Grand Match
{{Short description|Scottish curling tournament}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2014}}
File:Charles Martin Hardie - Curling at Carsebreck - Google Art Project.jpg - Curling at Carsebreck]]
The Grand Match, also called The Bonspiel, is an outdoor curling tournament, or bonspiel, held most recently on the Lake of Menteith in Stirling, Scotland, when the weather is cold enough. Traditionally it is a match between the north and south of Scotland.
History
The last tournament was held in 1979. From then until 2010, a loch never froze to the required depth of seven inches{{cite web
|url = http://www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org/nlstory.cfm?ID=36398&NLID=40830
|title = Grand Match Update
|author = Royal Caledonian Curling Club
|date = 2010-01-05
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20100306202924/http://www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org/nlstory.cfm?ID=36398&NLID=40830
|archivedate = 6 March 2010
|accessdate = 2010-01-06
|url-status = dead
|df = dmy-all
}} of ice to allow the tournament to take place. It can attract thousands of curlers when it is held.{{cite web
|url=http://www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org/rccc/index.cfm/rccc-news/curling-grand-match/
|title=Curling Grand Match
|accessdate=22 December 2010
|publisher=Royal Caledonian Curling Club
}}{{dead link|date=March 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
The Royal Caledonian Curling Club (RCCC) stated in December 2010 that the Lake of Menteith is no longer suitable for holding a Grand Match due to the logistics involved, with Loch Leven and the Piper Dam in Dundee now the preferred sites.
In total, the Grand Match has taken place on 38 occasions, of which 33 were on outside ice: one in November, nine in December, 16 in January, and seven in February. The five indoor matches were held at the Edinburgh and Glasgow ice rinks.
On 5 January 2010, following weeks of freezing weather conditions throughout the UK, the RCCC met to discuss holding the event for the first time in 30 years.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/6937237/Ice-allows-historic-curling-match-for-first-time-in-30-years.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109131400/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/6937237/Ice-allows-historic-curling-match-for-first-time-in-30-years.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 January 2010|title=Ice allows historic curling match for first time in 30 years|publisher=Daily Telegraph|date=5 January 2010|accessdate=2 November 2010}} However, just days later, the plans had to be scrapped as Health & Safety issues could not be resolved in the short time available.{{cite news|url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2010/01/08/curling-grand-match-is-called-off-over-safety-concerns-86908-21952511/|title=Curling Grand Match is called off over safety concerns|publisher=Daily Record|date=8 January 2010|accessdate=2 November 2010}} Nevertheless, upwards of 20,000 people turned up over the weekend in defiance of the police, and numerous matches were held on the ice. An unofficial tournament was planned for a few days later, not sanctioned by the RCCC. This had to be abandoned due to warmer weather making the ice dangerous.{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/bonspiel-curling-grand-match-scrapped-as-lake-of-menteith-ice-melts-1.998166|title=Bonspiel curling 'grand match' scrapped as Lake of Menteith ice melts|publisher=Herald Scotland|date=12 January 2010|accessdate=2 November 2010}}
To celebrate the millennium, an Indoor Grand Match was inaugurated in 2000, and this proved so popular that it became a regular event, being held every five years since. It is spread across several indoor ice rinks across the nation, with the last Indoor Grand Match in October 2015 being won by the south.{{cite web|url=http://www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org/south-of-scotland-win-asam-2015-indoor-grand-match/|title=South of Scotland Wins ASAM 2015 Indoor Grand Match|last=|first=|date=24 October 2015|website=|publisher=|accessdate=13 September 2016}}
List of national bonspiels
{{Expand list|date=August 2008}}
- Penicuik, 15 January 1847 - 96 competitors
- Linlithgow Loch, 1848 - 680 competitors, 6000 spectators
- Barr Meadow, 1850 - near Castle Semple Loch
- Carsebreck, near Blackford - 25 matches between 1853-1935, on leased land which was specially flooded to provide good, safe ice - the final match, on 24 December 1935, attracted 2576 competitors{{cite web|title=Bonspeil At Carsebreck Pond|url=http://movingimage.nls.uk/film/6030|website=Moving Image Archive|publisher=National Library of Scotland|accessdate=19 February 2018}}
- Loch of Aboyne was used for a bonspiel on the 10 February 1891 between curlers from the south and north of the River Don.[http://curlinghistory.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-trains-to-loch.html Curling History]
- Loch Leven, 1959{{cite web|last1=Thomson|first1=David K (director)|title= PITLOCHRY & LOCH LEVEN BONSPIEL, JANUARY 1959|url=http://movingimage.nls.uk/film/5489|website=Moving Image Archive|publisher=National Library of Scotland|accessdate=19 February 2018}}
- Lake of Menteith, 1963, 1979{{cite web|last1=Schorstein|first1=Jon (director)|title=The Grand Match|url=http://movingimage.nls.uk/film/3127|website=Moving Image Archive|publisher=National Library of Scotland|accessdate=19 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219210712/http://movingimage.nls.uk/film/3127|archive-date=19 February 2018|url-status=dead}}
References
External links
- [http://www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org Royal Caledonian Curling Club]
- [http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en/item/item_photograph.jsp?item_id=4732 Am Baile - Highland History and Culture - Curling Bonspiel]
Category:1847 establishments in Scotland
Category:1847 in British sport
Category:Curling competitions in Scotland
Category:Sport in Stirling (council area)
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