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Silver Blades Ice Rink

No I didn't see that group. Their name change was probably a good move ! :rolleyes:
When Silver Blades opened they would only allow 'figure skates' to be used in general sessions, so that ruled me out, and I and others drifted off to Solihull and Nottingham etc. I think Mecca soon realised that if they wanted the Mohawks to race there, 'hockey skates' would have to be allowed. Although I skated there until about 1968 I don't seem to have very clear memories of my times at the rink.
I do remember the 'Heartbeat Club' upstairs.:)
 
I have just opened up a group on the Friends Reunited Website. For those who may be interested
Just log in and use the search term Birmingham Ice Rink
 
leanderpoole said:
I have just opened up a group on the Friends Reunited Website. For those who may be interested
Just log in and use the search term Birmingham Ice Rink[/QU
Hi are you on facebook or friends reunited,i tried the face book one and there is a group but only 4 people and no photos
scrap that i found it lol
Click to expand...
 
I remeber one night at the Silver Blades when there a very bad accident with one of the barrel jumpers, his blade was bent when his backside fell on it and he was very badly hurt, was anyone there that night, must have been in the mid 60's, terrible thing to see, it happend at the far end of the rink under the cafe above the rink. I think he was ok but there was a lot of blood on the ice.
 
Andrew Hope said:
I remeber one night at the Silver Blades when there a very bad accident with one of the barrel jumpers, his blade was bent when his backside fell on it and he was very badly hurt, was anyone there that night, must have been in the mid 60's, terrible thing to see, it happend at the far end of the rink under the cafe above the rink. I think he was ok but there was a lot of blood on the ice.
Click to expand...
Yes I was there that night with friends.My future father in law was one of the St Johns Ambulance guys who was in attendance that night.
Keegs
 
Do you remeber when the Mohawks skated they had a theme tune, was it Tokyo Melody, that tune seems to ring a bell when I think of the days at the rink back in the 60's
Andrew
 
Yes thats the tune, well done, I can see them white shirts racing around the rink now, don't think they wore any head protection in those days, could of got hurt, not like the speed skaters of today. Love that tune.
Andrew.
 
I raced for the Mohawks from about 1953 to 1967 and now it's mentioned, I seem to vaguely remember the tune playing at Silver Blades. I had a few injuries during racing and got took to Dudley Rd hospital twice. After one hospital visit, the ambulance taking me home went in Winson Green Prison to drop off a prisoner. Once at Silver Blades I fell coming out of a corner and my skates went up the overhang on the barrier and smashed some flourescent tubes. I lay in a pile of broken glass with a few minor cuts. I suppose that's why we now have Health & Safety and Risk Assessments !
Happy Days:)
 
This is the time I used to go to rink, I always enjoyed the speed skating and The Mohawks but there was always one of the team who got boos from the people there, may have been a slower skater than the rest, can't remeber his name but I think he was a little chubbier than the rest of the team, if that was you I am sorry.
Andrew
 
Hi Andrew,
I was never chubby! :D
If you want to see more about speed skating and the Mohawks have look in the SPRINGHILL ICE RINK thread here. https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/springhill-ice-rink.3143/page-21#post-421206
There are lots of photos, you can see me in some of the photos I posted from #70 onwards. In fact post #63 in that thread was my first ever on the forum. Maybe Springhill was a bit before your time! I did get some boos in Scotland at the Glasgow Crossmyloof ice rink but that was because I won a race and was English !
oldmohawk:)
 
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Wendy, in my 'mod' days I used to park my scooter under there and had it trashed by rockers or the like, it was in pieces after my skate session. Happy Days???:sick:

Graham.
 
I came across this photo the other day, Although it brought back a few memories I think it was after my time. I remember Samantha's as the Heartbeat and used to use it when it first opened. It was pretty posh in those days. Or so I though being used to places like The Ringway Club.

I only ever used the rink half a dozen times at the most, but I used the bars in the bowling alley quite often. I'm sure the booze was watered down as I never got drunk in there.

Phil

City Pershore St Silver Blades Ice Rink.JPG

City Pershore St Silver Blades.jpg
 
It's great to read your memories although that must have been awful for you Graham. I remember the troubles with the mods and rockers. I remember the club being the Heartbeat but my sister who is younger went to Samantha's.
 
I remember the mods always hung out there under the Silver Blades,and the rockers up the Road at Alex's
 
Nice to see the Silver Blades again, had so many great times there, next time I come to Birmingham I must take a trip up the ramp if it open, I used the rink way back in the mid 60's, the line ups were always long at the weekend, and the smell of the ice rink always lingers in your memory, Birmingham lost a great institution when the rink closed, we had so much fun there I am sure the young people of today would feel the same way, and it was a great place to get lots of execise too. This place was a large part of my youth and I am sure it is sadly missed by many Birmingham people.
 
The ramp is closed and I am not sure what they are doing to the building. If you look at the photo I took last week there is a yellow skip at the bottom of the ramp and a steel fence around the area.
 
Passed it late last night as it happens.

Ramp that used to lead to Samanthas was still there, with a sign saying something about an ice rink, but it was fenced off.

Wierd, there was a woman standing in middle of the road waving a hazard triangle about while her husband was trying to fix the car.
 
Comeback for Silver Blades ice rink

Feb 8 2008 By Catherine Lillington
F8872435-D0D5-DC4D-0EBEDB11DD034B70.jpg

BRUMMIES can get their skates on now for the city's only ice rink is about to return.
An exciting £25 million scheme on the site of the former Silver Blades has finally been approved by council planners.
Developers are now deciding when work will begin on the huge development in Pershore Street, which will also include 231 flats, shops and parking.
It will see the existing fivestorey building bulldozed and replaced with a new one, the equivalent of 12 storeys high.
A previous application and appeal to build on the site had been rejected because of concerns about noise from the nearby wholesale markets.
But the developers said they had now "designed out" the problem.
The company behind the plans is Dunbar Development.
Louise Brooke-Smith, director of the company's agents C.S.J. Brookesmith, of Edgbaston, is delighted with the decision.
She said: "Getting consent was the biggest challenge.
"Now that we've got that we are wanting to move forward.
"Previous applications were refused because of concerns for people living in the new residential units to sit above the ice rink, being troubled by noise from the wholesale market next door.
"We've overcome those worries with a revised design for the scheme. In the light of this, the application was supported by officers and now has been endorsed by the planning committee."
The former rink attracted families from across the city during the 1970s and 1980s. But it closed when the rink, which had been renamed Planet Ice, was wrecked in a blaze in 2003.
Members of the city's planning committee approved the scheme yesterday.
Coun Margaret Waddington (Con, Sutton Trinity) was among many to welcome the return of the city's only ice rink.
She said: "My kids learned to skate there, it's good to see it coming back." Coun Adrian Delaney (Con, Weoley) added: "I welcome the return of the ice rink to Birmingham as one of the last people to use the previous ice rink."
 
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