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Springhill Ice rink Summerhill Road

Di.Poppitt

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
I used to ice skate at Spring Hill Dave, did they close ithe ice rink down :?: I couldn't do any of the fancy stuff mind, I was lucky if I managed to get round a corner without falling over.On Monday night they had speed skating, and we all stood and watched teams of the glorious youth of the day in tight black suits. 8)
 
I think they closed the ice rink and changed it to a roller rink when they opend Silver Blades in town buy Hurst Street , i also used to go bowling there. You lot have an incredible memory for detail :eek:
 
:D I did all three of those sports Roller Skating (Spring Hill), Ice Skating (At the Silver Blades) and Ten Pin Bowling and went to the dances at The Heart Beat Club 8) . If I remember right the last three were all in the same complex by the Ring Road one on top of the other :idea: . However it was only when I came to NZ that I had to wear a bodice with 'BLIND SKIER' Written on it :eek: , no guts some of these Kiwis, or the tourists :roll:  - it does clear the slopes for a good run down the mountain though 8) . :lol:  :lol:
 
We never used The Heart Throb, we used to go to the Top Rank and The Lacarno, i remember the toilets were called the boudoir i thought that was ever so posh :D Also of course the good old Plaza Rookery Road, I was to young to see The Beatles but i remember the crowds outside, did any of you lot see them, i get ever so jealous of people who did :evil:
 
our venue was the Waldorth roller skating rink it had a very large skating area and easy to get to on the number 8 bus it always used to be packed they had two sessions the second session you had to skate the opposite way round the most scary part was when they had the speed chain those on the end were always whipped along the fastest and inadvertantly those on the end were catapulted into the barriers at a fair old rate and the noise from the hundreds of roller wheels was louder than a modernjet plane
 
I used to love going the Roller rink.
I first started going there when I was 17, at first I used to come home looking like I'd had a fight with Mike Tyson, bruises everywhere..
But I soon got better.
I was, in fairly quick time able to skate backwards, sidewards, upside down (ok, I made that last bit up) but seriously, after doing anything 3/4 times a week you soon get pretty good at it...hmmm..hang on, rule out suicide will you?
Anyway, I had my first pint there (oh yuk!)
I met the Honey Monster who cried all over me...and I had some of the best years of my life.
They used to play a few romantic songs back then and you and a girl (or vice versa) used to skate around holding hands, I was really shy back in those days and could never get a girl to skate with me, there were so many pretty girls in there then but frankly anyone with a pulse or who at the very least, were Leprosy free, were well beyond my aspirations.
I even had my favourite skates, not mine of course but I always used to 'reserve' them by giving the Skate attendant a shilling.
Allan, Derek and me weren't just content of course with Skating, we also perfected the noble art of Nobbling..
This was done by simply tapping the back of their skates with caused them to lose complete control and over they went..
The film Rollerball had nothing on us.
I remember saving up for months to buy some Wrangler cords and the first week I wore them, Allan nobbled me and I went down on one knee and split them open..I was miserable for weeks.
Well the Rink closed down and many years later I was a Dad of two little girls aged 10 and 8
I took them over to Derby Roller rink and watched as they skated round and round.
I'd hired some Skates myself and my girls and their friends that I'd brought with them laughed at me as I wobbled around the floor...
The look on their faces was priceless as I suddenly turned from being the ugliest of Ducklings into the most graceful of Swans.
I showed them the passage of years had not diminished my skills..
Their tired old Daddy flew round as all those 25 years dropped away and I weaved in and out of the other Skaters..
From top speed as I neared my children who were watching from the side, I just turned round and slid to a sudden stop..
Melanie came skating over to me put her arms around my waist and said 'Hey Dad, you really are cool at times'
God, it was a great day.
 
It was the Embassy in Walford Road, Sparkhill or Sparkbrook, I used to go with a large crowd of girls and boys every Friday night, I was never very good but could get round, as John Houghton writes the noise was thunderous and I also remember the clouds of dust which used to swirl round, I think it was from the chalk or a similar substance they used to put on the rink. We always had a great time.
 
