Durban’s First Skating Rink

A reader Vanessa Maitland recently contacted me regarding a picture she had which  is shown below.  She  asked me to comment  on  it  if  I  could. Actually there is a post on Facts about Durban regarding the first Ice Rink n Durban. Do a SEARCH to find it.

I cannot date the picture exactly but going by the buildings one can guesstimate   at about 1930s looking at the cars. What we are looking at is the construction of the West Street Groyne which was in line with West Street.  The original pier had heavy wooden poles driven into the sand to form the base.  Durban had experience of this because the original Safe Bathing Enclosure built opposite the Kenilworth Tearoom approximately, was of similar construction.  A steam powered pile driver knocked the beams into position. It ran on rails.  I am not sure what the hut at the end of the rails was for. Maybe a shelter. On the left is a building which is indicated as the Rotunda. This must be the first version of that building which remained there  for many years. In its later appearance it was somewhat changed in design and at street level was the Coo-ee Tearoom and Ice Cream Parlour.  Upstairs became a night club at one stage and then a type of horror museum if I remember correctly. The big building behind the Rotunda is Belmont which was a large block of flats on the corner of West St and Marine Parade. This building stood for many years but was demolished and rebulit as a more modern building. If one remembers the Golden Chopsticks Chinese Restaurant was on the first floor.   On the right there is a row of trees and this was an open space skirting Marine Parade. It was on this space many years later that the Durban Aquarium was built.  In the early days there was a band stand on the site where military bands would play for the public seated around in deck chairs. I have no idea what the two big window odd building was. Directly behind this odd building one can make out two smaller gables and a larger one behind.  The two smaller ones were part of the facade of the Beach Hotel probably one of the first hotels to built on the Marine Parade when the mountainous sand dunes were cleared. The Beach Hotel was on the opposite side of Marine Parade. The Beach Hotel went through many variations leading up to the the early 1960s when the corner site was completely flattened and a multistorey new Beach Hotel was built and stands today. The big gable that can be seen behind the Beach Hotel is most probably the Cecil Hotel  which faced West Street. Next door to it is the Balmoral Hotel, probably the oldest  building on Marine Parade in its original design.  It too has gone through some slight changes but it is a landmark building.  What is interesting is the tall mast that can be seen left of the Balmoral. These were dotted along the Marine Parade and have been there for many many years.  I recall them adorned with coloured neon lights from 1948 onward.

So lets get to the Ice Rink. This is the hangar type building left of Belmont. It faced and bordered the Marine Parade but in front of it was a large open space maybe a car park area. On the curved facade one can make out Ocean Rink. The site of the Ice Rink is where the Claridges Hotel was built in the mid 1950s. The aeriel picture below shows the area where the Ice Rink was located. The roof is marked x x .   This photo is much later and I would guess just before the ice rink was demolished early / mid 1950s.

The Claridges was the first “fancy” hotel to be built on Marine Parade and in the 1960s was where “Cookie Look” was introduced. If you have never heard of Cookie Look it was a properly controlled “session”.  A session was an uncontrolled rock and roll “do” normally held in MOTH halls, some church halls and other halls were a four piece rock band would play the latest rock music hits.  Normally ran for 4 hours as at midnight most entertainment stopped. They did get out of hand sometimes but it was the place to be on a Friday or Saturday night. At the hotels Cookie Look was more refined,  jeans and Tee shirts were not allowed. Guys wore Time to Shine suits and girls were glammed up. Deviating here but remembering good times.

PS I have to admit I can see no reference to this being an ice skating rink and wonder if it is not a roller skating rink.