Aldwych

The Aldwych rink opened its doors to the public for the first time on Friday 11th December 1908. The building had, in fact, originally housed the temporary offices of the Morning Post newspaper before being acquired by Edward Johnson Wilson, owner of the ‘Rinkeries Company’ and converted it into a roller rink.

Roller skating was enjoying a huge boom period and almost every town and city had at least one roller rink to its name. London enjoyed numerous rinks, from the hugely popular and immense Olympia in Kensington, to the tiny Walpole Hall in Ealing. Crowds flocked to the rinks in their thousands to not only enjoy roller skating but to watch races between the local speed men.

The Aldwych rink enjoyed a central London location being sited on the north-east corner of the Aldwych crescent, adjacent to Houghton Street.

Shortly after opening the rink produced its own speed club, Aldwych. (Incidentally, Aldwych still exists today as a speed skating club, albeit now solely dedicated to ice skating. It is in fact the oldest registered speed skating club in Great Britain, and quite possibly the world, and has its own chequered history that will be told elsewhere).

Upon forming, the Aldwych club were immediately successful. The likes of Bertie Darran, Jack Price and Harry O’Hagan all quickly became stars within roller speed skating circles.

By 1911 the number of purpose built rinks in and around London had increased dramatically. Not only that, but these rinks enjoyed excellent facilities and were specifically erected to house roller skating – the likes of Maida Vale and Brixton being just two prime examples. Aldwych, by contrast, was a makeshift rink and now found its gate receipts falling short of expectations.

On the night of 2nd April 1911, the rink was written into history. It was the night of the UK census and a number of militant suffrage societies asked their membership to congregate at the rink and in an act of defiance escape detailed enumeration. These societies include the likes of the Women’s Social and Political Union, the Women’s Freedom League and the Tax Resistance League amongst others. The suffragettes drew up a slogan of “we don’t count, we won’t be counted” and took to the rink in droves. In fact, an estimated total of 570 people were recorded as being absent from the census due to their attending the rink, the largest mass census absence ever witnessed. Well-known names of the movement such as Emmeline Pankhurst, Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence and Ethel Smyth were amongst those present.

The group actually hired the rink and enjoyed themselves skating throughout the night. As it was not a dwelling or abode where one slept, those present at the rink were not recorded. They were also entertained by members of the Actresses’ Franchise League such as Decima Moore and her sister Ada. The event had very little impact on the census in real terms and was really just a political stunt. It certainly made the Aldwych rink notorious.

Later that year, however, the rink closed its doors for good and the Aldwych club had to look for new premises.

The building remained empty until the outbreak of the First World War where it was then used as a clearing house for Belgian refugees. Then, on the night of October 13th 1915, the building was hit during a Zeppelin raid. Shortly after the war the area was cleared and all traces of the rink were erased. In 1926 Aldwych House was built, which still stands today on the site where the rink once stood.

Sadly, there are no known detailed photos that exist of the rink. The rink may not have housed any races of significant note within the roller speed skating world, but it does have a place in history as being an unlikely part of the suffragette movement and a focal point for political reform.