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Springhill Ice rink Summerhill Road

Hi rogerstan I too had great times at the ice rink Recall going accross thr rd on skates to the pub around 9.00 and then back till the rink closed then of to a Dance somwhere.
The man at the door used to check the skates you were wearing to be sure that were not hired skates. That man could well have been your Dad.. I am talking of around 1948 -49- Was working on assy line at BSAand we had Thursday off to to shortages of mudguards from a firm called Cranfords , Used to go the the rink on Thursday afternoon session Cheers Joe
 
rogerstan said:
what memories the ice rink on spring hill brings back to me, i used to go in the fifties. and remember how the girls squealed when guy mitchel came on singing rockabilly rock and singing the blues, my father worked their, first as the car park attendant and then the cloak room attendant, he had one arm and his name was bill. i lived at the bottom of spring hill, (steward st) i loved watching the birmingham mowhawks. because my dad worked their i had a free pass and used to go mondays wednesdays and saturdays. the manager at the time was a mr woodward or woodwood. i would love to have some pictures to be able to put into my collection of old buildings in ladywood, i have one from the outside albeit not a very good one, it was at the ice rink that i wore my first pair of drainpipes. how hard i thought i looked lol. as i said, wonderfull memories.
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Rogerstan,
Was your dad the window cleaner? Did he live down Shakespeare Road, way? If he was, he was a mate of my dad's.
There are loads of old photos of Ladywood on the "Old Ladywood" website. I have also got a number in my collection, if I can help with any.
 
no my dad was not a window cleaner, he was a works policeman at bellis & morcoms in ledsam st during the fifties. he worked at the ice ring part time of an evening.
 
no mate, my dad worked at belliss and morcomb in ledsam st during the 50s he was a works policeman and worked parttime at the rink in the evening.
 
Hi Rogerstan I repied to this thread ealier today but must have done something won as I do not see my reply. I seem to recall a one armed man . My mates and I would go over to the pub on the other side of the road and the man on the door would check our skates to make sure we were not usung the hire skates.. After the rink we would go down to the Amusment Arcade just down where the no 8 bus crossed Think that was still Monument Rd . The no 8 bus stop wqs just around the corner. Lived in Waterworks rd then That would have been 1948-9 Cheers Joe
 
rogerstan said:
what memories the ice rink on spring hill brings back to me, i used to go in the fifties. and remember how the girls squealed when guy mitchel came on singing rockabilly rock and singing the blues, my father worked their, first as the car park attendant and then the cloak room attendant, he had one arm and his name was bill. i lived at the bottom of spring hill, (steward st) i loved watching the birmingham mowhawks. because my dad worked their i had a free pass and used to go mondays wednesdays and saturdays. the manager at the time was a mr woodward or woodwood. i would love to have some pictures to be able to put into my collection of old buildings in ladywood, i have one from the outside albeit not a very good one, it was at the ice rink that i wore my first pair of drainpipes. how hard i thought i looked lol. as i said, wonderfull memories.
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roigerstan ,i remember your Dad handing out skates at the skate hire room back then,they were GREAT TIMES
Regards
THE BARON
 
well here we go:-
It was 1955 and I was 10 years old. I lived at 151 Cape Hill Smethwick. My father was a dentist. My mother took me for lessons at springhill. Mrs Hartung. Not that keen! Didnt particularly like figure skating and ice dancing. One day in 1958 I saw a speed skating match and wow! that was what I was going to do.
Cut to 1960 and i d succeeded in joining bham Mohawks. I had ashort but reasonably good speed skating career with them. Won the Richmond Sportsdrome Trophy and the Lees Quarter Mile.
After Bham Uni I felt I had to leave brum for personal reasons and got a management job with Silver Blades thanks to Dave Thomas the then Manager of the new rink on Pershore St. They sent me to Manchester Ice palace as assistant manager. Silver Blades had been bought out by mecca who knew nothing about ice rinks. The Manchester Ice Palace closed in 1967 due to l;ack of proper maintainence.
Luckily my mother had insisted on piano lessons as well as skating so I have had a good living as a professional organist since 1967 here in Blackpool.

