Skating used to be a regular way of getting around in the fens of eastern England in winter. Skates made from the shinbones of cattle and sheep were the best way of moving about on the frozen dykes and marshes during the cold of the 18th and 19th centuries.
These practical aids to travel were “fen runners” rather than skates. Skates need to be made of metal in order to cut into the ice and so provide the ability to turn and stop. But steel was expensive, and so just to own skates for pleasure was the preserve of the well off.
Charles II is credited with bringing the first metal skates with him when he returned from exile on the continent, thereby making it a fashionable pastime, although the first skating club was founded in the 1740s in Edinburgh.
The club “dedicated to the improvement of this elegant amusement” is mentioned in the 1783 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and it seems it was figure skating rather than speed trials that attracted people to the club.
To qualify for membership, entrants had to perform a figure of eight, each half on one foot, then jump over hats placed on the ice; first one, then two, then three, piled on top of one another.
The main venue was Duddingston Loch near Edinburgh, where groups practised choreographed group skating. These days, refrigeration systems are needed to be sure of performing the art.
The last speed skating competition in the fens was held in 2010 after a gap of some 13 years. Will the ice ever get thick enough again?
