 |  | by BBC South Yorkshire
contributor Rory Dollard | |
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Ice-skating is always one of those things that seems like a remarkably good idea at the time. And if you can handle a few bumps and bruises, and the humiliation of being scorned at by infinitely more proficient primary school children, it generally is.  | | Get your skates on! |
The fact is that you need the balance of a Russian gymnast just to stay on your feet. I am not a Russian gymnast, I fail on the grounds of both being born in England and being remarkably ungainly. Thankfully, this doesn't detract from the fun. Two types of people go skating - those who can skate and those who cannot - and both come off the rink with smiles on their face. The possibility that I might be one of the ‘cannots’, of course, never enters my mind. I strap on my skates, shuffle toward the ice and then, recalling Dickensian scenes of winter fun, proceed to fall over. Torvill and Dean are safe for a while yet.  | | With a bit of practice, you could look like this... nearly |
If you can get over the fact that you won’t be doing back flips and winning gold medals in the next hour or so (a bit tough for a man such as myself who has also had to give up on other childhood dreams like winning the Ryder Cup and lifting the World Cup in recent years) it is fantastic fun. For the nostalgics among us the ice rink also does a great line in retro soundtracks. The pride of doing a full lap for the first time and singing “I am the one and only” (and believing it) is something that must be experienced to be believed. Go with your friends, sing with them, hold on to them, fall over with them, fall over on them. But you really should go, if only so you can appreciate why they’ve postponed The Simpson’s for the Winter Olympics next time. Got a favourite activity or pastime that costs less than a tenner? Tell us about it! | 
