The Gosvenor Casino in Sheffield occupies the building that once housed Silver Blades, once the city’s only ice-skating rink. Sheffield still has an ice-rink, but it’s now located in Attercliffe and is the home of Sheffield Steeler’s, our local ice hockey team.

Ice hockey took place at Silver Blades too, although I was never involved in the sport and just went to the rink to skate about with friends and play video games in the mini arcade that was there (teetering about on a pair of skates and attempting to play Marble Madness took a degree of skill!).

When I first went to the rink I would hire a pair of boots. They were, if I remember correctly, all purple and always felt somewhat damp and clammy. After going for awhile, I decided to invest in a pair of my own skates and got some Bauer hockey boots. While I was never a skilled skater, I was proficient, and could get up a decent sprint on the ice.

While most of the sessions involved skating around in an anti-clockwise circuit (complete with a DJ playing music from a booth overlooking the ice, usually with a bunch of kids crowded below submitting requests), there would also be a short daredevil intermission half way through the evening where the circuit would become a figure-of-eight health-and-safety nightmare (although I cant ever recall any serious collisions happening).

I’ve not skated for about three decades now. I wonder if it’s one of those things you don’t forget how to do?

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 20 January 2024