• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Silver Blades Ice Rink

I went there from 1975 to around 81 people could hear me .I had a big loud voice and made the noise of a seal .I new wilf o Riley the speed scarer he was so small in those days he called me over once to meet his mom bless him Halloween night was the worst in the first aid room as lots of novices went over on burst balloons.
I remember one of the speed skaters who had red coller length hair ,he was not very tall , think his name was Paul and a small girl who was one if not the fastest skaters I ever saw. long curl ley dark hair always wore Bayer red/blue/white boots.
 
I went there from 1975 to around 81 people could hear me .I had a big loud voice and made the noise of a seal .I new wilf o Riley the speed scarer he was so small in those days he called me over once to meet his mom bless him Halloween night was the worst in the first aid room as lots of novices went over on burst balloons.
why?
 
Skaters would trip on the burst balloons lying on the ice.

I was once ice racing there and put my right skate on a matchstick which caused me to fall at speed coming out of a corner and my skates went up to the overhang on the barrier and smashed some flourescent tubes. I lay in a pile of broken glass with a few minor cuts.
:)
Matchs often went off in the box while the owner was still had them in there back pocket when thy fell over on the ice burnt bums and rear calf's were common in the first aid room on disco nights
 
Matchs often went off in the box while the owner was still had them in there back pocket when thy fell over on the ice burnt bums and rear calf's were common in the first aid room on disco nights
Do you remember a lad red coat .a black lad called
noel. he and his blond girl friend with long hair organised a trip to Stretham ice rink only the coach driver got lost comming home took from 1100 till 4 or 5 am to get home that night.
D
 
Do you remember a lad red coat .a black lad called
noel. he and his blond girl friend with long hair organised a trip to Stretham ice rink only the coach driver got lost comming home took from 1100 till 4 or 5 am to get home that night.
D
I don't remember the lad you mention but I certainly went to Streatham many times. I think your time at Silver Blades was a bit later than most time I skated there. Maybe you visited the Heart Beat Club upstairs.

In 1967 my thoughts turned to marriage and my skating days were over ... :)

My favourite days of skating were at the old Ice Rink which later became a Roller Rink. Some old ice rink photos in this long thread.
 
All of the photos posted before 2011 were lost in a hack attack. You can see some photos by scrolling onwards through the thread from post#285
 
Hi, all,
New to this forum and reading your posts has brought back so many memories of happy times. I skated at the Blades as often as I could at the end of the 60s and the first half of the 70s - started in hockey skates and then graduated (very naughty) to cut down speed skates. Ron Hargreaves was the General Manager, Kevin Dawson the Catering Manager and later the General Manager, Bernie ran the skate shop and later married Kevin, Ethel Crowe was the Chief Cashier and Brian Bacon (Crispie) the engineer. I used to hang around with Paul Hough and other whose names I've forgotten, I remember Lesley and Sue Ryder and the DJ / organists Pete Roberts and Eddie Ruhier. Please get in touch if you remember me. Cheers, Ian Lennock
 
Have really fond memories of silver blades Birmingham.
I went there from 1966 thru to 1968. Didn't have much to do with any one who worked there or the mohawks.
But did most my growing up in as much as we managed under age drinking and meeting girls happy days.
Unfortunately in that growing up process when you meet someone you like you are to shy and naive to recognise the opportunity.
A lovely girl whose name was Jean and had a best friend called Carol I let slip through my fingers because of my ignorance girls can't wait forever she got engaged Andi assume married. When that happened I stopped going to silver blades ice rink. And went onto other things. One of the joys of the silver blades rink in the mid 60s was the number of pop groups appearing in the early stages of their careers such as Roy Wood ,Jeff Lynne and Steve Marriott. Any one remember those occasions?
I remember those days. I saw Amen Corner. The Kinks.Georgie fame with Alan price. Also small faces. We used to tie towels round our shoes to stop us slipping on the Ice. Used to skate 4times a week. Great times from when it opened in 64 to 69.Did anyone skate at the old place in summerhill Road before they turned it into the roller rink
 
Wow, Silver Blades in Brum. I used to go there a lot in my last school years, 1965 to 1967. I was a competent but not exceptional skater, enough to sometimes help (girls) who had fallen over to stand up again. Anyone remember the leg clamps ? I never used them, I had a very thick and long pair of wool socks under my skates that were carefully turned over the top of the boot. (Looked cool at the time). Combined with tightly laced skates, that stopped my ankle leaning over. Really enjoyed those times. Just recently, my lovely other half bought me a pair of very similar socks just for memories. Cheers Andrew.
 
Mine were white girl's skates blacked up. But skating in the street ruined the wooden wheels. What's a leg clamp?
 
