01354 610453
Fenland Skating Venues
Here we will post the times, days and fields where you will be able to skate
Generally skating on the Fens is free, although some farmers may charge a nominal amount for parking. We cannot give permission to skate at any particular place.
We try to update the website everyday in Welney between 9:00AM and 10:00AM. For pictures, messages and results of races go to the Club messages page.
The results from last weekend's (9th/10th Jan 2010) races are posted on the club messages page.
| Venue | Postcodes | Days | Times |
| Welney | No skating, Light snow but not cold enough! | ||
| Little Fen, Earith(A1123 between Earith & Bluntisham) |
|
No Skating | |
| Whittlesey (adjacent to the Dog in a Doublet Pub)
|
No Skating |
Welney
11 Feb 10' No Skating. The Welney Wash has a light covering of snow but not ice, not cold enough, so just need a good frost and it will be good for skating.
Skating is usually just above the 'A' pointer off Wash Road.
Little Fen
13 Jan 10' No skating.
Little Fen is the adjacent field to Bury Fen which lies below Church.
Whittlesey
13 Jan 10' - No skating.
.GIF)
General Update - 20-01-10
For those of you that missed the bbc's coverage of the skating I have provided a link on the emails page after receiving a lovely email from Rose.
BBC video at Bury Fen http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8465105.stm
Also see Adam Giles and Gary racing, 400m Bury Fen, at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_EdUxUmxOE
General Update - 15-01-10
Roger Giles the owner of Giles Landscapes is passionate about fen skating, often seen on a winter's morning investigating the condition of the Welney Wash to let skaters know when the ice is ready. Roger was pleased to met Charlie Helliwell this year, an enthusiastic skater the makes the track up from London to skate, and the young people from London who returned to skate again in the Fens.
Christian Bennett came up the other week to visit us and has produced a great video capturing the essence of fen skating
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUnOitbEDpU
General Update - 13-01-10
Although it is snowing at the moment there is no reports of skating, and needless to say the championships will not be held this weekend. News of the fenland skating race has made it across the waters with the Washington Post enquiring about the event yesterday and an article published on the Reuters website link below.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60A3HU20100111
General Update - 12-01-10
No skating is expected to be available at Bury Fen for this season so the table above has been updated with Little Fen the field adjacent to Bury Fen, on which we have got permission to skate. For those of you who are not familiar with the area I would suggest that you look out for a field near the church between Earith and Bluntisham on the A1123 where it looks like people have been skating or are skating on it.
No skating reported today. I posted the Whittlesey race result up in Club Messages, sounds like they had a great time on Sunday with an exciting exhibition race from the GB team. Also for those of you following the media coverage, Countryfile BBC1 on Sunday 17th at 6:00pm as scheduled to cover the Fen skating as is Inside/Out on BBC1 at 7:30pm for Monday 18th Jan.
General Update - 11-01-10
No skating reported today, but it has started snowing again so there is hope of some fun skating later in the week.
A great weekend of racing was had a Earith and a special thanks to Malcolm for his sterling efforts in organising and setting out the track. The results of the racing have been published on the Club messages page but we have a few pictures for you below thanks to Geoff Robinson (www.geoffrobinsonphotography.co.uk). I also had a lovely email from Margaret with pictures from 1907 when her grandfather raced. I have posted these on the email comments page for the moment as we are currently upgrading our archive page to make it easier to browse through.
The Guardian have done a nice cover of events too. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/gallery/2010/jan/10/weather?picture=357865464
... a bit about Whittlesey on ITV Anglia Regional News
http://www.itv.com/anglia/fen-skating-tradition98439/
Bury Fen on Saturday 9th Jan 2010
David Smith, ex British Gold Medal winner pictured in the foreground.
Malcolm Robinson on skates, secretary of the Fenland Skating Centre and Gary Warrington the previous secretary, timing the race. (Pink and blue coat).
Michael McInerney (front) British Gold in Line Skating winner racing Gary Evison British Bronze in Line Skating winner.
Bury Fen, race track.
Gary Evison (front) and Michael McInerney (centre) posing for the media.
It is believed that the guy skating through the middle is a Dutch man that competed at Bury Fen for the cups some 30 years ago.
General Update - 08-01-10
Report from John of Mare Fen, Over, has several acres of field flooded to a depth of around 6 inches. Safe and good. Road Swavesey to Over, field on the left 20 yds before Over village boundary sign. This fen was used for the National Races in the 1960's
We had at least an inch of snow last night so I suspect that fun skating should still be available at Whittlesey and news about a possible club race it listed above. Most of the back roads have snow on them so take care and allow extra time for your journey.
All our skates are currently be used, I will update the website as and when I hear about any other sources for skates.
Speed skates sizes 4 - 12 for sale contact John Cousins on 07967 568321.
Ice skates for sale. Speed and figures skates, new and used, a variety of sizes available. Call Keith Miller (Wimblington, Nr March) on 01354 740 666
Welney Wash pictured below, the flood water has almost gone so fingers crossed for skating next week!
General update - 07-01-10
The Cambridge Ice Hockey team have been out enjoying the ice at Whittlesey today and a race has been advertised at Whittlesey for Saturday I think it was 9am start but if anyone wants to confirm that I would be grateful. There are also rumours of another club race for this weekend but I am waiting confirmation.
General Update - 06-01-10
More reports of good skating at Godmanchester and other areas, to quote;
Frozen flood water just under where it says Hall - just outside Fen Ditton
- you can park right there at the bottom of the village
and
.... on Ditton Fields - an extension of Stourbridge Common just outside
Cambridge apparently.
