Robin Copland's Memories of The 2003 Tour to Canada
All over Canada, 40 curlers’ thoughts are turning towards the “auld country”. Obviously, they will be spending quality time with their families over the holiday so, yes, there are other priorities in their lives right now, but always at the back of their minds, there will be the thought that January will see them travelling to Scotland and having the time of their lives and competing for the Strathcona Cup.
Back in the day, of course, the tour started with an early-January trans-Atlantic sea crossing which would have presumably tested the saltiest of sea dogs’ constitutions – especially as there would have had to have been some “team bonding” sessions in the smoke rooms and bars of their liner. Nowadays, of course, the team will gather at a central location before their flight over the pond to bonnie Scotland.
In 2003, we gathered in the Quality Inn at Edinburgh airport (no expense spared, you understand) and flew down to London Heathrow before embarking on our flight to Halifax in Nova Scotia. There was nonsense a-plenty that night, which kind of set the tone for what followed; three weeks of intense curling, partying, bonding and the unbelievable hospitality of our hosts across Canada. I was on the East tour, so we travelled as far West as St Catherines and Toronto. The West tour boys – well they did what it said on the tin!
Highlights of our tour – well, there were so many that I hesitate to mention any for fear of offending the host curlers whom I do not mention.
We met Mayors, Lieutenant-Governors, local celebrities, radio show hosts, famous curlers, past and present. We travelled two and a half thousand miles on a bus. There was banter; there was fun but above all else, we have memories to last a lifetime. It will be no different for the Canadian tourists of 2018 and if they have half as good a time as we had, they are going to have a fantastic time here in Scotland.
Article provided by Robin Copland - December 2017
Back in the day, of course, the tour started with an early-January trans-Atlantic sea crossing which would have presumably tested the saltiest of sea dogs’ constitutions – especially as there would have had to have been some “team bonding” sessions in the smoke rooms and bars of their liner. Nowadays, of course, the team will gather at a central location before their flight over the pond to bonnie Scotland.
In 2003, we gathered in the Quality Inn at Edinburgh airport (no expense spared, you understand) and flew down to London Heathrow before embarking on our flight to Halifax in Nova Scotia. There was nonsense a-plenty that night, which kind of set the tone for what followed; three weeks of intense curling, partying, bonding and the unbelievable hospitality of our hosts across Canada. I was on the East tour, so we travelled as far West as St Catherines and Toronto. The West tour boys – well they did what it said on the tin!
Highlights of our tour – well, there were so many that I hesitate to mention any for fear of offending the host curlers whom I do not mention.
- From an internal tour point of view, I have to tell you about the reviving and invigorating “Morning Class” that was enjoyed most mornings, including once, and memorably, on a bus! Basically, twenty-eight curlers go to a room and drink gin, mixed with lemonade and lemons and other things. And they do it early in the morning. Trevor Dodds has shared the results but never the recipe with the rest of us; he is the acknowledged gin-meister. I suspect that our visitors will have some similar “traditional” start to each of their days.
- We spent the first couple of days in and around Dartmouth and Halifax, where we played, for example at the CFB club. It happened that the famous Brier Tankard, presented each year to the Canadian Champions, was on display in the club, so a few of us gathered around it for photographs. Bill Mitchell was standing next to Sandy Reid and he asked Sandy if his name was on the trophy. “Nae yet”, was Sandy’s considered response!
- We curled at the Mayflower CC, home of the great Colleen Jones rink, at that time contenders for the Canadian and World Championship. This was a recurring feature of the tour; you would suddenly find yourself at the home club of a legend. Every rink that the Canadian tourists will visit in Scotland will be home to one or another curler whom they will have seen on the TV playing in World Championships – they may even end up playing against them!
- We played against Bruce Lohnes at Truro CC (where we had had a police escort to the curling club!). Bruce later went on to win the Canadian Men’s Brier Championship. Bruce is a curling historian and had taken a lot of time and trouble to put together a wonderful exhibition of the history of the Strathcona Cup. I suspect that many of the rinks around Scotland will have put together similar exhibitions for their visitors.
- Every so often, there would be scenery that would take the breath away or a man-made engineering marvel. Such was the eight-mile Confederation Bridge that took us to the first visit by a Scottish curling team to Prince Edward Island. Needless to say that Scotland will provide similar future memories for our visitors.
- Then there was the time that Charles Jackson asked the great Canadian curler and future Olympic curling gold medallist what his views were on having marital relations before a big sporting event – this at a dinner in Moncton. Aye, each tour will have its characters and I am sure that there will be some “wags” from Canada this time around!
- The same Charles Jackson, at a reception hosted by the Lieutenant-Governor of PEI in his official and very grand residence, earnestly hoped that our tour pennant would find pride of place on the wall of the reception room in which we had gathered. The walls were already covered, I might add, with magnificent paintings by some of Canada’s finest artists!
We met Mayors, Lieutenant-Governors, local celebrities, radio show hosts, famous curlers, past and present. We travelled two and a half thousand miles on a bus. There was banter; there was fun but above all else, we have memories to last a lifetime. It will be no different for the Canadian tourists of 2018 and if they have half as good a time as we had, they are going to have a fantastic time here in Scotland.
Article provided by Robin Copland - December 2017