There was much hope of there being an outdoor Bonspiel (a large scale curling match) on the Lake of Menteith last weekend. Health and safety fears (ironically, regarding the surrounding roads and car parking) meant it was cancelled. There hasn't been one in 30 years, but the cold conditions meant that the requisite 7" of ice had built up making the spectacle possible. It's such a shame that the tournament wasn't able to go ahead, and I'm left wondering if there will be one the next time we get these conditions, with such parking and health and safety regulations ready to scupper the event. There are three locations in Scotland where they are held, but the ice at the other locations wasn't of the right quality this year (too much compacted snow on top of the ice making it uneven). The image above is from a Bonspiel held in Loch Leven many years ago. Looking for images of previous events, depictions of open air ones seem to be really quite rare.
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