Bigger & District & Upper Clydesdale Province – Jolipestal Trophy

*** Current Holders – 2024 – Hamilton & Thornyhhill ***

BACKGROUND

This inter-club competition takes place usually on the first Friday of February each year – 1215hrs & 1430hrs, at The LIR.

Scoring is the cumulative SHOTS up for both Club Rinks and if there is a tie, then the Rink with the most ENDS counts in order to determine the overall winning Club.

TABLES – By Season

	2024/23	2023/22	2022/21	COVID	2020/19	2019/18
2018/17	2017/16	2016/15	2015/14	2014/13	2013/12	2012/11
2011/10	2010/09	2009/08	2008/07	2007/06	2006/05	2005/04

Jolipestal – STANDINGS

Web POSTS – HERE

Forum POSTS – HERE

HISTORY

Lanark Curling Club has the privilege of organising this keenly contested inter-club competition.

The Jolipestal began in 1957 and was originally a competition for the Biggar District and Upper Clydesdale Province (CC) – PRB. All clubs took part – each club fielding 2 teams. The aggregate score for each club decided the winner.

It is an annual event but as the Province has shrunk in clubs over the years this competition now includes a few clubs from Lanarkshire Province.

So how did such a strange name for this competition come about?

Five local farmers agreed to establish a curling competition for an interclub social curling event.  Mr Soutar, a local bank manager, suggested they use their surnames to form the name of this trophy – so derived from the surnames of those 5 farmers ie:

JO-Johnstone: LI-Lindsay: PE-Pettigrew: ST-Struthers: AL-Alexander

JOLIPESTAL

Around the mid 1960’s a new fangled idea was being introduced into curling. It was a ‘slide delivery’. Well, these farmers were having none of that! They didn’t like the idea of ‘take outs’ either as this was deemed aggressive curling. The Jolipestal was established as an interclub social curling event with no take-outs and no slide deliveries – a traditional curling game known and practised by the curlers around this time.

Prior to the existence of Hamilton Ice Rink all Lanark games were played at the Haymarket in Edinburgh. The Jolipestal’s first game was played at Haymarket and there it remained until Hamilton Ice Rink opened.

(A very reliable informant indicated that the ladies – who played at Crossmyloof – transferred immediately to Hamilton when it opened. The men however took a few more years before they fully committed to Hamilton so at Haymarket they stayed).

The original 5 farmers above are no longer with us but their legacy lives on.

Lorna Gray (LG)