The Henderson Bishop is a Scottish Curling competition and entries are made directly to Scottish Curling, usually by 30th June, see the Competitions page on its website. Preliminary rounds are played at each ice rink with the winners going through to the national final in February/March. The Edinburgh playdowns take place in the first week of December and the winner of these is presented with the Sir John Gilmour Cup.
The 2025 – 26 Curl Edinburgh Henderson Bishop Play-downs were played on the 3rd & 4th December. The winning rink was S Wylie, J Barr, M Aitken and L Copeland. The runners-up were B Watt , S Watt, E Butler and A Clark. Both teams now go forward to finals at Kinross ice rink from March 2nd – 5th March 2026. The playdowns were sponsored by C McLeish.
2025 – 26 Winners of the Sir John Gilmour Trophy
L Copeland, S Wyllie, J Barr and M Aitken
2025 – 26 Runners-up
B Watt, A Clark, E Butler and S Watt
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The history of the Sir John Gilmour Cup
Sir John’s trophy was to be played for by Lady Members of all Local Clubs connected with the Royal Club in Scotland and England, and if won three times by the same Club — not necessarily in succession — would become the property of the Club. Interest in the ladies’ competition at home was initially small, but with the growth of the sport on artificial ice at the Edinburgh Ice Rink, Haymarket, the ladies’ event became a regular occurrence, and in 1928 Mrs J. E. Crabbie and her Edinburgh rink beat Lady Ford’s Waverley team 22—6 after 16 ends. This secured the trophy for the Edinburgh Club. The Sir John Gilmour Cup remained with the Crabbie family until 1970, when Mrs Crabbie’s son, George, presented it back for competition among the Edinburgh ladies ‘ clubs. It was redesignated as the Cup won annually by the Edinburgh team which qualified for the final stages of the Royal Club Ladies Challenge Trophy, the Henderson Bishop.
Over half a century before the Ladies’ Branch was formed, Sir John Gilmour, Bart, of Lundin and Montrave, President of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club 1912 – 13, made his Presidency of the Royal Club memorable by the gift of a handsome trophy for competition among the ladies of the home country. This trophy was played for in 1914 when it was won by Balerno Ladies and not again until 1929 when it was won by Edinburgh Ladies.
Curling for Women @ Curl Edinburgh 