Our Club's History

The Peterborough Curling club is one of the older clubs in Ontario dating back to 1876, the year that the curling club joined the Ontario Curling Association. Available records indicate the club was in existence a generation earlier with curling taking place on the river, ponds and raceways, it would seem these were somewhat formative years with the Club in the process of building a core of members and attempting to establish a permanent location.

A meeting of "persons favourable to the formation of a curling club" was held November 9 1859 at the Caisse Hotel, an old hotel on George St. which became the Bank of Nova Scotia.  The original officers elected that night were President A.S.Fraser, Vice president D. Sutherland, A. Munro Treasurer,  Thos. White Jr. Secretary & the Rev. James Douglass Chaplain. Members of a committee of management were Jas. Johnston, W. Menzies, H. Calcutt, R.B. Palmer & Lewis McGregor.

In the early years games were played on the Asburnham side of the Otonabee River, on Little Lake as well as Spauldings Bay (where the present Chamber of Commerce building sits).    Games were announced by means of a notice in the newspapers, by word of mouth and by handbills in the post office. Those first curlers had to be content with an assortment of "stones", some made of granite, others of melted down iron and some made of blocks of wood hollowed out, filled with lead and a steel shoe for a running surface. In 1972 a local scuba diver Doug Townsend discovered an iron stone while diving in the Otonabee River.

An Ashburnham lumberman, John Ludgate built the first rink in 1862. It was located on the east side of the Otonabee river close to what is now known as Riverside Park. In 1877 fire destroyed the wooden building (known as "The Shed").  An indoor 4-sheet rink with room in between the sheets for skating, was erected on the west side of the river near the site of the present Quaker Oats plant in 1878 and occupied in January 1879.  The Peterborough Curling and Skating Rink Co. issued 200 shares at $10 each to obtain capital to complete the building.

In 1883 the Peterborough Curling and Skating Co. was looking for a new home and purchased property on Charlotte St. from boat builder William and Caroline English. In 1885 the 4-sheet structure was dismantled and moved to 216 Charlotte Street.  Again, to raise capital 400 shares of new stock were released at $10 per share.

In 1906 a public company was formed called The Peterborough Curling Rink Limited. Its purpose was to acquire and maintain the Charlotte St. facility. Letters Patent were received from the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario dated March 21 1906 authorizing the issue of up to 1000 shares at a par value of $10 per share. With the proceeds, the property and rink on Charlotte St. were purchased for $4500 with the financial help of Robert Neill, T. Matthew, Thomas Brightman and W.G. Morrow who agreed to be Trustees of the Company. 

 On Jan 2 1908 the Club burned down, but this did not stop curling activities. A hut was built at the rear of the premises and the games began in February and were ongoing all winter. At this time consideration was given to selling the property and relocating the facility, but the tenders for the property were not high enough and the Board of Directors decided to rebuild on the same location. The Baptie brothers for a tendered cost of $6,895 completed the new building in 1909.  The rebuilt building had to be set back 35 feet from Charlotte Street due to new zoning regulations.

Ladies were allowed to curl at the facility beginning in 1910 at a cost of $2 per person for the season.  They could use the ice from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, except on holidays and days when the men had matches set.  The ladies section became associated with the Southern Ontario Ladies Curling Association in 1913.  By 1915 there were 15 ladies as members.  In 1920 the club Directors asked the ladies section to pay $100 for the season with curling privileges Monday & Wednesday mornings & Thursday afternoons.  The ladies negotiated the fee to be dropped to $75 per season which meant they had to have 25 ladies curling so they could keep the fees to $3.50 per person for the season.

In 1914 the 35-foot strip of property was sold to RC and JT Braund for the development of stores and living areas. The Club retained a 20-foot wide piece of this property to provide access. A three-story entranceway was erected.  The address changed from 216 Charlotte St to 216 1/2 Charlotte St.  Electricity was also installed at this time.  

