In 1986 I was sat in Spalding Gentlemen’s Society when the then President of the Society, Bob Whiston told me that when he was a child his father had told him that as a young man he skated all the way from Boston to Lincoln on the frozen waterways in about 3 hours. We looked at some old maps and concluded that this would be possible and that the distance would be about 35 miles, so comparable to a bicycle in terms of speed. Bob Whiston was born in 1906 so this was possibly around the 1870’s.
A similar feat is described here;
“In the year 1799 Francis Drake, an officer of the Bedford Level Corporation, is said to have put on his skates at Whittlesea and crossed both the Middle and South Levels to Mildenhall without taking them off – a distance of nearly fifty miles.”[i]
Of the many tales of Fenland skaters I rather like this one of a pike being pursued:
“Mr. Richardson of Peterborough. When the ice was very clean and transparent he remembers to have watched a large pike swimming beneath it. The fish seemed frightened and moved onwards. He followed and after a long skating chase the pike was tired. The ice was broken and he was taken out of the water. He was found to weigh twelve pounds.”[ii]
Skating in the Fens was a popular winter sport. Some of the larger farmers and land owners would seek to employ a good skater as a means of pride and status in the same way that horse racing developed in that time. Thus being a good skater could attract employment and favour. It has to be noted that the many of the names of skaters competing on Whittlesea Mere in the 1840’s were also the surnames of wildfowlers, decoymen, puntgunners and eel catchers of renown around Whittlesea, Holme, Welney and even Cowbit in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hence we see the names Needham, Tomline, Green, Dyer, Turkey, Smart, Sharman and Skelton competing on the ice in 1846.
As land use and the control of water levels changed both recreational and competition Ice Skating could be found at various locations in the Fens. Whittlesea Mere saw thousands attend skating competitions in the 1840’s. On the Ouse Washes Earith was a favourite venue with skating there recreationally certainly into the 1960’s. Earith being a high part of the Wash the water is shallow. Similarly I last saw skating myself at Baston Fen in 1982, before the demons of the overcautious fearing accident and misadventure on thin ice over deep water prevented this.[iii] Perhaps the last area to see skating on frozen washland is Whittlesea Wash in the twenty first century, when the winters occasionally provided a long enough cold period. Near Spalding, Cowbit Wash was a favourite venue for ice skating that disappeared as the need to flood the Washes receded with the building of the Coronation Channel that bypassed water around Spalding. The amateur Championship of Lincolnshire skaters used to be held on Cowbit Wash each year with some professional races also held there. Competition Racing reverted to Baston and Whittlesea.
The Cowbit logbook records several periods of skating. In December 1928 it describes “Excursions from all parts and thousands were on the ice.” The increased popularity of the car opened up the area to visitors from a wider area on January 23rd 1932 we see the entry: “Skating general on the Wash. Races held on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. A great crowd on Thursday afternoon, still larger on Saturday and again on Sunday. Cars lined the bank of the Wash from Peakhill to Handkerchief Hall.”[iv] The distance described between these two locations is approximately 3 miles giving some idea of the popularity of fenland skating. Indeed many people in Spalding and the surrounding area at that time owned a pair of “fen runners” blocks of shoe-shaped wood with broad metal strips on the base that could be screwed into the base of boots.
[i] Reminiscences of Fen and Mere J.M. Heathcote 1876
[ii] Reminiscences of Fen and Mere page 59 Mr. J.M. Heathcote 1876
[iii] John Redshaw told me that skating was stopped at the sight due to concerns that insurance would not cover such an activity.
[iv] The Cowbit Log Book
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