| The Preston Curling Club records in its minute books that they were invited to go down to London to compete on 22 April 1903 for the I'Anson Trophy. They were met in London by a Mr Frame, "a well-known gentleman who ran a travel agency." He also owned the Bonnington Hotel and took the group there for refreshments and to stay the evening.
It appears from the records that three Preston teams went to London on that particular occasion, but the Manchester Belle Vue Team won the I'Anson Cup. It was noted that "all expenses were paid by the players and this amounted to two pounds and ten shillings." The I'Anson Trophy was presented to the winners by "a gentleman by the name of William I'Anson, who was a well-known racehorse trainer from Malton in Yorkshire."
The trophy was played for that year at the Old Crystal Palace ice rink, "perhaps because this was the only indoor ice-rink then in England". Other curling took place "as and when 'Jack Frost' arrived". Curlers from the Preston area had a pond within the town which they flooded on those occasions. Over the years, the cup has been played for at various ice rinks throughout the United Kingdom, both Scottish and English teams competing. In 1970, when Preston Curling Club celebrated its centenary, the trophey was played for in Edinburgh at the old Haymatket ice rink.
Today, the I'Anson Cup is played for between teams from the north-west of England and the south-west of Scotland on a regular basis at the Stranraer ice rink in the North West Castle Museum, Stranraer, around the end of October each year.
In curling circles, it seems, the I'ANSON CUP is considered to be akin to the FA Cup in soccer. It stands some two-and-a-half feet high including the plinth. |
