Christmas is here and ice rinks are popping up all over the country to get ready for the festive season.
Here in the city centre of Portsmouth, the annual ice rink has once again been brought back to Guildhall Square like it has every year since I started attending Portsmouth Uni. However, this year the ice rink has had a brand new make-over and is no longer out in the open but inside a gazebo-like structure. As I walk into the big white marquee I instantly feel Christmassy as I see the fairy lights, Christmas trees and the Santa's grotto looking snack shack. The huge crowds gather round all waiting one at a time to switch their normal everyday shoes for the thin bladed skates to help them glide along the ice.
I begin speaking to the events manager called Helen, “we did not do the ice rink last year, we are a new company and we have always had a canopy on our ice rinks.” The ice rink is now under new management called S3K. “We were approached after we did Chichister last year by Portsmouth City Council and we’ve got a license for 7 years now.”
As I feel the cold from the ice rink I ask what makes the company popular as I can tell that the ice rink already has more customers than previous years. “We do use real ice. I know a lot of ice rinks use plastic and we do use real ice.” Plastic ice? I didn’t realise that was a thing! “We have pipes that go underneath the rink and they are set at a temperature that is frozen. We flood the ice [which] is about 7 inches thick and every night we flood it with water and when we come back in the morning its all frozen.”
I look towards the Snack Shack as it is screams Santa’s grotto and decide that would be the perfect place to possibly buy a few festive sweets. I meet Trudy, the smiley lady who’s working in the tiny little hut. “We have got hot chocolates teas, fresh bean coffees, candy floss, popcorn, hot dogs, cold drinks everything.” Due to the crowds at the ice rink I expect that business must be booming for the small shack. “It is not as busy as I was expecting it to be. I think that it’s more family oriented and the students aren’t really interested in spending money. I don’t know if its to save it for the pub or whatever it may be but people seem to enjoy it. Good value for money.”
Trudy owns another events company called Customize events who is working alongside S3K to make the ice rink an enjoyable experience. “We bought the shack, we modified the shack, we bought the counters so I was expecting it to be a lot busier, recoup our money that we initially put in and make a profit but I don’t think we are going to do that.” Unfortunately for Trudy running that shack doesn’t earn the right amount of profit that she was expecting due to it being a majority student town where they don’t have enough money to spend. “Freaking hard work. Knackering.” Trudy tells me. Poor girl.
I walk towards the ice rink hoping to find someone to talk to. Lucky I find a student named Max, “I came in my second year with a group of mates.” Max says, “I think it’s a good idea they put a gazebo over it because i remember last year we came and there was loads of rain on the ice and it killed the mood a little bit.” At least the students are liking the ice rink “It’s nice to get away from the books and enjoy falling on my ass.” A successful year for Portsmouth ice rink (well for some).
