Pelaw, curling ponds

Shown on Os map of 1890.

The curling ponds were built for Newcastle Curling Club. They had previously played matches at Percy Main, Clousden Hill, Fenham and Axwell Park, but at a meeting on 5th March 1864 the club decided to appoint a committee to find a suitable site for a purpose built artificial pond. A site adjoining Pelaw Main Station was approved on 5th September 1864. The first pond was completed by the end of 1864 and the first game played on it on New Year's Day 1865. This was a match between the married and single club members. The Benedicts, skipped by William McConnell and Jason Symington defeated The Bachelors, skipped by John Affleck and James Hunter.

The second pond was built in 1879.

Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle gives an account of a match played at Pelaw in 1881:

'A match between these rival clubs was played on the ponds at Pelaw on Tuesday, in the presence of a large company of spectators. The weather was favourable, and the ice, although a little biassed, was yet in capital condition for the game. The Newcastle and Tyneside Club is an offshoot of the Newcastle Club, and has only been a couple of seasons in existence. As will be seen by the sub-joined lists it has had to endure a defeat in its first encounter with its doughty parent:- RINK 1 - Newcastle: J. Meikle (skip), W. Gell, A.A. Thompson and David Murray - 27. Newcastle and Tyneside: T. Meikle (skip), J. Stewart, T. Cleghorn and W. Barbour - 18. RINK 2 - Newcastle: J. Telford (skip), J. Heddleston, W.H. Marshall and W.N. Inglis - 25. Newcastle and Tyneside: J. Stewart (skip), J. Thompson, J. McKinlay and A. Creighton - 11. RINK 3 - Newcastle: W. McConnell (skip), T. Taylor, W. Meikle and W. Scott - 28. Newcastle and Tyneside: J. Thorburn (skip), R.E. Wilson, J. Scott and G. Graham - 19. Totals - Newcastle 81, Newcastle and Tyneside 48; majority for Newcastle Club, 33'.

The two ponds served the club's purposes until 1885, when they moved to Ryton (HER 17740).