Written by Gwen Sinclair, Assisted by Megan Sweeney and Ian Wilson
Did you know that Scrabble® is sold in 121 countries around the world and is available in more than 29 languages? A staggering 150 million sets have been sold worldwide, and it’s thought that over half of British homes have a set!
Scrabble® is a board game played with two to four players who can rack up points by carefully forming words, crossword style, from randomly selected lettered tiles which all have the points you can hope to achieve inscribed on one corner. It offers the opponents a game mixing skill and luck, as anyone can be a winner, making it popular with all ages to play. The game was originally invented by amateur artist and unemployed architect, Alfred Mosher Butts from Poughkeepsie, New York during the Great Depression. Sadly Alfred is no longer with us, but National Scrabble Day is held annually on his birthday – 13th April 1899 – in order to recognise this unique contribution he has made to the world of board games.
Giving a whole new meaning to ‘a night on the tiles’, it has clearly taken the world by storm over the course of the last 90 or so years. We’re sure Alfred would be honoured to know that there is now an annual World Scrabble® Championship as well as approximately 4000 Scrabble® clubs around the globe – including one which has taken place once a week for almost 3 years at Dundonald Castle Visitor Centre (except throughout the current pandemic). With the idea of promoting community spirit and well-being, Dundonald Castle Scrabble® Group is open to anyone who wishes to come along and play- often enjoyed with a treat from our Café – each Wednesday afternoon between 1.30pm -3.30pm, occasionally played outdoors at the foothills of the castle if the weather is favourable! The group is currently postponed due to Covid-19 restrictions, but we are hoping to get it up and running again, as soon as it is safe to do so.
“We don’t promote rivalry of any kind, but there is a prize awarded to the person with the highest running total over the year – and last year a prize was awarded to the person who recorded the most 7 letter words! Overall, it’s more about meeting friends and new people who enjoy the game” said Ian Wilson, who set up the group and has been Dundonald Castle Scrabble® Group organiser from its inception. Ian has seen the numbers rise from 4 in its early days, to a reservation of a few tables needed now for at least of 9 who regularly attend, with newcomers being made very welcome.
We’ve been keen to encourage and promote community involvement at Dundonald Castle Visitor Centre, in order to not only facilitate an educational and visitor resource for Dundonald Castle itself, but to provide a focal point for the local community to enjoy, and with our community groups having been hugely instrumental in its success over the years.
”The Scrabble® Group is open to anyone who enjoys the game – or is keen to learn – regardless of where they live and we welcome new members.”
Ian Wilson, Dundonald Scrabble® Group Organiser
As we tentatively begin to open up again, as Covid-19 restrictions allow, we very much look forward to welcoming back the Scrabble® Group, as well as the other community groups who have been meeting here regularly over the years: On Mondays we have a fairly sizeable Knit ‘n’ Natter Group, who come along to knit or crochet together over coffee and cake – sharing ideas and tips with each other. Like the Scrabble® group, they also welcome newbies! On Tuesdays we have a Walking Group who come in for a sweet treat and a chat after their weekly walk, and our Dementia Friends meet here regularly too.
For those more interested in the archaeological side of our work, we host 2 groups at the Ayrshire Young Archaeology Club (YAC) who meet here every month to learn all about the process of exploring the past by detailing the methods involved in archaeological study. Our YAC members get hands-on experience which we hope they might take out into the wider world, or to form a basis for a future career. They also take an active role in Dundonald Community Archaeological Digs which have taken place around the castle over the years. You can find out more about Ayrshire YAC here: http://ayrshireyac.home.blog/
Dundonald Historical and Archives Society also meet monthly at the Visitor Centre, where speakers are often invited to share experience and knowledge about a diverse range of historical topics.
We have plans to initiate more community groups here at Dundonald Castle and Visitor Centre and are always keen to hear any ideas and suggestions: so please do get in touch with Megan Sweeney who is our Events Officer and Café Organiser cafe@dundonaldcastle.org.uk if you have an idea you might wish to explore.
We’re hopeful that we can steadily begin to re-open fully over the course of the next few months and very much look forward to welcoming back all our community groups – so please do keep an eye on our Facebook page where you will find our regular news updates: https://www.facebook.com/DundonaldCastle
So, why not celebrate National Scrabble Day with a game or two?
There are free on-line versions which you can access if you don’t have a set- such as:
https://www.memory-improvement-tips.com/scrabble-online-free.html
Find out More:
Find out more about Dundonald Castle Scrabble Group or Knit and Knatter or any of our clubs and groups:
Email us: info@dundonaldcastle.org.uk
Sources:
https://nationaldaycalendar.com/days-2/national-scrabble-day-april-13/
http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1867007,00.html
https://scrabbleplayers.org/w/SCRABBLE_History
Images:
Cover Image by Gwen Sinclair for FoDC; coffee cup by Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay ;Cake image by Couleur from Pixabay
Dundonald Castle Visitor Centre Scrabble Group Image by FoDC.
Facebook Scrabble Image by Kevin Phillips from Pixabay
