Ice rink axed

Aug 5 2008 by Jenny Wood, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

HIGHLAND Perthshire was dealt a bitter blow this week with news that the death knell has been delivered to another of the area’s sporting facilities.

After a troubled time the axe has finally fallen on the Atholl Curling Rink in Pitlochry and the ice facility, which last season celebrated its 25th anniversary, has been placed on the market.

The loss of the curling rink has slashed the number of Perth and Kinross premises offering facilities for the historic winter sport from three to just two.

Iain Conacher, chairman of Atholl Curling Rink Ltd, admitted “deep regret” the rink had reached the end of the road and explained: “Efforts to raise cash from various funding sources fell on stony ground and our bankers for the last 25 years turned down our proposal which would have allowed us to continue for one more season and fulfil our obligations.

“Over the years the board of directors tried to look for different ways forward and considered many options and schemes.

“Unfortunately, none of these have come to fruition and the decrease in numbers curling, together with the ever increasing costs and also the burdens of Health and Safety and other regulations, have contributed to the decision,” he said.

Since it opened in 1982, the Pitlochry facility has helped nurture the sport at grassroots level and swept a number of curlers on to championship standard.

Stalwarts of the sport – the Muirhead family – live locally and are saddened to see the facility on their doorstep shutdown.

Gordon Muirhead, with the Scottish champion crown among his national and international curling accolades, told the PA yesterday: “It is a real shame and a real loss to the community.

“Local schools would use the rink. Curling was on the curriculum so every child could try. Even if just a small number kept on, it was great for the sport,” he explained.

“My children have always used the rink, Eve and Glen would be there three to four times a week practising and last season my youngest boy was there virtually every day.”

But taking a realistic view on the closure Gordon, whose daughter Eve has lifted Scottish and world ladies’ junior trophies for the last two years and son Glen claimed the Scottish junior title in 2007 and again in 2008, admitted the closure was “inevitable”.

“It would be difficult to maintain the way things are at the moment money wise. If places like Edinburgh and Glasgow can only each support one ice rink, how on earth was a wee place like Pitlochry meant to support one on its own?” Gordon said.

“But we are in a lucky situation,” he conceded, “the premier curling rink in Scotland is just minutes down the road in Perth.”

Bowing out Iain Conacher of the Pitlochry rink said: “We would like take this opportunity to thank all those who have supported the ice rink since it opened in 1982, and we all hope that at some future time we may again have a curling facility in Highland Perthshire.”

l But elsewhere in Perth and Kinross there could be good news in store for local curlers.

The Royal Caledonian Curling Club (RCCC) has announced the curling rink in Kinross has made it on to the final short list for the home of the National Curling Academy.

An ambitious sounding project, the national academy would provide a training base for Scotland’s top curlers as well as facilities for local enthusiasts.

The Kinross bid now goes head to head with another from a site at Ratho near Edinburgh.

The local package has been put together by the Scottish Curling-Ice Group and the owners of the Green Hotel. If successful it could see the ageing facility in Kinross replaced with a five-sheet rink, offices for the RCCC and a national curling museum.

The Royal Club will now work with the two short-listed bidders and a sportscotland team to reach a final decision, expected in October.