Why do all Olympic curling stones come from a small Scottish island? | BBC News

For more than 170 years, a small Scottish business has been crafting curling stones by hand using rock found on an island off the country’s west coast.
Kays Scotland is the only company in the world accredited to produce the stones used for Olympic and World Championships matches.
The granite - thought to be some of the strongest and densest ever discovered - is harvested from the island of Ailsa Craig roughly once every decade.
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[@TheKatiokung]

0:38 Jim English, Managing director, Kays Scotland

[@semicolon.d]

I don't know why but I've always had the impression that Scottish people really know their rocks and stones

[@gdwe1831]

Fuckin dwarves mate

[@Alexander-vo4gv]

@@gdwe1831 you?

[@simonhopkins3867]

​@@gdwe1831 Never trust an elf.

[@Phobos_Thanatos]

“For rock and stone!”

[@alunjones2550]

Must cost the curling team a fortune in excess baggage, when they go abroad......😄

[@Diamonddavej]

Ailsa Craig granite is an extremely rare Riebeckite Microgranite, found nowhere else on Earth. Stones from Ailsa Craig can be found on many beaches bordering the Irish Sea, brought south by glaciers during the last Ice Age.

[@FourDollaRacing]

Fascinating... the camera, used to capture the old black-and-white footage, must have been enormous.
And, the videographers dragged it out to a remote island, on a sea-going vessel. 👍🏼

[@robnorris4770]

Curl till you hurl.

[@notsure2]

We take curling for granite

[@ChrisM541]

I see what you did there ;)

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

😂 good one!

[@petersieben8560]

A glass of Lagavulin to the report ! Slainte

[@brhbrh6326]

You'd be better with Laphroiag 10, or even Ardbeg 5. Lagavulin 16 is pricing itself out of the market.

[@intouchdm]

I had no idea!

[@geofo60]

You're not alone, every day is a school day. This made a change from the endless doom and gloom eh?

[@notozknows]

Who cares? Lol.

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

Like the sport itself, this was surprisingly really interesting!

[@peace_oceans]

Beautiful

[@mehdizj]

So the story of the most exciting sport in the human history starts from a humble island in Scotland.

[@ramiyazje]

Love the stones and the story. Silly sport though 😅

[@ducttape82]

There's nothing silly about it. Give it a try, it's a lot harder than it looks.

[@h.stephenpaul7810]

It's chess on ice. A lot of strategy required to win consistently.

[@kantsagurung175]

I think I have read about it in the book of the 100 objects 👍

[@user-mg1lj5ow2y]

❤

[@RolingRandom]

Very interesting industry/story. Too bad the same can't be said about the sport :)

[@AaronCarpAngler-UK]

🎉

[@gavinsmith9564]

Brexit has cost £140 Billion so far, imagine if we'd spent that on the NHS instead of blue passports.

[@johnmuthan286]

Maybe because curling is not a Chinese thing?

[@znxster]

Curlers have tried out different sources of granite but still love the "blue hone" from Ailsa Craig. I believe that "Welsh Trefor" is also used and similarly loved. It is the types of granite these locations provide which makes it desirable.
No doubt, China and the rest of the world, have quarries that could provide granite but until it is tested for its quality... the Olympics and Worlds will continue to point at the above quarry as a source.

[@SheepofTheShepherd-nu3lz]

What ''cutting edge'' news

[@mateocolegial5571]

*BBC!!!*

[@mateocolegial5571]

*BBC!!!*

[@auro1986]

why? bbc owns that mine

[@BillyP13]

Diversify, granite kitchen tops , chairs , floors ?

[@SD-vp5vo]

just make it from cement

[@Pfromm007]

Cement would be way easier.
Unfortunately, it wouldn't have the same smooth surface,
would fracture tremendously due to its mixture,
and be so heavy as to make control nearly impossible.

[@ChrisM541]

Just like your brain ;)

[@SD-vp5vo]

@@ChrisM541 your mom

[@robertcreighton4635]

Women are good at curling because it involves sweeping. And we all know chicks are best at tidying up and chores etc
I wonder why i can't get a girlfriend...

[@brhbrh6326]

These Scottish women won the gold Olympic medal at least. ruclips.net/video/gPcElPdMet8/видео.html

[@notozknows]

Who cares? People from Scotland, no sh*t, you aint going to make them in Aruba or Zimbawbwe.

[@conradcodfish8638]

Curling is the most boring game, over funded in the UK. Millions used to fund few Scots to play the game when it can be used to fix some of the highest rates of knife crime in the country.

[@R50_J0]

Are they speaking English?

[@user-xk3dt2zj1v]

Your single brain cell is really struggling today.

[@CorePathway]

Glean as glass. No, glass! GLASS, you know, what Koos eat.
Verdict: English-ish.

[@brhbrh6326]

Are you a dobber or a numpty?

[@edward-helloworld]

Only one reason. Because of this is a huge business.

[@berlintanker]

Go find a job!

[@GoldeneyeDoubleO7]

ah human exploitation and capitalism.

[@johnvaleanbaily246]

Who cares !

[@user-xk3dt2zj1v]

You apparently.

[@berlintanker]

What a cheesy stupid sport...

[@ChrisM541]

...and yet here you are, you braindead hypocritical dumbass.

[@BillyP13]

What a joke , a sport ?

[@brhbrh6326]

Try lifting a curling stone on to an ice rink, then we'll talk...

[@user-pt3oc6zk1u]

Brexit has cost £140 Billion so far, imagine if we'd spent that on the NHS instead of blue passports.