Document of the Month – December 2024
Ice Skating in Victorian Stirling, 1853 – 1899
Ice skating was a common winter pastime in Victorian Stirling. Residents, however, lamented that the town did not have its own skating pond. A letter in the Stirling Observer in 1853, noted that the only suitable place to ice skate was at the curling ponds near the Clay Toll. Skaters were only allowed on the ice if the Curling Club’s officer happened ‘to be in good humour’.
Further calls for a dedicated skating pond were raised after dramatic scenes on the River Forth in January 1864. The river had frozen over near Queenshaugh Farm and the Stirling Observer reported that over 500 people had taken to the ice.
Rising and receding tides caused the ice to split. A temporary gangway down to the river caused panic when it began to fail. There were no fatalities, but the need for a dedicated pond was raised in a petition to the Town Council by pupils of the High School shortly afterwards in March.
By the late 1860s, the Town Council had a set up a Committee to find a suitable site. Dedicated money was put aside to fund the work. On 17th November 1873, the Town Council reported that they agreed an offer from Mr McLeod of £5-3-9p to make a pond ‘below the Gowan Hills’. Water to the pond was supplied via the Mill Lade and was to begin without delay.
The pond suffered some hiccups during its lifetime. Damages had to be paid out to Mr Carmichael, a tenant at Raploch Farm, after water had damaged his property when filling up the pond in 1878. Several complaints were also directed towards the pond. A letter to Stirling Observer on 23rd January 1879 commented on its ‘disgraceful state’.
The future of the skating pond was discussed by the Town Council on 16th December 1895 when the Cleaning Committee wanted to use the site as a refuse depot. They agreed that no more money should be spent on the current pond and that a new site should be found. The new pond, located in the Raploch, opened in 1899.