Curling at Lockerbie

Another trip to 'have-a-go' at a sport meant we were heading to Lockerbie Ice Rink on the warmest day of Autumn but in multi-layered clothing. Most were getting a bit worried about having to stand or walk (or run?!) on ice.

Once welcomed to the rink our footwear was inspected as any particle of grit would cause havoc to the sliding stones. We were warmed up with a few exercises to help prevent aching muscles. Our lead coach was Marion Murdoch, quite possibly the best curling coach in the world as her son was Skip of the Olympic men's medal winning team.

We were then taken onto the ice and despite the first few steps being very tentative we soon got a bit more confident.

Split into 4 groups on two sheets (note the technical terms!) each group now had a coach. For the first hour on the ice we were shown basic techniques and rules of etiquette and the game which we tried out in turn.

Not everyone could cope with all the squatting and bending but we were taught how to use sticks to push the stones.

Gradually we were pushing the stones further and further with slight spins.
For the second hour each group had a 'match' with another group.

Please excuse the blurred photos - people were moving and I was standing on sheet ICE !!

We actually managed to get stones in the house, set guards and miss completely!!

No-one fell over but the cold did permeate through shoes and layers of socks to numb our extremities but a bowl of soup in the café (on the warmest day of Autumn) soon got us acclimatised to the outside world again.

Many thanks go the everyone at Lockerbie Ice rink for giving us such an enjoyable morning. How many will want to do it again??