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Friends of Ronald(Ronnie) Orr


Barbara

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Please find below picture of my dad below hes on the left all in black. Dont know where he went skating but its somewhere in sheffield. Does anybody recognise these other guys?

Thanks

2021-02-21_09.30.36.jpg

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It could only be the Silver Blades Ice Rink on Queens Road, as first in Sheffield to open in 1965. Not aware of any others until Ice Sheffield opened on Coleridge Road in Don Valley in 2003

 

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7 hours ago, Barbara said:

Hi 

The photo cant be Silver Blades because my dad was about 16/17 in this photo & he was born in 1935?

In that case, unless anyone else knows otherwise, the photo cannot cannot have been taken in Sheffield, as Silver Blades was the first ice rink to open in the city on 30 November 1965

https://www.sheffieldiha.com/history/

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;s35735&pos=5&action=zoom&id=111723
 

http://shefflibraries.blogspot.com/2020_03_08_archive.html

Could the photo have been taken somewhere else? Blackpool maybe, or even Nottingham, both had an ice rink in 1951/2, but not Sheffield.


https://www.iceskating.org.uk/about-ice-skating

1952-1978

As in the 1930's there was a MASSIVE expansion of ice rinks in this period. It was partly due to John Tree (1920-1964) former floor manager at the Brighton Sports Stadium. He wanted to improve the spartan facilities in British Rinks to make them more comfortable places of entertainment. He formed the Silver Blades Company later taken over by Mecca Ltd. The firm opened new rinks in Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford and Bristol, also taking over existing rinks at Streatham, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. The Rank Organisation took over rinks in Southampton, Brighton and Aviemore. Also opened were rinks in Whitley Bay, Altrincham, Kelso, Solihull, Lockerbie, Billingham, Islington (The Sobell Centre), Irvine and Sunderland.

 

 

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The Lyceum and the Empire both put on Ice Revue shows in the 1950's.  Although the ice was probably not opened to the public it would have needed 'testing' by the workmen who installed and as many of their pals as they could sneak in.

1747022199_Lyceum1950.png.2b79295d48f5c4886a6171c9577efc40.png

650412118_Empire1954.png.bf1999596476ca50760082761f38df49.png

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Guest leksand
5 hours ago, Edmund said:

Although the ice was probably not opened to the public it would have needed 'testing' by the workmen who installed and as many of their pals as they could sneak in.

Really? Why?

Surely that would just cause unnecessary deterioration. Would the cast not be better judges of ice quality? What resurfacing procedure do you think they had access to?

It also seems a little odd, in an area without a rink, that all of these pals happen to have their own patins. Odder still that the workmen would possess a large collection for ready rental.

Apologies if that appears a little negative, but the suggestion does not appear particularly well considered and is potentially misleading. Manipulating information to suggest the implausible is not sound practice. At some point you have to question the accuracy of the source. The most likely conclusion here is that the original assumption that the venue was in Sheffield is mistaken.

If Barbara's dad and his mates were keen skaters, having their own kit, then where did they go to skate regularly? Probably Nottingham.

If they just fancied a go for an excursion/special occasion, then where would they have gone? Probably Nottingham.

The photo (the occasion was worthy of a snap) certainly looks as though it is indoor & the footwear is of the form that rental skates take, There appears to be a raised board of some kind in the back ground and the pad size looks good for ice hockey. There may just be enough there for a real expert to tell you whether that is the old Lower Parliament Street rink, but you'll probably need to ask on a different forum.

 

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Guest leksand
1 hour ago, Edmund said:

I was only saying.

But you've presented conjecture, which appears groundless, as fact. You don't need to do that.

There's nothing wrong with not knowing the answer.

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Hi Guys

Thank you for the replies. I have also found out there was a ice rink in Manchester in 1950s as well. Need to find any relatives of the guys in this photo would be brillant

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