Skating rinks in the UK

[rockers]

Hello! I'm looking for recommendations for figure skating rinks / clubs in the UK during the winter, and in particular, Bristol, Glasgow, London, and Manchester. I'm an adult skater working mostly on single jumps (no axel yet) if that helps.

Based on some online searching, it appears that UK does not have a lot of rinks (that are accessible from the main city), and it is different from where I come from (US/Canada). Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[WednesdayMarch]

Hello! I'm looking for recommendations for figure skating rinks / clubs in the UK during the winter, and in particular, Bristol, Glasgow, London, and Manchester. I'm an adult skater working mostly on single jumps (no axel yet) if that helps.

Based on some online searching, it appears that UK does not have a lot of rinks (that are accessible from the main city), and it is different from where I come from (US/Canada). Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thank you.

The UK's provision for figure skating is woeful. My closest rink (I live in Cornwall) is Plymouth but it will be closing at the end of the year, if not before. Next closest is Bristol.

Bristol rink is run by Planet Ice with all their attendant weirdness, but it's brand new and the natives have been friendly when I've visited. Easy to get to by car from the M5 but not in Bristol centre.

Cardiff is a two-pad facility with a decent reputation.

Guildford has a good rink.

I'm sure Manchester has rinks but my knowledge of them and the area is nil.

Nottingham and Sheffield have good rinks.

London has several; Queen's, Streatham, Alexandra Palace and Lee Valley (new twin-pad facility opening this winter), plus further out at Slough. And a myriad winter pop-up rinks in glorious locations.

Scotland is well served for rinks if you're into curling but not so good for figure skating. I believe Dundee is considered the top one.

Hopefully somebody else can tell you more.

 

[wakey_skatey]

From Manchester the nearest rink is Altrincham which is accessible by train from the city. Other Northwest rinks to travel to would be Blackpool, Blackburn or Widnes but they would be further away and from Manchester easier if you were travelling by car.

 

[gleungc6]

The majority of the top, internationally competing skaters in the UK train at Sheffield and Dundee, but part of that is also just due to where coaches have ended up living. Some of these top skaters also coach on the side at these rinks. Sheffield also has a few semi-regular camps and off ice classes.

The ice at Blackburn tends to be really very very wet and I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as sometimes the water just sits on top of the ice like a bit of a lake…

There are good coaches in the Glasgow area but I’m not sure at which rink. Fwiw Glasgow and Dundee are on opposite coasts.

Alexandra Palace (London), Swindon and Oxford also have good coaches and high level skaters to my knowledge (ie there will be skaters of various disciplines on the GB development team/competing internationally for GB at these rinks). If you hang around those rinks long enough you might see a few JGP competitors or Challenger series pairs!

Queens in London is quite small and very very busy as it’s quite central, so the ice doesn’t tend to be great. Not sure about other rinks, sorry I can’t help more!

Another way to go about it would be to ask coaches from rinks you’ve been to before to recommend to you any coaches or clubs they have ties to (eg past colleagues from ice shows, friends of friends, coaches they met during seminars…) as the skating world is quite small.

Hope this helps!

 

[storm]

There a nice group of adult skaters at Alexandra Palace who are very friendly. May be a good place to make new friends.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

Murrayfield Ice Arena (formerly Murrayfield Ice Rink) in Edinburgh just reopened after more than 2 years of closure. It's relatively accessible from Glasgow if that matters, we used to have skaters from there come over when their rinks closed. Biggest ice pad in the UK (slightly bigger than Olympics) and a good adult community.

 

[WednesdayMarch]

Murrayfield Ice Arena (formerly Murrayfield Ice Rink) in Edinburgh just reopened after more than 2 years of closure. It's relatively accessible from Glasgow if that matters, we used to have skaters from there come over when their rinks closed. Biggest ice pad in the UK (slightly bigger than Olympics) and a good adult community.

This is wonderful news!