My lifelong passion for Fen speed skating has been central to who I am. Having served as Chair of the Welney Skating Club—the “Mecca” of Fen skating—for over thirty years, I’ve witnessed the magic that happens when the Wash freezes and people from all walks of life come together on the ice.
On my original Giles Landscapes business website, I included a few informative pages about Fen skating. They not only promoted the sport but also helped raise the profile of both my business and my family, who were all involved in skating. Rubbing shoulders with Cambridge academics and enthusiasts who flocked to Welney whenever the ice was good was truly inspiring.
By nature, I’ve never been one to quietly fit into the status quo. I enjoy shaking things up—putting the cat among the pigeons—and often find that this approach leads to memorable encounters and, occasionally, unexpected business opportunities.
One such episode took place in 2009. My landscaping office sat right next to Welney Wash, the largest natural ice rink in the UK. One midday, a television crew arrived to film the Fen speed skaters—but all the skaters had gone for lunch! Undeterred, they wandered over to our office, and my General Manager, Garry Evison, whose skates were conveniently under his desk, volunteered to give them a demonstration. The footage made it onto several national news programmes. It was great publicity for us, especially as Garry’s jacket clearly displayed the Giles Landscapes logo.
However, the story took a twist. Somehow, BBC’s Rogue Traders got hold of that same footage and used it to illustrate a segment about rising energy bills during cold weather—completely out of context! My staff were horrified that our company might appear connected to rogue traders, but I saw an opportunity.
At a business networking event soon after, I used the incident to great effect. During my 10-minute presentation, I began by explaining our company’s commitment to staff training and media awareness. Then, with a grin, I asked the audience:
“Can anyone guess what kind of recent project got my company national television exposure?”
After a few guesses, I revealed, “We were on Rogue Traders!” The room erupted in laughter. I went on to talk about our actual work, and closed by adding, “We redeemed ourselves a few months later—appearing on Rogue Traders in March, then winning Gold and Best in Show at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May!”
That mix of humor and honesty broke the ice—some attendees avoided me at the buffet, but most wanted to chat. I left with valuable Cambridge business connections and, more importantly, a good story.
And there’s one more happy twist: my longtime colleague Garry Evison, who worked with me for 20 years and mentored many younger staff, found his perfect new role after Giles Landscapes collapsed in 2014. He became the Manager of Skaters Inline Club at Walpole Highway, Wisbech, where he still runs Wednesday training sessions and continues to coach winning teams.
It’s fair to say that the Fen skating spirit—resilient, unconventional, and full of surprises—still runs deep in all of us.
Image – Adam Giles on 2003 on a flooded farmers field between Manea and Welney – Photo taken by Mark Bullimore
I beleive it would be true to say this image kickstarted Mark’s career in photography as the broad sheets picked up on this photograph.
Gary Evison of Giles Landscapes leading out skating champions James Ashby and Michael McInerney at Welney. 18th December 2010. – Gary Evison leading the Skaters out on Welney Wash.
Gary was drawn against Adam Giles in one of the heats of the Fen Centre Finals – This showed great determination from Gary as he had no skates and was racing on borrowed skates. As Gary was to gold medal standard on inline skates but this was the first time he had raced on wild ice with speed skates he did very well under the circumstances. This was the last fen racing we had under NISA rules in 2010.
Rink and Fen Skaters joining together at Sutton Gault 2022. – See Peter Carr who has the UK 5000m Championship at the Hauge, Netherlands. He is pictured in the video dressed in the GB Kit.