Hi all. My name is Fred Horton. My dad used to be the night security guard at the roller rink. He looked after John Stokes when he was in the barrel, John was kind enough to let us use his car which was an Austin 1300 whilst he spent i think was a month up there. My dad was on duty when one night some one tried to saw through the pole the barrel was sitting on. I was only 11yrs of age but had the privilege of going into the control room and flashing all the lights to the beat of the music. The huge Tannoy sound system was the best sound ever. My dad also said that the rink was haunted and some nights you could see images of horses on the rink, as there used to be a circus on that site years ago. My dad was named Harry but everyone called him John i never understood that. I was never a good skater but the speed sessions and the barrel jumping always made it a night to remember and i so wished i could have been that good.
I will add other memories at a later date. I would love to see any photo's if anyone has some. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Best wishes Fred