Curling Ponds

Two curling ponds are recorded in this northern part of the park.

Curling was among the most popular winter sports in central Scotland through the 19th century, and clubs across the district built shallow, purpose-made ponds like these. Being only a few inches deep, they froze quickly and gave a truer, safer surface than a loch or a flooded field — important in a game where the ice has to be read as carefully as the stones.

Outdoor curling depended entirely on a hard winter, and the run of milder seasons through the 20th century, along with the arrival of indoor rinks, ended it as a village pastime.