They don't know what they are missing today do they. The nearest kids get to our prowess on the rinks is the skate boarding and rollering we see on our streets that terriefies me as they come towards me. :roll:
 
Hey some of the things those kids can do with skate boards are amazing. I must say I have stood and watched in wonder at some of the stunts that they perform.
 
Couldn't agree more Rod, but they would be better off at the rink. Last time I was at the Central Library in Birmingham, there were quite a few youths showing their prowess on the steps. None of your holding hands with a girl as you skated to the music. :D
 
:D I have found that both forms of skating are a bit like riding a bike once mastered never forgotten 8). Also I found if you could do one the other became just as easy. As for skate boards I agree the kids do great things with them (Girls & Boys). Not sure how many of you have seen some of these same kids do Snow boarding with the same skill, but that too is amazing :). Kids given the chance and the right places to go have just as much fun as we did and don't forget the rinks and the dance halls were provided for us, our generation just seem to pull, or close every thing down. I know that the kids in Ch-Ch had to really fight the council hard to get the space built for a skate boarding park for them to use, as the adults wanted them off the streets. :)
 
Thats a damned slur that is Diana! 8)
I'll have you know I wasn't just a girly hand holder as I skated ..
I HELD hands with boys too!
And as for questioning my bravery only last week I demanded stronger washing up liquid off my wife...so there Miss know nowt!
 
I remember going to spring hill for the ice skating and the 'Embassy' for roller skating. At the Embassy the skates didn't have boots, you had to tie them on to your street shoes. It was also at the Embassy that I had my first bottle of Coca Cola. I was not into 'holding hands' then as I was too young, I was only there under Suffrance because my older brother had to take me with him everywhere. ( I think he still hates me). In later years ( when I WAS old enough to hold hands), I used to go to an ice rink somewhere in Smethwick, the cool 8) guys used to race along and the do a 'side stop' and spray ice everywhere. I was quite an accomplished artist at this and one night in front of all of my mates I raced down the rink to where a group of rather lovely 'chicks' were standing at one of the rink exits with the intention of spraying ice all over them and suitably impressing them with my prowess on skates. WELL.......just as i went into my 'side stop,, I tripped over my own skates and went headfirst over the step off the ice. (it gets worse) right in front of me was the emergency exit (the ones with the panic bolts) I was still doing about 30 MPH and was almost horizontal as well, in desperate need for something to hold on to ( the girls had all stepped sideways) I grabbed the panic bolt, the doors flew open and there was a three foot drop outside the door and the snow had formed a drift there and I went head first into it. I do believe that the snow actually thawed out from the heat off my face. There were about 50 people crowded rund the door in absolute fits. I can't go on.........the memories........the pain...........those girls...........laughing.........boo hoo.
 
Does anyone remember the World Record Pole Sitting that took place outside the Roller Rink. It was a pole about 30 foot in height with a barrel secured to the top, inside would sit a "nutter" trying to break the world record. I seem to remeber he was up there for weeks.
 
Hey!! I thought I was going barmy for a minute!! I looked at the Avatar and thought 'I DONT remember typing that!'
Then I realised it wasn't me but my incredibly handsome twin brother..Bro! how ya doin?
 
I don't remember the skating rink in Spring Hill, but I certainly went to the Waldorf roller rink in Walford Road a few times in 1950. I also remember the crap skates you hired. They were rubbish.
Peter
 
Great memories Gals & Guys, I too used to frequent those dubious dens of self propelled mayhem, the speed sessions & Train-chain always seem to end with me crashing into an ample bosomed cushion :oops: :?:
Heh I thought I could skate as good as Devon Demon Dave :lol:
until I tried it in Toronto, Wow these Guys are born on skates, Whoosh & gone but they made me "blocker" defence man so I enjoyed the scraps but spent more time in the sin bin, :wink: Noticed the New "In Thing" is Sand surfing & that looks great, can,t wait to try it so c,mon guys form a Chain, must be some ample bosoms to "accidently" crash into :p
Ok thanks for the ma m err oops memories john
 
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