This week, the Recorder is looking back at the history of Romford Ice Rink – Romford’s lost ice hockey stadium which could soon be replaced by almost 1,000 homes.
According to Havering Libraries, the earliest mention of an ice rink in the town appeared in the Romford Times in January 1939.
Despite an artist’s impression accompanying the report – which described plans for a “super ice rink” set to be known as the Romford Athenaeum – nothing ever materialised.
It wasn’t until February 1987 that Romford Ice Rink opened in Rom Valley Way after 15 months of construction works.
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The rink cost £3.75 million in total and was complete with an international size ice pad, more than 1,000 seats, a cafe, bars and offices.
Cllr Norman Kemble, chair of Havering Council’s leisure and recreation committee at the time, laid the foundation stone on April 17, 1986, which also detailed the name of the architect, G.E. Howard.
Before the launch, skaters queued outside from the early hours hoping to be the first on the ice.
Hornchurch teenager Steven Thompson was the first through the doors, according to Havering Libraries, having waited patiently since 2am with brother Paul and friend Mark Smith.
The 14-year-old even received a pair of ice skates to mark the occasion.
The launch was not without injury – Queen’s Hospital’s predecessor Oldchurch Hospital reported 74 accidents in the first fortnight, including some fractures, says Havering Libraries.
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A formal opening for Romford Ice Rink was later held in March, attended by BBC sports commentator Alan Weeks and followed by an ice hockey match between the Great Britain under-19s team and Medway Bears.
Ice hockey team Romford Raiders won Division II of the Heineken British League in their first season at the rink and were presented with the championship trophy in front of 1,200 fans on March 20, 1988.
Eventually the venue closed in April 2013 and was later demolished – marking the “end of an era” for many.
A replacement in the form of Sapphire Ice & Leisure, in Western Road, did not open until five years later; meanwhile the Rom Valley Way site still lies empty.
Planning permission to build almost 1,000 homes on the plot was approved in September 2023 and as recently as this month the land was sold by Strettons and Vandermolen Real Estate for an undisclosed price.