A game between a junior boys’ team from PCC and a junior boys’ team from the Lindsay Curling Club was mentioned in a February 1886 newspaper article.  We know Junior boys curling was active at PCC in the late 1920’s as a PCC team won the 1932 Ontario provincial Junior Tankard championship.  Junior curling is again mentioned in a 1937 newspaper saying “Local curling club plans to promote a junior section next winter”.  In a 1951 newspaper article it announced “Junior boys’ curling is back at PCC after an absence of several years, and 12 club members are coaching the boys”.  PCC did have an “elaborate schoolboy organization” for the 1952/1953 season which played after high school ended for the day.  St. Peter’s High School and Peterborough Collegiate Vocational School participated, including sending 4 teams to the Ontario Curling Association’s “provincial bonspiel” that season.  The Junior program for boys and girls aged 18 years and younger has been very active over the past 40 years with practice and games played Sunday mornings at the Lansdowne facility.

Few changes were made to the premises until an artificial ice plant was installed in 1946 by the Canadian Ice Machine Co. at a cost of $18,577.  Having artificial ice encouraged local residents Ernie & Ruth Ferguson to establish the Peterborough Figure Skating Club & rent ice from the club for figure skating practice & small shows.  The skaters used sheet 3, 4 & 5, except on a few special occasions when they had access to all seven sheets of ice.  Recreational skating was held at the curling facilities as far back as the 1870's.  Friday nights being very popular.  Again, the skaters used the inside sheets with the curlers playing on the outside sheets.

A full set of 60 matched granite stones was purchased in 1949, but didn't arrive at the club until March 1951.  Curlers no longer had to supply their own pair of stones after the new stones arrived.

1957 brought a major addition to the facility in the form of club room space and kitchen facilities over a portion of sheets six and seven on the east side of the building. A second major renovation was made in 1966 to provide locker and washroom space over sheets one and two and to extend the lounge space the full length of sheets six and seven. In 1974 a new entranceway was provided to Charlotte Street.  

The Business Girls league (now known as the Monday Night Ladies) began in the 1959/1960 curling season.  The first 56 “girls” who applied became members.  The cost to join for the season was $25.  Skips picked their teams from a hat.  In the 1960/1961 season the league expanded to 102 members with two draws Thursday evenings.  The league was so popular (119 curlers) a rule was implemented in 1982 stating to curl in the league a lady must work a minimum of 14 hours per week & working hours prevented the person from curling in the afternoon ladies league.  

Although Mixed bonspiels were mentioned in the local newspaper in March 1950, a regular Mixed league was not started at PCC until the 1972/73 season.  It had 28 teams playing 19 games Friday’s (7 pm & 9 pm) & some Sunday’s during the season.  There were also three bonspiels, including the Skippers bonspiel which still operates today at the end of January. What is interesting is to be a member of the Mixed league when it first started a curler “must be a regular member of a section of the Peterborough Curling Club.  This does not include (Saturday) Social members”.  An organized Sr. Mixed league is not mentioned in club documents until 1989.

Fire plays a prominent part in the curling clubs history as a third fire occurred Sunday December 16 1984. This $3 million dollar fire destroyed the building as well as a section of Charlotte Street between George and Aylmer. Once again the curlers were homeless. The membership was able to curl through the remainder of the winter through the generosity of other local curling clubs that offered ice time - Ennismore, Keene, Lakefield, Norwood, Omemee, Peterborough Golf & Country Club.

The Board of Directors, led by President John Marsland, took on the difficult task of recovery.  Each Director headed up a committee to oversee the various aspects of getting the curling club up and running for the remainder of the season as well as the many facets of rebuilding.  The club looked at a number of options, including rebuilding or purchasing another building to renovate. In April 1985, 400 curling club members and shareholders met at the Kawartha Baptist Temple on Lansdowne St. and approved the purchase of the church's building and 17 acres of land for $448,000.  The sale of the Charlotte St. property was also agreed to by the club members. The new club was built at a cost of approximately $1.4 million.  

