammy & Andy on a really fine win. The Dram.

Selkirk Bonspiel Habit

Well, what would you call it when Graeme Cowe wins Selkirk’s Bonspiel for the third year on the bounce. Not only winning it, but in emphatic style. Seventeen shots on the board without reply. They say he isn’t getting invited back. Respect!

Points

Time for the annual Points competition and this year, we had nine members down to test their mettle against sheet four ice which seemed to have recovered it’s fallback on the barrier side, making some of the disciplines more than a bit tricky. Three players managed to master that though, with Cammy winning the medal on 22 points, Phil on 21 and Graeme Wilson on 18. That was only determined by a tie breaker between the top two who had to play the outwicking shot off the barrier side. It took their two stones each to settle that with Cammy getting a two and Phil just short with a one. The three go onwards to represent the club at the Club Points Challenge on 18th Feb. Best of luck to them for that.

Harry Hogg Exit

A good run in the HH was brought to an end in a semi final match against Glendale. Having earlier mastered the challenge posed by Greenlaw which seemed to swing either way with two shots scored alternately each end, we broke that spell to go 8-4 up heading into the final end when they also spoiled the pattern and were only able to take a single. The match against Glendale was a very good game in which both teams managed some good curling. James Dixon’s lot ended up 6-5 winners. Hard luck to Graeme Wilson, Bill, Phil & Graeme Cowe.

Tweedmouth Kettle

Time to put the Kettle on again. Two teams playing in tandem for that much desired trophy saw them facing Swinton in the first round. Graeme Wilson, Bill, James and Liz had a fine game against Robert, Walker’s team ending with a 9-4 win. On the adjacent sheet, Ewan, Cammy, Marion and Russet were firing on a load of cylinders against Philip Dixon’s team ending up+16. So, with those under our belt we progressed to a Semi final against Foulden. With Jim in for Graeme Wilson who was down with the winter coughing craze, we managed a 13-3 win against Michael Sutherlands rink. Ewan had Martin Dudgeon’s rink to contend with and came out of that one shot down. That meant Duns were the opposition in the final and both our teams struggled to come up with the goods meaning we won (?) the Crawford Cup and not the Kettle.

Border Bonspiel & Quizspiel

Two teams set up to battle for the Bonspiel title with first out the blocks, Graeme Cowe, Andy, Lesley Cowe and Mike matched up with Selkirk No. 1. The game was tight most of the way but being a couple shots down heading into the last end, the final words went to Selkirk when they scored a five. The next session had Graeme Wilson, Phil, John Burns and Harry facing Glendale and they had a happier tussle ending 7 shots up. Quite neatly, that balanced out the two games and we had an average of zero points. Winners on the night were Duns who scored 5.5.

Moving on to the Quizspiel, sole representatives from the club were Team Trumpton, aka Jim, Liz, Russet and John Burns. Happily they scored much better than our curling but similarly, ahem, nowhere near troubling the winners.

Swiss Tour

We were pleased to welcome the Men’s Swiss tour into Border Ice Rink for what was the second port of call on their way round Scotland. It was nice to feature in the start of a tour rather than the more usual 2nd last game. Graeme Cowe, Graeme Wilson and Bill were in the teams playing against the visitors. The two G’s were in the same team with GW skipping the guys to a healthy 8-6 win whilst Bill, in Bruce Porteous’ rink, lost their encounter 9-6. When the other matches were added in, BIR had secured 3 wins ending up with +16 to add to Scotland’s account. A good result. A super meal was provided in the clubrooms by ‘The Bistro’ with entertainment provided and reciprocated by the Swiss. I hear tell the tourists did not get to enjoy their breakfast or lovely view of the Tweed next day since Ednam House Hotel experienced a fire alarm at that time which was a bit of a shame. More upset too towards the end

Laidlaw Trophy

The Laidlaw was a lost cause for us this year. With Graeme Wilson, Ewan, Bill & James all limbered up, we faced a Coldstream team led by James Stark. Always just up against it in every end against the streamers, they gradually built on their score to take a decent win. Kuh! It just wasn’t happening. The form of this competition requires you to rotate playing positions in every round and with Andrew Letham now skipping, Coldstream did go on to win the final against Swinton. Not much of a consolation, I know.

Yuill Trophy finally concluded

Otherwise known as ‘The League’, the final game was played on Friday night bringing the curtain down on the contest. With a couple of catch up games to be played beyond the scheduled duration of the league, it was of course well known that Graeme Wilson’s rink were outright winners and Graeme, Tommy, Tracy & Lesley Cowe are no doubt pleased to have that all done and dusted and they deserve the congratulations due for that. The lingering interest was in who would end up in the runners up spot with Jim, Ewan and Bill’s rink all looking at the possibility. The final game between Bill and Ewan’s teams was a tense and closely fought affair ending up with Bill’s rink of Graeme Cowe, Russet and Linda shading it 5-4 and getting them into 2nd place. Phew!

