July 01, 2008

A new blog is launched today

It is with a great deal of pleasure that Curling Today announces that it now has a companion - the Curling History blog (aka Curling Yesterday)! You will find it here: curlinghistory.blogspot.com.

It's a joint venture by me (Bob Cowan) and David B Smith, Scotland's curling historian. We hope that in the months ahead the blog will bring together others who are interested in the history of this great sport.

The new blog has been trialled for a week and there are a number of posts, as you will see if you go there! But what should the first 'live' post be about, on July 1, 2008?

That was really easy to decide. I've been following the progress of the Scottish Government's Homecoming Scotland initiative, which next year will celebrate Robert Burns, and Scottish culture, heritage and the many great contributions Scotland has given the world.

Homecoming Scotland is managed by EventScotland in partnership with VisitScotland (the Scottish Tourist Board). The programme of events starts on the weekend of Burns night (January 24-25, 2009) and continues right through to St Andrew's Night (November 30, 2009). It is all happening in 2009 because next year is the 250th anniversary of the birth of national poet Rabbie Burns. According to press blurb, "2009 will be a celebration of not only Robert Burns but some of Scotland's other great contributions to the world, namely golf, whisky, enlightenment and innovation and ancestry." The main themes are Scotland as the Home of Burns, Scotland as the Home of Whisky, Golf, the Scottish Enlightenment and Innovation, and the Home of our Ancestors.

No curling celebrations then? Not as far as I am aware, even though Scotland gave this sport to the world. And Rabbie Burns was a curler. Not many people know that. Find out how David Smith found out on the Curling History blog!

1 comment:

Ewan Fairweather said...

Hi Bob,
I work on the Homecoming project and came across your blog. Thanks for the various mentions of Homecoming within it. Just to make you aware that our programme of events is still being developed and what we have produced to date is a 'taster' of the year to come. I also wanted to make you aware that there is a curling event listed in the programme: the International Youth Curling Camp, scheduled to take place in July / August 2009 (date TBC). More details at: http://www.homecomingscotland2009.com/whats-on.aspx
Good luck with the blog, Best wishes,
Ewan