Robert Craik, more fondly known as Bobby, has died aged 81 after a short illness. Bobby, alongside his late wife Jean, was the long-time proprietor of the Glenesk Hotel, Edzell.
Bobby was a well-known and loved local character who lived in Edzell for 60 years, running the Glennie for 40 of those.
He was born in Strathmiglo to Robert and Margaret Craik, but together with brother Derek, grew up in Forfar where his father ran the Volunteer Arms.
He went to Forfar Academy where he excelled in athletics and then followed his father into hospitality by taking a job as a boot boy at the Cooperative Hotel in Bridge of Allan.
Bobby learned the business from the bottom up and then spent a few years on the French Riviera working in the Cap Estel Hotel outside Monaco, where he honed his hospitality skills to then come home to work with his parents who had taken over the Central Hotel in Edzell.
In the early 1960s he met his future wife, Jean Ogilvie, whose parents farmed at Barns of Craig, Montrose.
She graduated in physical education from the University of Liverpool.
The couple married in 1968 and by this time, Bobby’s parents had taken over the Glenesk Hotel and that is where married life began. They went on to have two of a family, Alison and Gordon.
In the 1960s and 1970s the hotel hosted many shooting and golfing parties, had a residents’ cocktail bar and a public bar and then went on to be one of the premier wedding venues in the area.
Although Jean died in 1997, Bobby, then son Gordon, continued to run the Glenesk until about 11 years ago when it was sold.
Bobby was a long-standing and active member of Edzell Golf and Curling Clubs. He started the Edzell Golf Pro-Am competition in the 1980s which became a popular fixture.
In curling, he won the Scottish Curling Masters Championships as skip in 2003, however, his main claim to fame came from The Grand Match on the frozen Lake of Menteith in 1979 when he was part of the Edzell Curling Club team that lifted the cup and became the unofficial World Outdoor Curling Champions.
For the past 25 years he has spent winters in Florida where he owned a home and enjoyed winter golf in the sun. He was a devoted grandfather to Fraser, Greg, James, Ross and Alistair.
You can rad the family’s announcement here.
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