Skating in the street didn't do much for ice skates either. The leg clamp (better name would be leg brace or ankle brace) was an accessory that you could hire with the skates. It fitted to the bottom of your skate, and was in the form of a steel rod that went up the outside of your leg about halfway up the calf, then strapped to the leg with a leather band. Stopped the ankle giving way, which of course was a weak point. Think of Tiny Tim in Christmas Carol. All my skating was on blades, only went roller skating once, took a girl who didn't like it at all. Hey Ho, you choose your priorities. Cheers, Andrew
 
Being able to roller skate enabled me to be reasonable on the ice. Surprised s few school mates. I only went to Solihull twice but SIlver Blades was considered la créme de la créme .
 
I regularly crossed a main road wearing my ice skates as mentioned towards the end of this old post .. :)
I cannot remember an organist at Springhill but I did have a short break from skating as Silver Blades took over. When Silver Blades opened I did not skate there because of the ban on hockey skates, and went to Solihull, a nice large rink, and Bearwood (ex cinema) which was so small we got dizzy skating in circles.
As discussed in our PM, I do remember the organist at Nottingham, and thanks for mentioning his name which I had forgotten. Silver Blades (Mecca) continued their ban of hockey skates at the new rink, but soon realised they had made a mistake, and relaxed the ban and also asked the Mohawks to come to the rink.
Springhill Ice Rink was built in the 1930's and apart from the decorative inner roof starting to fall down one night, had a nice feel about it, and the Christmas and New Year's Eve nights were brilliant.
I was interested in your comments about the reasons for summer close-downs to let the rising centre ground thaw out. I remember those closing nights when they switched the freezers off early and we were eventually skating on slush and pipes.
The old rink was strictly run, no 'bouncers' needed, just a smart Sergeant Commisionaire on the door to keep order, and if the manager saw you speeding in general sessions he marched you into the office of the ice rink owner James Easton who dished out a month's ban.
The rink was an alcohol free rink so during the ice dance sessions we used to sneak out the fire exit with our skates still on, to the pub across the road to have a pint. To protect our skates we had to tip-toe on the front non-working part of the blades. The pub had a special mat we could stand on .... such decadence for those old times...
The photo below is on the forum in other threads and the posh car in the centre probably belonged to the original owner of the ice rink.
Outside_Old_Ice_Rink.jpg
 
It saddens me to see the old place like this, I used to be a regular at solihull ice rink, and a member of the speed skating club there, and there used to be a great friendly rivalry between the two places, it nearly brought a tear to my eye to see these photos. I remember my last visit to the silver blades ice rink, enviromental health had closed down the cafeteria and I remember thinking "how has it come to this, why can't somebody do something."
ARTHUR! Is that you? This is ME! Just saw this post and thought, "it must be Arthur Smith, brother of Dave!" We were the Wombles. Let me know how it's going. Cheers, Julian.
 
I regularly crossed a main road wearing my ice skates as mentioned towards the end of this old post .. :)
Hi Old Mohawk! We had a 80th Mohawk reunion a few years back - were you there? I was in attendance and met some Mohawks that I would never have met otherwise. I've just posted the link to this thread to the Solihull Mohawk Facebook page so you may see a few more participants shortly. If its not too much of an intrusion could I please ask your name? I've been looking at many old Mohawk photos and actually knew Ken Pendry as a Ref and Dave Boddington was my coach. I skated with the Mohawks in the late 1980's and competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada on the Long Track. Willie O'Reilly and I were training partners on the Short Track at Silver Blades until I had to move to the Netherlands to train on the Long Tracks. Willie went on to win two Gold Olympic medals at the 1988 Olympics and World Champion in 1992.
 
Name Game: Ok Brian B. (Crispie) lets see how you do, Your starter for ten is: 'People from Silver Blades Ice Rink 1965 - 1980' You get a point for everyone you remember (N.B. any with 1st & surname are in the public domain, on the web already or people I know personally) starting from the top, Ron Hargreaves GM (Grandad), Kevin catering manager & Bernie (cash desk, skate shop) Duncan Gumley Temp catering manager. Snr Steward Keith & girlfriend Carol, ast' Head Steward Pat - married Viv Marlow (head of the Metcalfe mafia incl: Tom 'the barrell jumper, sisters Pauline & Anne and that 'pain-in-the b**t' kid brother Brian). Gerry M, brothers Ronnie & Neville T, Pauline 'L' and 'make your mind up' Keith, Judy savage, Leslie 'R' and her kid sister with best friend Rachel & Sue. Bernard (never Bernie) the Instructor, Big Ron as well as Big Les, Lynne pemberton & her pals Mandy & Wendy + speedskater bro John, Clive Pass, Bob Gill, Corrinne Price & her pal Pam (those black 'spray on shorts' !!!!!) Graham Andrews, Tony Wemm, Ian Cooper ('Penny Black' & Ian are playing still) Keith Dunford, Chrissie Thomas/Badger, Mick the engineer (what was his surname, mates for 10 yrs and can't remember ??), Angela Moss, Bob Griffith, Dave Cox, Deidre Alexander, Cheryl Bolger, Sylvia Broadmore, Carol Comptom, Julie davies, Pam Tierney, Maxine barnes/Simpsom, Margaret Kenny, Gary Smalley, Dianne Jackson, Margaret reid, Mary Hollis, Dawn Bosworth/Perry, Jill Welsh, David Pugh, Jackie Wheet, Bernard reeves, Dave Roberts, Christine Broome/Rose, John Duckworth, Johnnie Morris (no, not Animal magic, he was the weekend chef in the restaurant) and last but not least George 'The Nigh....chman' by the way wasn't the DJ George ?

