Ice skating in Victorian times was a popular winter pastime in Britain and south Wales was no different. Each winter newspapers would report on the weather and the conditions of spots known to be good for skating.
A report on January 3rd, 1908 in the Evening Express identifies places across south Wales and interesting refers each value under freezing as ‘degrees of frost’, so if it’s -10ºC it’s classed as ten degrees of frost (in the article below it was recorded as being -10ºC.
Now that King Frost is with us and people are burnishing their skates, our readers will do well to heed a note of warning, not to venture on ice covering deep water which is not perfectly safe.
Roath Park Lake is not yet ice-bound, the centre portion being unaffected up to now. There is considerable ice on the sides of the lake and also near the islands, and given a continuance of frost for two of three more days, the lake will be the delight of all skaters. The water is being protected from stone-throwers by park rangers specially told off for that duty.
The brick pond between Roath Park and Llanishen, which is a fine sheet of water, was completely frozen over this morning, and skaters could not desire better facilities than are to be found here.
On shallow ponds Grangetown way there is thick ice, and youngsters are having a gay time.
Gillar’s pond, near Virgil-street School is in splendid holding condition, and good skating can be had there.
Reports of ponds at Aberdare, Barry, Pontypool, Porthcawl, Swansea, Pontypridd and Merthyr were reported as was Marshfield and land between Newport and Severn Tunnel Junction.
Skating at Alteryn Field
An early mention in the South Wales Daily News on 30th December 1892 describes in details the numbers attending, the money made and amenities.
The weather at Newport on Thursday morning indicated an acceptable change, but towards the evening the frost re-asserted itself. Owing to the weekly half-holiday, skating was more general than on any former day, and every available piece of ice had its frequenters. The most animated scene was to be witnessed in the neighbourhood of Alteryn, where some enterprising farmers, studying the barometer, had flooded nearly a dozen acres of level meadow land adjacent to the Monmouthshire Canal. On Tuesday and Wednesday the visitors' sixpences (a charge being made for admission) amounted to £60 or £70, 1,600 paying on Tuesday and on Thursday and equally agreeable result was obtained. A tea and coffee tent was provided, and a company of newsboys kept the ice well swept. Several skaters harnessed themselves to sleighs, and all enjoyed the exhilarating exercise.
There was also a mention of skating at Alteryn in The Western Mail on Wednesday 4th January, 1893.
The utmost enjoyment has been vouchsafed to skaters at Newport for the past ten days by the forethought of a land renter at Alteryn, about a mile from the top of High-street. He flooded about ten of low-lying land with a few inches of water, and when the hard frost came on there was a splendid sheet of sage and easily accessible ice. The proprietor charged an admission fee of 6d and has reaped a very rich harvest, as thousands have been skating on the ice every day. They have come from surrounding districts as well as from the town, and though one or two days the ice was cut up a little, a fresh flooding and freezing has sufficed to secure another smooth surface. A booth for hot tea and coffee near the ice has also been doing a good trade.
An advert published in the South Wales Argus in January 1894, “safe skating” was being promoted at Attewell’s Field, Alteryn. The previous article mentioned the field belonging to a land renter so that person may well have been Attewell.
The following year in 1895, another advert was published in the Argus for a grand skating match on Thursday February 14th at 2:30pm with prizes available. This was a time when shops would close at 1pm on a Thursday so people would have been able to attend.
In 1901, the weekly ‘Seen and Heard’ column in the South Wales Argus wrote a snippet about the condition of the ice.
In the Evening Express on Saturday 17th January, 1903, the field was reported as being the only place in Newport to skate.
The only place where skating was possible at Newport was the flooded meadow at Alteryn, where there was a capital sheet of ice, having a length of about 200 yards and width varying up to about 100 yards. The meadows were flooded by the heavy rains of last week and thus formed a sort of miniature lake. There is a no dangerous depth of water, the greatest being, probably, not more than a foot. The proprietor of the land has been making quite a good haul during the last three days by an impost of 6d on each skater, and there has been a useful and paying adjunct in the form of a coffee-stall. Hundreds of people enjoyed the skating on Friday, the ice being firm and smooth.
Where Was The Skating Field?
Today, Allt-yr-Yn is predominantly not a flat area but the flattest area would have been the route the M4 follows. The adverts never specified where the skating field was but the 1893 advert gave a clue of Attewell’s field. There’s a mention in a will in the 1930s of an ‘Attwell’ living an Oak Tree Cottage which happens to be near to the canal in a relatively flat spot. Could this be the owner of the field?
The Evening Express in 1908 mentioned a ‘couple of fields lying close to the canal’ which puts it in the same location.
Skating has commenced at Alteryn, Newport, where, as usual, the tenant of the couple of fields lying close to the canal flooded them to a depth of four or five inches, so as to get a good sheet of ice, upon which he makes a nice little winter harvest.
A tithe map of 1841 gives a better idea of the layout of the fields with number 17 being Oak Tree Cottage.
A photograph of the field seems to match a possible location of fields 587 and 585 and the photo below could well be looking west towards where the path starts to rise up Fourteen Locks. A bit of speculation but I’m wondering if the smoke rising on the left is a coffee stall which is mentioned in one of the newspaper articles? Based on the tithe map, the cottage would have been set further back so don’t think it would have been coming from the building’s chimney.
Also the sloping hill in the background may well be the same rise towards High Cross today.
The photo gives a good idea of the popularity of skating at the time and at 6d each, the owner of the field was making a handsome income.
There's also a passing mention of "the two flooded fields" that was close to a cross country race route in February 1899 (Source: South Wales Argus, 4th February, 1899).
A 'Lost & Found' advert in the South Wales Argus, 22nd January, 1894 mentions a T Attewell from Penylan Farm which is on high ground at Barrack Hill.
Conclusion
Based on the mention of the two fields being in close proximity to the canal makes me think it was fields 587 and 585. The photo above shows a thin line in the distance perhaps separating two fields and the area is relatively flat compared to other fields in the area.
Skating was clearly a popular winter activity from at least 1892 until 1908 and perhaps beyond. Many hundreds or even more (1,600 were mentioned attending on a day in 1892) would flock to the fields each spending sixpence. In addition there were vendors selling tea and coffee making even more money.
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