And what inspired me to play the organ?

John Bowery Playing the Compton Melotone

Where ?

Springhill ice rink!

Great memories of the old rink.

Phil Duncan.
 
I skated at Springhill upto when it closed as an ice rink & can never remember it having an organ? are you mixing it up when it became a roller rink?.
 
The Baron said:
I skated at Springhill upto when it closed as an ice rink & can never remember it having an organ? are you mixing it up when it became a roller rink?.
Click to expand...

Hi there,
No I m not mixing it up withe roller rink it eventually became. It had acompton melotone organ. This was put in after it was taken over by Silver Blades a company started by John Tree. He wanted to make Ice rinks more family orientated and was opposed to hockey skates. Thus when the new rink was built they werent allowed.
The introduction of an organ also, in his eyes made the place a bit more dignified. (if that was possible). Several organists played while it was still an ice rink. Bernard Tansley was one but the best was John Bowery, who later became general manager of Silver Blades Streatham. Most of the old rinks had organists in those days notably Douggie Walker Nottingham, Stanly Tudor Altrincham, Robinson Cleaver Richmond, George Kay Blackpool, Len Jones Manchester etc.

Phil Duncan.
 
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
 
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Spring Hill Ice rink definitely had an organist. I used to go Wednesday night's and Sunday afternoon and he was alway's playing on those day's.
 
I am Gob Smacked :0) I have just found out why I did not skate to any organist at springhill I HAD HOCKEY SKATES & had gone to Bearwood (with The BARONS IHC) like Phil (Oldmohawk) I finished up at solihull.
 
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Thanks for the reply Old Mohawk.
I also remember going across to the pub with Skates on. As you went in there was a notice on the door asking patrons wearing ice skates to use the back bar. Just to mention about the organist again the organ was situated about half way down the rink on the right hand side looking from the shop end .So it was opposite the cafe.
I never knew that Mecca had relaxed their ban on hockey skates but I left Bham in 1965 to be assistant Manager at Silver Blades Manchester. When Springhill closed I also went to Bearwood (the former Windsor theatre) and then to solihull. Incidentally Solihull rink also had an organist his namee was Mel Edwards.
Manchester rink didnt allow hockeys but when I arrived there the chief engineer asked me if I would kindly help them "plough" the ice which was still being done with an old Land Rover and heavy metal plough which needed someone holding onto the back of it to release the snow catcher as it passed the pit. It was actually good fun and I got to use my Hockey Skates again.
Happy Days!
 
Hi Phil,
Well I certainly did not notice an organ opposite the cafe, perhaps I wasn't paying attention, I'm surprised there was room for it. I started skating in 1950, had a partial break 1956/1958 to do National Service in the RAF and another break around 1964/1966 maybe when the organ was installed. I think one of the photos I've posted of a race at Richmond Ice Rink, faintly shows a grand piano and drums on stage!
I was skating at Silver Blades Hurst Street in 66/67 and went on a trip with the club to Berlin by train through the Iron Curtain and tough border guards etc. I have also posted in the Silver Blades thread on this forum.
Maybe you have already noticed that we have Upper Case and Lower Case threads of Spring Hill Ice Rink and also a Spring Hill Roller Rink thread and the old rink was actually Summer Hill Ice Rink, but we have all agreed we like it just as it is...
Happy Memories from so long ago...:)
Phil
oldmohawk
 
When you think fo the 1000's that skated at the old Birmingham Rink,its sad so few are on this forum, when you think of all the fun & great time we had as kid.teenagers & fully grown folks. The days spent in that place shaped my life as I think it did for many more.
Lets have some more memories Guys,DID YOU MEET YOUR WIFE,DID YOUR KID SKATE AT THAT RINK,DID YOU HAVE FUN ?
There must be more stores to tell? so lets have them guys.
 
Hello Baron. I can't hep you with stories of the 'old Mohawks' but Al loved his time at the rink and told me he, and others, used to stay at the rink when it was closed to practice. He still has his skates. We are down sizing and gouing to live in a flat BUT he insists we take his skates. It was his life, he has forgotten almost all, but his skates and pictures go with us. Miriam.
 