Cowdenknowes Cracker

I think, to be fair, the bang was removed from this pre-christmas cracker as John Stevenson’s rink set about very effectively stifling any damage available to Bill’s rink. John, Graeme Cowe, Russet and Rosie played a great game, immediately recovering the two shots they lost in the 1st end and never looking back. Even bagging a three in the last end to take the title 7-3. Worthy winners and they now look forward to defending the cup next year. Commiserations to Bill, Phil, Lesley Cowe and Linda, who no doubt look forward to starting all over again.

Pairs Trophy

We had a couple of excellent finals for the Pairs trophy and Plate games. First up in the Trophy were Bill and James against Graeme Wilson and Andy. Graeme was lying a healthy 4 shots in the first end but Bill, much to his relief, managed to cut this down to two winning stones. Those were won back in the next end and a further two single shots to Bill & James over the next two ends had the score at 4-2 going into the fifth. A fine last stone shot by Graeme won that end but the match was finished at 4-3 to Bill & James. The Plate served up a cracker too and after a very similar start to the earlier final, Ewan and John always seemed to keep a load of pressure on Cammy and Liz. Ultimately, Cammy ran out of stones to be able to win the game but took the final score to within a shot too, ending up with Graeme and Andy the winners at 5-4. Congratulations to both sets of winners. Pairs Trophy

Diamond Jubilee Bonspiel

Border Ice rink opened its doors to ice sports on 1st October 1964 with a curling bonspiel followed by a well attended dinner in Ednam House Hotel. Fast forward to 19th October this year and similar celebrations were held with three teams from the club taking part in a 60th Anniversary bonspiel involving 32 teams. First out were Cammy, Graeme Cowe, James and Lesley Cowe playing against Kelso and they set the bar for the rest with a final shot margin of +7. Graeme Wilson, Bill, John and Eleanor Burns were next up in Session 2 against a Glendale team. They had an entirely different game though only managing to limit the damage by posting a -2 result. In the final session, Jim, Marion, Liz and Russet were up against a Swinton team and just to sit on the fence, managed to get a peeled game. Everyone seemed to have a grand day’s curling though and it really was great to see the rink full over four sessions.

The winning rink, coming out of session two, was Yester who had a remarkable +14 margin in their game. Runners up place needed much more careful scrutiny with four teams in contention on the same ‘shots up’ margin but very happily, it transpired that Cammy’s rink ticked all the boxes to claim the prizes which took the form of cut glass trophies for each team member Woooo Hoooo! Prizes were presented at the celebration dinner in the Cross Keys Hotel attended by 18 members. A cracking day really.

Turnbull Trophy

Formerly known as the Ladies Opening Bonspiel and this year it was a cracker of a competition with the new Ice Rink mascot, Little Ram, watching over the whole event. There was a fully subscribed session of eight teams and not many shots between the contenders for top spot. We had Liz, Lesley Cowe and Rosie taking part but sadly their teams were not in the running for the prizes. At the end of the day, the winning rink was that skipped by Isla Forsyth and the runners up were Fiona Hodge’s team.

World Mixed curling Championships 2024

If you are watching Scotland’s progress in the ‘Mixed’ they are off to a good start with two wins from two. If you’re a Borders curler you might also want to keep an eye out for our own Kirsty Balfour, playing for England. Playing with Andrew Woolston, Lesley Gregor and Martin Gregory, they are currently on one win and one defeat. Fingers crossed for one of the 3 qualifier spots by the time we get to Thursday. All the very best Kirsty.

PS – Well we got to Thursday night and sorry to tell you that Kirsty & England did not qualify out of their group. Still hope for Scotland though who managed to bag a fourth place qualification in their section. Tough games these.

New Season, New Beginnings

Well, we are up and running with the first round of games played in the Yuill Trophy resulting in some folk winning and others not. The big winner at this point though is the Ice rink and ice. The New Border Ice Rink Trust has come into being taking over running of the Ice rink and many congratulations must go to all those within the Trust management and the BIR management in getting the transition completed. It seems seamless but there has been a load of work carried out. We finally have the new ice plant and dehumidifier in place and working, which has enabled the production of some excellent ice for the commencement of the season. A big welcome and congratulations too, to our very own John Stevenson, in taking up the role of Ice Manager. The portents are good. Best wishes to all concerned for a great new season.