I believe a few skaters are off this morning to check it out!
General Update - 05.01.10
05 Jan 10' - We have light snow in Welney today and have yet to have confirmation of the conditions in Whittlesey, Bury Fen still no water.
Had a report yesterday of "A fantastic morning of skating on Godmanchester meadows - the ice was just thick enough to bear an adult, it creaked and cracked a lot but held up. It was very smooth, we were the first people and only people to skate there."
We will not post any reports of people skating on rivers as this can be very dangerous and although we are happy to hear about anyone enjoying the ice we can only provide information on the above sites where permission has been granted by the land owner. Skating reported in Earith yesterday is believed to be in adjacent fields to Bury Fen which is land where permission hasn't necessarily been granted, or not that we can guarantee.
General Update - 04.01.10
04 Jan 10' - Rumour is that skating is available at Whittlesey but we are waiting confirmation, will update the website as soon as we know!
Also...
Ice skates for sale. Speed and figures skates, new and used, a variety of sizes available. Call Keith Miller (Wimblington, Nr March) on 01354 740 666.
General Update - 03.01.10
Very deep water at Welney. The A1101 is unusable at present. Even if the water does freeze it will be too deep to be safe to skate on. Whittlesey remains the best bet - at present no skating however should the cold weather continue it will soon be skatable. Please check this site regularly for updates.
General Update - 27.12.09
A few skaters braved the fragile ice at Welney yesterday - an overnight frost has helped but skating is still not advisable. It looks set to get colder nearer the New Year so watch this space!
General Update - 24.12.09
Upon inspection this morning there was a sleigh enjoying the ice and fun skating in parts on the Welney Wash. Chances of running the Fen championships are now doubtful for this year, however Malcolm Robinson the secretary in charge of the Fen Centre is inspecting the ice in various areas including Welney today to confirm this.
Beware of the bad road conditions in Welney and especially north of Wisbech today, the overnight rain has washed away the salt and with the cold weather there is now a lot of black, sheet ice on the roads, don't become another statistic in the Fen drains.
Over the Christmas break we will endeavour to continue to update you on the condition of at ice at Welney and for those of you who are interested in finding out more about the history (besides that detailed on our website)and area there is useful information below.
- The Lamb and Flag, local pub in Welney just over the bridge from the Wash, provides lovely hot lunches and dinners to warm you up after having fun on the ice. Telephone: 01354 610242 to check serving hours.
- The curator at the Norris Museum in St Ives is very knowledgable on the history of the Smart family, the famous fen skaters. The museum often gives talks on the subject and runs skating exhibtions at the museum. www.norrismuseum.org.uk/
- Welney website www.welney.org.uk/
- Wildfowl and Wetland Trust WWT www.wwt.org.uk/welney, is a centre providing information on the local wildlife across the fens. Films running, including Fen skating 24-7.
Founded in 1946 by the naturalist and artist, the late Sir Peter Scott, WWT is the only UK charity with a national network of nine specialist wetland visitor centres. With over 60 years experience of wetland conservation, WWT is committed to the protection of wetlands and all that depend on them for survival.
Thursday 24th December 10am – 5pm (Last admission 4.30pm)
Friday 25th December CLOSED
Saturday 26th December 10am – 8pm (Last admission 6.30pm)
Sunday 27th December 10am – 8pm (Last admission 6.30pm)
Monday 28th December 10am – 5pm (Last admission 4.30pm)
Tuesday 29th December 10am – 5pm (Last admission 4.30pm)
Wednesday 30th December 10am – 5pm (Last admission 4.30pm)
Thursday 31st December 10am – 5pm (Last admission 4.30pm)
Friday 1st January 10am – 8pm (Last admission 6.30pm)
Saturday 2nd January 10am – 8pm (Last admission 6.30pm)
Sunday 3rd January 10am - 8pm (Last admission 6.30pm
Monday 4th January 10am - 5pm (Last admission 4.30pm)
General Update - 23.12.09
Following the freeze overnight fun staking has been enjoyed at welney today. Several members of the Giles Landscape team have been required by various media groups to demostrate there skills on the ice today for tomorrow's news! A few of our international friends have also managed to make it down today through the regular updates on our website. It's rumoured that tomorrow maybe the last day for skating as temperature are said to be on the rise so get your skates on!
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
General Update - 21.12.09
The recent cold weather means that the Fens are starting to freeze. At the moment it looks like it is only poor quality snow ice but more cold weather is forcast for the beginning of this week so the conditions could get much better.
General Update - 13.02.09
Ice quality is very poor as of Friday 13th February - skating is not recommended. This could improve by the end of next week with some colder weather coming in after a spell of warmer temperatures in the next few days.
The A1101 on Thursday 5th of February - Drive carefully!
A1101 - Very slippery bends!
One of the Welney skating fields on Thursday 5th February
Another view of the field - it's looking promising!
The River Bedford with ice covering on Thurday 5th February - PLEASE DO NOT SKATE ON THIS RIVER - it won't freeze sufficiently to withstand any weight.
Email us at info@gileslandscapes.co.uk to give your support to a team, update us with any news and we’ll post it on our website in the EMAIL YOUR COMMENTS section.
Disclaimer: Any Skating on the Fens is done at the skaters’ own risk. No company or persons can be held responsible for any injury or loss of life. Never skate on rivers, lakes or dykes where the water depth exceeds 4 inches.
Frozen flood water just under where it says Hall - just outside Fen Ditton
- you can park right there at the bottom of the village. I believe a few skaters are going down there this morning to try it out.
Christian Bennett came up the other week to visit us and has produced a great video capturing the essence of fen skating.
