Romford Ice Rink – an update

I’ve noticed recently that my first post on Romford Ice Rink has generated a lot of hits. Most of the search terms that have found my blog are ‘information about Romford Ice Rink’ ‘Romford Ice Rink shutting’ and ‘how much does it cost to go skating’. So as a public service I thought I would do some research about the new ice rink that Havering Council are building, list the session times (as the actual rink website is terrible) and prices. The session times are at the very end of this post.

According to the Romford Recorder the rink will shut next April (2009) and the new rink plans to open at the end of 2010. There are hopes that Havering Council will build a temporary ice rink while it is shut but they have said they cannot guarantee that. I wonder what all the staff, ice hockey players, figure skating teams and recreation skaters will do if they don’t build a temporary home. Travelling to Chelmsford, Lee Valley or Gillingham for a couple hours skating would be such a waste of time and energy (and pollution). I’ve always thought driving to Romford from Upminster took long enough with all the traffic. The new designs for the ice rink/leisure centre look very impressive and I’m glad the council have decided to keep the rink but let’s hope for a temporary ice rink for us while they are building the new one.

Thankfully I have another year of using the old Romford Ice Rink, which I did this morning and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I’ve also got interested in ice hockey again so I emailed the ladies team today but they are having trouble getting a team together. There are a few women who train on a Monday night (11.30pm!) with the men’s recreational team but I’m not sure if I could train with men (I’ve never actually played) and I’m normally in bed by 10.30pm. If they get a team together I might consider it more or maybe I should have a look to see when the Chelmsford’s ladies team train. I’m quite proud that I actually emailed about the ladies team – years ago I would of been too chicken to even do that! Here is a picture of my hockey boots (Daoust 501 Titanium).

Below are the times for Romford Ice Rink and the only price I know of is the Saturday session which costs £5.90 without skate hire, sorry I don’t know how much skate hire is. Update – 27 July 08 (just found out that it costs £7.60 to go skating with skate hire on a Saturday).

Mon	School holidays only		Private Hire
Tues	School holidays only		6.30pm – 10pm (Family Favourite)
Wed	11am – 4pm	4.15pm – 5.45pm	8pm – 10.30pm (Party Night)
Thurs	11am – 4pm		6.30pm – 10pm (Family Favourite)
Fri	11am – 4pm	4.15pm – 5.45pm	8pm – 11pm (Disco)
Sat	10am – 3.30pm		8pm – 11pm (Disco)
Sun	10am – 3.30pm	4pm – 7pm (Apr-Aug)	8pm – 10.30pm (Disco)