The magical days when huge crowds descended on Lough Neagh to skate!

WHEN you picture a day out at the Lough shore in your mind’s eye, I wonder what images spring to mind?

Perhaps it’s feeding the swans, the gentle bobbing of the boats, the wild bird colony on the old torpedo platform by the Shane’s Castle shore or the statue of Finn McCool swaying ever so gently in the breeze.

For the less enthusiastic, it might be the furious swarms of flies that descend each year!

Relatively few, I would guess, would add an army of intrepid ice skaters to that list - but make no mistake it did happen.

The golden age seems to have been the late 19th century when a succession of big freezes transformed the Lough into a rink of thick black ice, smooth as a bottle.

And, for as long as it lasted, it lured Victorian thrill seekers to Antrim in their droves. The Northern Counties Railway even got on board by offering cheap tickets to meet demand.

February 1879 saw one such stampede when the temperatures plunged and the waters froze solid - not a few spots here and there, but for miles.

The waterway had been partially frozen over before in 1814 and 1855, but not on this epic scale.

Approaching from Glenavy, one visitor said it was a spectacle ‘once seen, never to be forgotten’.

“On rounding the last turn in the road the wonderful scene burst upon our view, an enormous expanse of perfectly black ice, with here and there a tuft of snow, stretched before us,” he said.

“As far as we could see northward there was ice, and as far southward, and looking westward it was the same - ice - which miles away in the far distance, bounded the horizon.”

After slipping on their trusty skates they stepped onto the lake and their group, 100 strong, began their extraordinary journey to Ram’s Island some two miles out. And they did it at ‘express speed’.

After visiting its round tower, they hit the ice again charting a course to Antrim.

“We all felt on our return that we had spent a glorious day, and had performed a feat which we might not in a life-time have the power of doing again.”

Well, guess what, in January 1881 it was back. It was, said one report, once again a ‘splendid field for figures skating with ample room for all comers’.

Seen from the shore the flitting figures were mere specks on the horizon.

During the second week at the UK’s largest rink, the wind picked up but that did not deter visitors. Oh no, they decided to harness it by introducing a sail into the mix!

Typically teams of two would hold on tight and take off at speeds ‘no skater could approach’. Better still, no exertion was required - just a steady ankle and good steering.

But all good things must pass, but not for long. In 1882 it froze again.

And yet again in 1895 - but so regular had the phenomenon become that the powers that be were ready to swing into action.

That year there were daily trains ‘at a very trifling expense’ dropping off skaters at Antrim, Crumlin, Glenavy and Toome. Knowing they were onto a winner, the railway companies even provided powerful Well’s lights and lanterns on the shore, allowing people to stay on the ice until 9pm.

Mr Crozier, of the Imperial Restaurant, got into the act too setting up a tent to provide tea, coffee and hot food. ‘Something stronger’ was also on offer.

Robert Mulholland, a provision merchant from Crumlin, decided to put the ice to the test too. He yoked up his horse with a sleigh and trotted over to Ram’s Island.

Impressed by the feat, JJ Addy rode his bike from Sandy Bay - becoming the first ever cyclist on the island.

An impromptu ice hockey league was formed, with matches contested out in Antrim bay.

All in all, it was another winter to savour.

“During the past week Lough Neagh has presented a spectacle rarely witnessed in these climes,” said one reporter at the scene.

“With very little stretch of imagination one could fancy himself enjoying all the pleasures of a Canadian winter, and the carnivals of which this cast sheet of water in the clutches of King Frost have been the scene which will long be remembered by those who had the opportunity of participating in them.”

The following year it happened yet again, though on a reduced scale. Still, there was eight to 10 acres of solid ice off Massereene Park, allowing locals to enjoy ‘the exhilarating exercise of skating’.

Since then, there have been fewer freezes, but there was the odd excuse to dust off those skates.

In 1909 the waters yielded to the cold once more. In 1945 hundreds of blade runners returned to Ram’s Island, with many returning by the light of the full moon carrying ‘sticks, stones and little plans as souvenirs’.

But the dangers of thin ice were underlined that same year when tragedy struck out on the Lough.

Walter Stewart and Robert Stevenson were cycling out on the water when, suddenly, the ice cracked. Walter, who had been some 25 yards ahead, was in the water and his companion frantically tried to fish him out - ending up in the water himself in the process.

Robert managed to clamber out. Walter did not. The body was recovered three days later.

There have been a few notable big freezes since then, but seldom on the scale of those halcyon days of the late 1800s.

Those winters of yesteryear passed into legend. Back in 1960 Grace C Bonthrone said it was a ‘magical’ time.

“When we were children I remember Lough Neagh freezing for miles,” she said.

“Papa took us walking on the ice from the Sand Gates entrance to the Lough across to Antrim about half a mile away. It was our first walk on ice and we fell many times on the journey.

“The ice was so clear we could see the bottom in the shallows near the edge.

“Again in the year 1895 when I was grown up there was a great frost everywhere. Lough Neagh was completely ice-bound for six weeks and a scene of gaiety and amusement.

“A large refreshment tent was erected near the shore in the Fir Field on Lord Massereene’s estate and special trains ran from Belfast, Lisburn and Ballymena.

“After the first moon had passed tar barrels were burnt at night at intervals along the shore and later large Lucien lights were brought by the Northern Counties Railway Company, which also provided a rescue gang with ladders and ropes in case of accidents - but there were no serious mishaps.

“One day Sir Frank Benson and seven of his company came to skate and were a source of great interest as they were all dressed in skating costume and danced an eightsome reel on the ice.

“They were acting at the Belfast Theatre at the time, doing Shakespeare.”

Ironically, just three years later the temperatures dipped yet again.

For several days the ice was inches thick - enough for one hardy visitor to skim across the surface in a Mini!

In 2010 the skaters were back, albeit briefly. You can check them out on YouTube.

Perhaps with climate change a new pair of skates may not be top of many people’s wish lists - but we can still salute the locals who gleefully lived life on the edge.