For the second year running, the crown jewel of London ice rinks won’t be making an appearance.
Covid-19 put paid to the Tower of London ice rink’s 2020 season, but whilst the lockdowns are over, there’s nonetheless some disappointing news on the 2021 season. Whilst hunting down news about London’s festive rinks this Christmas, we’ve stumbled upon the following message on the Tower of London rink’s website: “Unfortunately, the Tower of London Ice Rink is not going ahead this year due to exciting plans for a major event at the Tower of London in 2022.” More on that in a minute, but for now, let’s digest the news that once again, the London ice rink with the most stunning backdrop won’t be taking us prisoner this year.
We’d usually be raven about this rink come mid-November, but once again our ice skating dreams have been dashed. Unlike rinks at Somerset House and the Natural History Museum (making its final appearance in London this year), we’ll be looking to the future to see the Tower dressed up all festive, and maybe even catch a Beefeater on ice. Hopefully, come late 2022, we’ll be skating by the imposing walls of the historic castle, and sipping on winter warmers at the rinkside bar. At least we can guarantee two things upon the rink’s eventual return: one, unlike Guy Fawkes and Lady Jane Grey, your visit here won’t end badly, unless you REALLY disobey the rules of the rink… And two, you probably still won’t be able wear the crown jewels whilst you skate (we asked). Spoilsports.
As to the identity of the “major event” that’s preventing the return of the rink, we suspect it has more than a casual relationship to one of 2022’s biggest events: the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Last summer, it was revealed that Historic Royal Palaces, who maintain the Tower of London, were planning on turning the moat into a spectacular Commonwealth-themed garden, full of trees, hedges, and flowers that will entice tourists back to the landmark. So, if we were gambling people, that’s what we’d be putting our money on. It sounds jolly lovely, but can we please have our ice rink back when it’s done?