Ok Brian, I know you know every name on the list but it might be a good memory jogger for the rest of the bloggers

N.B. my memory isn't that good, half this list was 'nicked' from the Friends reunited 'Silver Blades' site, worth a look for anyone here who hasn't seen it, unfortunately no pics, cant believe of all the people and all the events in 'rusties' over the years = no pics, mind you, went there myself for 20 years and don't have a single snap, so can't complain, maybe we don't need photos, we keep the feeling not the mage.

If anyone wants to add additional names / memories to the list feel free.
Hi Brimar! I speed skated with Clive and Stuart Pass as a member of the Mohawks from about 1985 to 1990 when it shut down. Clive is still somewhere around Birmingham and Stuart moved to somewhere on the East coast of Canada, as did I, except I'm on the West coast. Other names in the speed skating club - Willie O'Reilly, (1988 Double Gold Olympic medallist and 1992 World Champion), Guy Bushell, Dave Boddington, Dave Hampton, Ken Pendry, Dave Farrell, Joe, Pauline and Caron New, Kim and Gary Ferran, Mick Moran, Chris Fieldhouse, Yvonne Judith, Jackie Bone, Des Lewis, Jared Heaney, Tony Mead, Mike and Mark Allen, Bernard ?, Colin Dandy, Denny Vaughn, Hellen Le Fevre, Harry Spragg (before I joined, he's now in Australia), Jimmy Redford, Ray Kemp, Joy Stokes, Rebecca Maloney, Malley Powers, John Grenshaw, Nigel Conde to name a few. Stuart Pass made our skates, Mike Allen made our blades and Denny Vaughn made our racing suits, jackets and warm zip pants. We had a Mohawks Reunion a few years back to celebrate the 80th year anniversary of the club which has had to relocate to the Solihull Ice Arena and re-brand as the Solihull Mohawks. In the early 1980's John Debney and myself created the Solihull Phoenix Ice Racing Club after the Solihull Vikings I.R.C. had dissolved so there was a speed skating presence at the Hobbs Moat arena into which the "new" Mohawks club could integrate after the Silver Blades closed its doors.
 
Last edited:
Please excuse me if this is not the right place to post photos of the old Spring Hill and Silver Blades Birmingham Ice Racing Club. Many photos courtesy of Dave Hampton.
 

Attachments

  • 1940s Al_Banner 01 (2).jpg
    1940s Al_Banner 01 (2).jpg
    178.1 KB · Views: 6
  • 1940s Mohawk_Race (2).jpg
    1940s Mohawk_Race (2).jpg
    271.9 KB · Views: 5
  • 1940s Mohawks 01 (2).jpg
    1940s Mohawks 01 (2).jpg
    222.5 KB · Views: 4
  • 1940s Mohawks late 1940s. Back LtoR Dennis Blundell, Ron Saddler, Al Banner. Front Maurice, Pe...jpg
    1940s Mohawks late 1940s. Back LtoR Dennis Blundell, Ron Saddler, Al Banner. Front Maurice, Pe...jpg
    265.2 KB · Views: 4
  • 1940s Pete Jennings, Brian Grinsell, Terry Smith, Bill Jones, Ken Heather, Trainer John Monk  ...jpg
    1940s Pete Jennings, Brian Grinsell, Terry Smith, Bill Jones, Ken Heather, Trainer John Monk ...jpg
    334.1 KB · Views: 4
  • 1940s Spring Hill Ice Rink Inside (2).jpg
    1940s Spring Hill Ice Rink Inside (2).jpg
    465.4 KB · Views: 5
  • 1949 1950 Season Mohawks 01 (2).jpg
    1949 1950 Season Mohawks 01 (2).jpg
    384.4 KB · Views: 5
  • 1949 Birmingham Mohawks. Al Banner second from left (2).jpg
    1949 Birmingham Mohawks. Al Banner second from left (2).jpg
    299.7 KB · Views: 5
  • 1949 The Birmingham Mohawks. The owner of the Spring Hill ice rink is with them (2).jpg
    1949 The Birmingham Mohawks. The owner of the Spring Hill ice rink is with them (2).jpg
    243.1 KB · Views: 5
Back
Top