Whitley Bay Ice Rink

Whitley Bay Ice Rink is an ice rink in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, England and is the home of the Whitley Warriors ice hockey team. It is the only permanent public ice rink in the north east of England and has a ten-pin bowling centre in the area upstairs.

It was also the region's premier concert venue until the Newcastle Arena (now MetroRadio Arena) opened in 1995. The venue played host to the top names in the music industry throughout the 1980s and 1990s, such as The Cure in 1985, Kylie Minogue in 1990, the Pet Shop Boys in 1991, Metallica in 1992, Oasis in 1996 and the Stone Roses in 1995.

In 2005, the ice rink was used to film BBC sitcom Thin IceFact|date=June 2008. Even though the series was set in Derby, Whitley Bay Ice Rink was chosen because the production company had used the venue on numerous occasions in the pastFact|date=June 2008. Although reference is made to Whitley Bay as the host of the British Championships in the programme, no mention is made in the credits.

In 2006 the ice rink was criticized by local authorities after demonstrating exceedingly poor fire regulations when a blaze was discovered [cite web |title=Journal Live: "Relief at ice rink as safety test is passed" |url=http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/news-archive/2006/07/08/relief-at-ice-rink-as-safety-test-is-passed-61634-17347913/|accessdate=2008-06-21] . Skaters continued on the ice whilst the fire escalated.

References

External links

* [http://www.whitleybayicerink.co.uk/ Official site]