Days Out...

Silverblades Ice Rink

When my boyfriend came to visit last week, we decided to find something to do that was a bit different, after numerous shopping trips into Manchester, to the cinema or for meals out. Having been a few times when I was considerably younger, and with the added bonus of there being a rink very close to my house, I suggested ice skating.

It may seem like a random idea, but both of us enjoy skiing (I have had lessons to learn this year) so we figured that a different winter sport may have the same appeal. We also went to watch my local ice hockey team, the Manchester Phoenix, play at the arena over Christmas, so the subject of trying skating had been approached then. I checked out prices and times on the internet, and we headed on down to Silverblades Ice Rink in Altrincham.

It wasn't that cheap (£8.70 per person and an extra quid for a locker) but it included skate hire and you could stay for as long as you wanted within the public skating time, which was from 10am until 5pm. The last time I skated was at an outdoor rink in Disneyland Paris six years ago (!) but then my boyfriend had never tried it, so I took some comfort in that!

Once we got onto the ice, I realised that I had completely forgotten how to skate, but after a few shaky laps on the rink I seemed to pick it back up and by the end I was slightly speedier, and was getting more creative when turning corners. I was surprised by how many adults there were, as

I fully expected it to be mainly children there, especially with it being the beginning of the summer holidays. It was slightly embarrassing that some of the children were barely waist high and were racing on their skates, spinning and skating backwards, but there were more than a few at the same level as us, so it wasn't too bad.
We stayed for a couple of hours, by which time our feet and legs were aching, and my boyfriend had had a few tumbles, but it was a very enjoyable experience, and considering it was effectively just skating round in a circle, the time went very quickly.

We retrieved our belongings from the touch screen lockers, which I found funny as they asked for your favourite shape as the password for entry (naturally i chose an avocado?!) and headed home. It is a pastime I would definately partake in again, perhaps next time going within school term time, as you save two pound on the entry price, and at least then there wouldn't be as many kids putting our skills to shame!