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Student skates on the frozen Fens

Monday 13 January 2025

 

A St Catharine’s student was among the local skaters who took to the ice after sub-zero temperatures froze flooded fields in the Fens to the north of Cambridge. Paula Teeuwen (a Chemistry PhD student and Secretary of the College’s MCR) is originally from the Netherlands, where skating on natural ice has been an important tradition for many centuries. 

Paula Teeuwen skating on the Fens
Paula skating on the Fens (credit: Cambridge Ice Skating Club)

 

She explained, “When I arrived in Cambridge, it was amazing to discover fen skating, an ice-skating tradition that feels very familiar as a Dutch person. There is actually a big fen-skating community in Cambridgeshire, who are welcoming and generous about sharing information about the best and safest places to skate. Skating on the Fens became a dream of mine and I am so hyped that I was finally able to give it a go.”

Paula Teeuwen skating on the Fens
Paula skating on frozen flooded fields in the Fens (credit: Cambridge Ice Skating Club)

 

Paula and other members of the Cambridge Ice Skating Club's Short Track team (called the Cambridge Arrows) travelled to the fields around Upware, a village located around 10 miles from central Cambridge. 

She added, “I train in short-track speed skating at a local ice rink every Monday with the Cambridge Ice Skating Club and they kindly lent me some speed-skates to make the most of the ice this weekend. I would be delighted to help other Catz students get involved in the Club’s activities.”

Members of the University of Cambridge played an important role in the history of ice skating in the UK. British Ice Skating (formerly the National Ice Skating Association) was established in 1879 at a meeting held at Cambridge’s Guildhall with the purpose of recognising and regulating the sport of fen skating at a national level. The first British professional championship was organised in the Fens later the same year, and the first amateur championship followed the next year. British Ice Skating is now responsible for overseeing all disciplines of ice skating in the UK. 

 

Paula Teeuwen skating on the Fens
Paula at the end of a day spent fen skating (credit: Cambridge Ice Skating Club)