The Wimble's Christmas print edition is here!

Plus: A brief history of ice skating on Wimbledon Common

Nov 20, 2025

Good morning, Wimblers — I hope that everyone managed with last week’s Storm Claudia. I’m now down one pair of shoes thanks to the rain, but that’s my fault for wearing suede in the middle of a downpour.

The Christmas print edition has finally arrived! Copies will be available to collect from the Quarter by the end of this week, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled and grab a copy! When you do collect your copy, take a photo with the edition and tag us on social media to win a prize (see page 7 of the print for more details).

Earlier this week, an explosion occurred in the car park of Wimbledon Quarter. Scroll down to read about the incident.

In more pleasant news, we’ve also got a feature on the history of ice skating on Wimbledon Common (with some lovely historic photos to match), as well as your usual news snippets, a beautiful property of the week and some great Christmas recommendations.

Do get in touch with any ideas: zak@thewimble.com.

Other than that, have a great week and keep sharing The Wimble!

Caddi Club may be the biggest indoor golf venue of its kind in Europe, but it is also a social hub, a place to grab a beer, a restaurant and just a really lovely place to hang out and get some work done. Caddi Club is gearing up for Christmas with a bunch of offers for the festive season, so check them out by clicking here.

CADDI CLUB WEBSITE AND OFFERS

News snippets 🗞

💥 Emergency services were immediately called to Wimbledon Quarter’s car park on Monday after a canister exploded inside a vehicle. The area was quickly secured, and a man was attended to by paramedics on site before being transferred to hospital. A thorough investigation was completed by the police and fire services on the day, and the incident is not being treated as terror-related. The Quarter reopened several hours after the incident, though the car park remained closed for the rest of the day.

📉 Not a single affordable home was built in Merton from April to September, according to new data from City Hall (as revealed in the Standard). Additional boroughs that haven’t seen new affordable homes include the City of London, Hackney, Lambeth and Richmond. In fact, only 892 affordable homes were started in the capital between July and September this year.

🎾 Wimbledon’s tennis expansion plans have hit a stumbling block after Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) won the right to appeal. The All England Club was awarded planning permission by Jules Pipe, the deputy mayor of London, back in September. But now all of that could change. SWP also quoted the verdict of the Rt Hon Lord Justice Holgate in their announcement, who said: “The grounds of appeal are arguable with a real prospect of success. The case law on scheme benefits, deliverability, relevance, material considerations and irrationality merits review.” A date for the appeal hearing, which will take place over two days, is yet to be announced. Read more about the situation in The Telegraph.

Property of the week 🏡

My, my… What do we have here? This seven-bedroom house (mini-mansion, really) is nothing short of ridiculous. The property manages to blend 1930s Art Deco with some nice modern finishes, and the whole ground floor is bathed in light thanks to those Crittall windows. To be frank, I don’t really know what else to say about this place other than that it’s outstanding. But then, for £4.5m, it should be. Check out more photos on Rightmove.

The Wimble’s to-do list ⛷

❄️ Wimbledon Winterfest: This is the big one — get ready for your annual weekend of festive fun! Saturday will have Riverside Radio broadcasting live and direct from the community stage, with dance performances, local choirs and a collection of roaming Christmas characters to keep you entertained. Sunday is really all about the kids: there will be face painting, delicious festive foods, creative workshops and even Santa’s Grotto.

Where: Wimbledon Quarter and town centre

When: Saturday 29 November – Sunday 30 November, 11am – 6pm

🫖 Sip and Ceramic Xmas Workshop: Join Nonsuch Ceramics for a creative festive workshop exploring the sgraffito technique: a method loved by artists including Grayson Perry. In this session, you will work on two pre-prepared decorations and learn to use a range of carving tools to create your own patterns and illustrations. Tickets are £49.46 per person and can be purchased here. To start the evening, enjoy a complimentary glass of bubbles and a mince pie to get into the festive spirit. There will also be wine, bubbles and mince pies available to purchase throughout the evening.

Where: Holy Trinity Church, 234 The Broadway, SW19 1SB

When: Friday 21 November, 6.45–9.30pm

🤶🏼 2025 King’s College Christmas Fair: With 80 specialist stalls, children’s choirs, activities, games, gifts and more, King’s College Christmas Fair is always an Xmas must.

Where: King’s College School

When: Saturday 29 November, 11am – 4pm

🍷 Blind tasting at Artisans Depot: The team at Artisans Depot are back with another blind tasting this week. For £35 per person, put your skills to the test by trying six different wines and guessing their grape variety and price. There will also be optional cheese boards for £16 (the cheese at Artisans Depot is extremely tasty, FYI). Head here to see how you can buy tickets and support another local business.

Where: 154 Merton Hall Road, Wimbledon Chase

When: Saturday 22 November, 7.30–10pm

A brief history of ice skating in Wimbledon ⛸

There is a rich tradition of ice skating in London. In 1876, John Gamgee invented the first “permanent” mechanically frozen ice rink, known as the Glaciarium, on the King’s Road in Chelsea. But people were skidding and skating across London’s frozen lakes and rivers long before that.

In 1173, William Fitzstephen wrote about the Londoners who skated along the marshes of Moorfields, using animal bones as skates and iron-tipped poles to propel them forward. ‘Frost fairs’ were held along the Thames from 1565, where locals glided across the river, enjoying an early ice rink-cum-Christmas market. Latterly, the Serpentine in Hyde Park became something of an ice skating hub, especially throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. At one point, the Serpentine attracted more than 10,000 skaters a day (even the Streatham Ice and Leisure Centre can’t match those numbers).