Miriam, that would me too, I have every pair of skates I ever owned plus one or two from the old skate hire at the rink ,given to me on the day it closed. Hope Al gets his to take his memories of that great time & your move goes well.

I must get to see Art Hambidge some time to go through our old times .all the very best
Keith
 
I have wonderful memories of Spring Hill Ice rink too. A boyfriend who used to go there with me, bought me a pair of ice skates from the shop there, and they are still here with me to this day. I think we have spoken before Baron, about my friend Terry Smith who was a Mohawk.
 
Hi Maggs,
You must have had a generous boyfriend to buy you a pair of skates way back in those days.
I remember my first skates were second hand and broke and I had to borrow money off my Mum to buy new skates - took me many weeks to pay her back.
Here's an existing photo brought up from the 'depths' of the forum to show Terry racing and about to do a changeover in a relay race.
oldmohawk....:)
Phil_and_Terry_Richmond_Ice_Rink.jpg
 
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Hello Old Mohawk, thank you for the photo of Terry. Well, my boyfriend must have loved me to buy me those skates. I think they cost about £6 at the time, but that would have been more than a weeks wages in those days wouldn't it?
 
Phil it great to have those pics back on the thread. The 1940s pic in the club dressing room the two not named back row a young Ron Saddler, front row left looks like a very young Kenny Heather ?
The one Wyndley 1960 shows Art Hambridge & Ted Dunne I was behind the camara.
Hope all is well with you
Keith
 
Hi Keith - I've merged the photos I had in #411 with a lot more photos in #414. I think the person you mentioned on the left was Maurice ? (will have to look up his surname). I've enlarged the Wyndley 1960's photo. With the post I was trying to show some of the missing photos in one post I could easily edit without filling the screen with large images disappearing way off the bottom. Some may wonder why we put old skating photos on but they were our bit of history and memories...
I may put a few more on in groups like this.
Phil
 
A gallery of the many images which were lost from this thread. Some large size photos which were lost when the forum was hacked in 2011 have been re-posted in the old posts, but some may never be re-posted. Some pics show 'free' skating on Wyndley Pool Sutton Park. The pics are mainly from the 40's 50's and 60's. Some of the pics are links and a click on them will go to the relevant posts on the forum.
A click on the image below will open a PDF file which contains all the lost pics. The file can be viewed online or saved. The normal '+' or '-' pdf controls can be used to enlarge it to full screen to easily view the pics.

Updated 1st March 2022.
 
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fANTASTIC Phil, they look much better set up like, that all in on place. I note looking at the BARONS IHC team pics I had Pete Allcock maked down as"Pete Cox" ,Art Hambidge put me right on this, Pete is no longer with us so I feel I must get this right RIP Pete.
 
Phil OUR ICE RINK DAYS WERE ALL PART OF BIRMINGHAM HISTORY as much as any other Thead on this site.Only hope we can keep it alive for others to know how much it ment to those who were there ;0)

All the best Keith
 
Hi Keith,
Sorry to hear about Pete RIP.
Putting the photos in a gallery does show all the photos in the thread like the 'old paper clip' method did. The only thing is the photos in the actual posts had the 'chat' about memories. I always remember 'bigland' saying to you 'I'm a "gal" not a "guy" but more of an "old gal" now!'
She's on the left in the 4th pic.
Phil
 
fantastic collection of photos phil and how lovely to see so many with al in them...

lyn
 
I went to Spring Hill skating in the late 50s and early 60s. Used to go 3 or 4 times a week with a group of other girls. I met my husband-to-be there when we were both 17. Loved the place............Went to the Embassy around the same time. Didn't like it quite as much, too noisy!!! Still got my membership card somewhere among my old papers............Aaaah! wonderful memories of days gone by...
 
Another memory I have of Spring Hill, we used to get changed at the side of the rink on the benches. We left all our belongings, including bags with purses, drinks and anything else we took with us, on the benches. No-one thought of taking anything belonging to anyone else, and we felt quite safe leaving our things there..........how things have changed!!
 
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