I wonder how many C&B members know of the club's proud tradition in regard to the famous old points game? In fact, it was invented by three members of the Currie Curling Club, one of the two clubs that merged to form the Currie and Balerno Curling Club. They were famous in their club's history and I dare say that their names will be remembered long after any of the current membership - why? Well, they were true innovators in our great sport.
Robert Palmer was a teacher in Currie and we believe that we may have found one of his old stones from the 1830s. More of that in a later post. David Cunningham and Dr Somerville were the other two members who codified the rules of the points game that remain with us to this day. It's really only in the various points competitions around the country that we revert to the old way of describing shots like "chap and lie" or "inwick"!
Somerville was also famous for inventing a shallow curling pond to enable the sport to take place outdoors after maybe only a day or two of freezing temperatures. Actually, there was a heated debate that eventually ended up in the courts; was it Somerville, or the first President of the Grand Caledonian Curling Club, Dr John Cairnie of Curling Hall in Largs who invented the curling pond? Cairnie got the nod.
This year's Points competition takes place this Friday at 18.00 (6.00pm). There is an overall prize as well as a ladies prize on offer. It's a fun couple of hours, so why not come along and see what our predecessors came up with.
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