All this was before the introduction of health and safety regulations, of course. Skating on frozen ponds, lakes and rivers was something of a leap (or Axel?) of faith. You only need to look at Charles Robinson’s painting The Disaster on the Ice at Regent’s Park (1867) to remind yourself of how dangerous the activity is. On January 15 of that year 40 people lost their lives after the ice gave way and 200 skaters plunged into the cold depths of the boating lake.

But the dangers posed by outdoor ice skating didn’t deter Victorian Londoners, including the residents of Wimbledon. When winters were cold enough, locals would use the frozen ponds on Wimbledon Common and Wimbledon Park Lake for a spot of recreational skating. Rushmere and Kingsmere ponds tended to be the favourites. An article from the Windsor and Eton Express, written on Saturday 29 December 1855, details how a young boy skating on Wimbledon Park Lake fell through the ice and had to be rescued by a rope thrown in by passers-by. Although the boy survived, the article ends with the rather ominous line: “He was very ill for some time.” Still, the perils associated with the hobby didn’t dissuade locals. On Saturday 22 January 1881, it was reported in the Surrey Advertiser that some 2,000 residents descended on Wimbledon Common and Wimbledon Park to skate.

Much of Wimbledon’s ice skating history revolves around one man: Revd Dr Edward Huntingford, headmaster of Eagle House. In 1871, Huntingford founded the Wimbledon Skate Club. The club was considered one of the foremost of its era, producing some of the finest ‘English style’ skaters at the time — a 19th century technique characterised by an upright, rigid posture with close-held arms and the tracing of intricate, group-performed patterns on the ice. It was one of the few clubs to predate the foundation of the National Skating Association in 1879.

In 1929, it merged with the London Skating Club before becoming known as The Royal Skating Club in 1932. While Wimbledon Park Lake was still used occasionally until 1951, the popularity of indoor ice rinks meant that the club spent less and less time on the Commons and the Park. The Royal Skating Club still exists today — they often meet at Guildford Spectrum — and it is one of the few clubs that still practices the ‘English style’ of skating.

But while the skate club might have moved, the locals didn’t. There are countless entries throughout the early 20th century in national papers describing the frenzies that occurred when the ponds and lake froze over. One particular article in 1917 from the Wimbledon News, titled ‘ICE CARNIVAL ON THE COMMON’, starts: “The icy gales and prolonged frost have brought joy to the hearts of thousands of skaters in Wimbledon and from the metropolis.” But what’s really interesting is the closing lines: “The Rushmere pond was used by a great many soldiers in the camp and also by a few wounded soldiers.”

Many of our readers might not know that during the First World War, the 1914 Defence of the Realm Act saw 200 acres of Wimbledon Common taken and repurposed as a training camp for British soldiers. By 1917, it would appear that they were also tending to convalescing soldiers on the Common too. And it seems even the wounded took pleasure from skating along the frozen ponds.

Popularity for skating outdoors in Wimbledon (and beyond) waned as the years went by. The opening of ice rinks in Richmond, Hammersmith, Bayswater, Streatham, Golders Green and Purley meant that by 1935, outdoor skating had lost some of its charm. Locals no longer had to hope and pray that the winter would be cold enough for the water on the ponds and lake to freeze over — they now had ice rinks all year round. Of course most of those ice rinks are closed today — World War Two saw to that — but Queens Ice Club in Bayswater is still standing, although it is now known as Queens Skate Dine Bowl (which doesn’t have quite the same ring to it).

While indoor ice rinks are the norm, there have still been cases of people venturing onto Wimbledon’s frozen ponds and lakes in recent years. In 2022, Rushmere Pond on Wimbledon Common froze over. More than 17 people were filmed playing on the ice, which prompted a statement from the London Fire Brigade, Merton, which read: “As much as we encourage people and families to get out and have fun, there are real dangers to walking, playing, cycling…on frozen lakes.”

But Wimble readers needn’t worry about risking their lives on the ice this year, for Wimbledon Quarter’s indoor ice rink is back once more. And much like John Gamgee’s Glaciarium in 1876, the Quarter’s rink uses a network of cold pipes to keep the ice’s integrity intact so you can skate without fear of falling through the cracks or of smelling like pig’s fat — I’m looking at you, Henry Kirk, and your strange 1841 mechanical ice rink made of “hog’s lard”.

Don’t forget Wimbledon Quarter’s very kind offer: ALL Wimble readers are entitled to a 15% discount off tickets for the Quarter’s Christmas ice rink (which opens this Saturday) throughout the festive season! Claim your discount by using the code “WIMBLEREADER” when buying tickets here.

Question of the week 🔍

Last week, I presented a list of famous singers and asked which one was raised in Wimbledon Chase. The answer: Marcus Mumford

Q: What year was Wimbledon Common formally established?

You’re up to date 👋

Thank you for reading this week’s edition of The Wimble. We hope you enjoyed our deep dive into the wonderful history of skating on Wimbledon Common. Don’t forget to pop along to the Quarter this Saturday for the grand opening of their ice rink (and use the discount code above for your tickets). Thank you again to the London Borough of Merton for allowing us to reproduce the images here and in our Christmas print edition! Remember to grab your ice rink tickets here with The Wimble’s discount code.