Greenlaw Curling Club Celebrate their 150th Anniversary

The club was formed in 1862 but wasn’t incorporated into the governing body, the Royal Caledonian Curling Club (RCCC) until 1873, hence 2023 being the ‘official’ 150th anniversary.

The anniversary medal was presented to the Club Committee by Jimmy Raeburn, incumbent President of the Royal Club. Receiving the medal on behalf of Greenlaw Curling Club, the current President, Steve Brown said that it is rare for any curling club to reach this milestone, and despite the difficulties that have faced the game and all curling clubs since COVID, the Club was in good health.

READ MORE: Eco friendly High Croft Play Park opens in Kelso

Over 80 curlers and guests from other Borders curling clubs attended this major celebration.

The Bonspiel curling competition that took place featured 64 players and the competitors were piped onto the ice by Rory Russell. The competition was won by Richard Smith (St. Ronans C.C.), John McCririck (Roxburghe C.C.), Gordon Fettes (Greenlaw C.C.), and Alistair Lindsay (Lammermuir C.C.).

The prizes were specially commissioned glass paper weights made by Holmes Glass of Selkirk. The action on the ice was followed by a gala dinner and Honorary guest Jimmy Raeburn presented the curling prizes and delivered an amusing and rallying after dinner speech. Jimmy praised the efforts of the TryCurling team at the Borders Ice Rink and also emphasised how important the social side of curling was to the game. Entertainment was provided by the Glasgow based Ceilidh and Folk band Ceòl Beag.

READ MORE: The Doddie88 cycling and walking challenge reaches target

The evening was the biggest club social event at the ice rink for several years and the atmosphere was described as ‘electric’. The commemorative guest book was full of praise for the event’s organisation with one guests’ comment being typical; ‘every detail was perfect and we will have many happy memories of a wonderful celebration’.

Bill Burgess, member of the Management Team at the Border Ice Rink and also Greenlaw Secretary, said that the celebration had given a big boost to the Borders curling community. He went on to say that the Ice Rink and Curling have faced many challenges in the past few years due to COVID and soaring energy prices.

READ MORE: Wind turbine blade deliveries to resume on Friday

However, the Border Ice Rink has survived and has recently made major investments in a new roof and a new ice plant. Diversification to add ice hockey to curling and ice skating in the winter and roller skating in the summer months have added to the rinks appeal. The rink has also been made available to the public for social events and weddings and this is proving to be popular.