Left: Skating on the frozen fen fields Below: C W Horn who was four times national skating champion in the 1920s and 30s Bottom: C W Horn’s great nephew Adam Giles continues the family tradition on the Fens
As early as 1820, there are engravings showing large crowds cheering on their favourites as they sped over the ice. A report in the Cambridge Chronicle during the cold winter of 1854/55 described a lively scene at Mepal, near Ely: “the clergy and squires, gentry and tradesmen – hale plough boys and rosy milkmaids – ladies’ parties in carriages, gigs and carts, made their way to the bank near the bridge, and took their respective positions where the view was excellent, and all that could be wished for the ‘St Leger on Ice.” (The
St Leger is Britain’s oldest classic horse race). As the railway network developed, ‘skating specials’ would run from London to Cambridge. The improvements in metal working which came with the Victorian era meant that ice skates were no longer crude and made from bones. Steel blades set into a wooden sole created the ‘Fen Runner’ which was set into a pair of boots or shoes and kept in place with a large screw in the heel and small spikes at the toe. This made for better speed and control. ›
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