Major renovations were required to extend the church auditorium into a curling facility but architects, engineers and a construction firm were lined up quickly and with the help of a very active volunteer membership the curling club was resurrected and the first bonspiel was held November 30 1985 with Sr. team skip Stewart Thompson throwing the ceremonial first rock.  The Official Opening Ceremonies took place January 24 1986 and included a dinner/dance.

The club’s Lansdowne St. W. building was accessible on the main floor including access to the ice surface.  However, the lounge which overlooked the ice was constructed 4-feet higher with stairs located at the east & west sides.  The idea of making the lounge accessible came to mind when member Dave Gerolomy offered a residential elevator which had been in his house.  However, as construction began to install the elevator the club was advised the elevator would have to be of commercial grade.  A new commercial grade elevator was purchased and installed in 2003 making the lounge wheelchair accessible.  

Carl Bax was the first wheelchair curler at PCC joining the Sr. Men’s daytime league in October 2003.   Although Carl lived in the Peterborough area, he originally curled competitively at a Toronto curling club.  He decided the drive was too long and joined PCC.    Carl recruited Alec Denys in 2010.  Jon Thurston (Paralympic 2022 Bronze & 2026 Gold medalist) joined the club in 2012, with Dan Flint being recruited in 2015.  PCC was the first in the area to have a wheelchair curling team.  The club hosted the Ontario Wheelchair Curling Championship in 2015 & began an annual wheelchair bonspiel in 2018.  It has also hosted try wheelchair curling events for adults and children.  As of the 2025/2026 season PCC had 13 wheelchair curling members.

An adult learn to curl program held Thursday evenings began in October 2012.  It was the first adult LTC program in the area and was 22-weeks long.  The program expanded to include a Sunday afternoon session in 2021, which then expanded into two Sunday sessions in October 2026.  An annual bonspiel is held in February for these curlers.  PCC has taught 600+ adults to curl through the program, averaging a 30% to 40% of these curlers joining the club the next season.  

The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges to the Peterborough Curling Club. On March 15, 2020, the Board held an emergency meeting and unanimously voted to close the club. The following day, Ontario ordered the closure of non-essential businesses and services. More than 50 volunteers worked through ever-changing regulations to make it possible for PCC to reopen for the 2020/21 season - the only curling club in the area to do so – operating under strict safety protocols, including sanitizing, QR contact tracing and mandatory vaccination.  With 267 members divided into 11 cohorts PCC successfully operated until December 26, 2020, when a province-wide shutdown ended the curling season.  

The Sheet Seven Community Garden was proposed in April 2020 by club member Emilie Metcalfe. That May, a circular garden in the shape of a curling house was dug and planted. In May 2021, 14 raised garden beds were rented, with additional beds added in 2023. Four fruit trees were planted in 2022, along with the construction of a garden shed. The garden also received a City of Peterborough community grant. Fundraising has been an important part to support the garden group’s activities, including plant sales & the sale of rain barrels. The garden has grown into a valued community project, bringing together members while giving back to the wider community with produce from the “house” portion being donated to a local food kitchen.

 ITS PLACE IN THE COMMUNITY

Over the years the Peterborough Curling Club has served as a community resource. 

The annual Kids’ Cordwood Bonspiel was held at the club until the event outgrew our facilities and moved to an arena.

Over the years there have been all manner of events, bonspiels, competitions hosted by the Club. These range from local events to provincial and even national finals. The Club hosted the Scottish touring teams in 1903 and once again in 1958 the ladies group hosted the Scottish ladies tour.   The present facility has also provided a location for numerous weddings, receptions, as well as a training ground for curling and ice making schools.

The curling club members today are divided between men, women and junior sections. Its 500+ members of all ages and skill levels keeps the rink full from early October till end of March.

We respectfully acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe Mississauga adjacent to Haudenosaunee Territory and in the territory covered by the Williams Treaty. We offer our gratitude to our First Nations and honour the original inhabitants of the land.