South view of the Ice Rink under construction

      The Clerk of Works and the Foreman on site

The Rink was built during 1938 and early 1939 and due to open in late 1939 however with the outbreak of war the Government requisitioned the premises as a Royal Army Service Corp Depot and after the war up to 1951 it remained under the control of the Government being used as an HM Stationery Office store.

Finally in August 1952, after a number of building alterations, the Rink opened to the public as an Ice Arena with the official opening ceremony being conducted by the then Lord Provost, Sir James Miller.

 Murrayfield Royals v Paisley Pirates 1952

 Coronation Ice Cavalcade poster 1953

  Scottish Figure Skating Championships 1953/4

The new venue, quoted in the press as being ‘The Most Modern Ice Rink in Scotland’, gave the people of Edinburgh their chance, not only to go skating on a regular basis but also to see a whole variety of events ranging from professional ice hockey, professional ice shows, amateur boxing and basketball. Crowds of 1000 skaters on a Friday and Saturday night were not uncommon and on one occasion in the spring of 1953, 5000 spectators attended an international amateur boxing tournament with 2000 having to be turned away!

With the passing of time however the operating Company found it harder and harder to attract the public to their core activities of ice hockey, large ice shows and skating and in June 1956 the shareholders decided that the Rink should be put up for sale.

 The Dancing Years on Ice souvenir programme 1955

 The Holiday on Ice souvenir programme 1956

Nearly a year later in April 1957 four enterprising Edinburgh businessmen, who had no experience whatsoever of running an ice rink, formed a new Company, bought the Rink, took over the reins and set about trying to find the right balance to make the Rink, considered by some to be a ‘white elephant’, a paying proposition.

Harlem Globetrotters 1963

Scottish Amateur Skating Championships April 1964

Wrestling Programme 1964

  Speedway Programme 1972

Racers Programme 1977

After an absence of two seasons professional ice hockey was quickly reintroduced as was ice dance and figure skating, curling and speed skating and, although some larger events took place over the following years. The new owners’ main efforts concentrated on public skating, ice hockey with the development of young local players and ice dance and figure skating, via the newly formed Murrayfield Ice Skating Club. Despite their best endeavours, the near capacity ice hockey crowds which rinks across the country had experienced began to dwindle, professional ice hockey became no longer viable and, by the start of the 60’s, British ice hockey had entered a new ‘amateur’ phase which was to remain for nearly the following 20 years. The famous Murrayfield Royals finally disappeared from the British Ice hockey scene in 1966 to be replaced by the future record setting Murrayfield Racers.

In 1970 the City of  Edinburgh played host to the first Commonwealth games to be held in Scotland with Murrayfield being the chosen venue for the Boxing Tournament. John Conteh at 19 won the middle weight Gold medal for England and local boy 23 year old Tom Imrie won the light middle weight Gold medal for Scotland in a passion filled arena. The closing ceremony was also held at the Rink for the 42 participating nations on the 25 July.

The 80’s saw the reintroduction of professional ice hockey with the Murrayfield team being one of the most feared teams in Britain. The number of ‘imports’ was initially limited allowing many of the amateur players who had progressed through the junior development stages at Murrayfield, as well as at Dundee, Fife and other rinks, to move smoothly into the new era of ice hockey. Some of the Murrayfield ‘imports’ as well as some of the local home grown talent became nationally known in the Ice Hockey fraternity as well as further afield. Tony Hand, the first ever British player drafted by the NHL in North America, was a product of the Murrayfield Junior Development programme. Over his career Tony played for several clubs and received national recognition for his services to ice hockey in 2003 when he was awarded an MBE.

Tony Hand MBE was a long serving Murrayfield Racers Player

Festival Ice Review Poster Aug 1986

Racers Programme 1988

Ice Circus Poster 1993

Torvill and Dean Poster

A number of music and dance events were also held in the early 90's at Murrayfield.

Murrayfield have also played host to a number of important productions for the Edinburgh International Festival throughout the years as well as some more unusual events for instance providing a large screen to cater for Hibs fans who were unable to obtain tickets for the 1994/95 Scottish Cup semi final match against Stenhousemuir.

Later that year the Rink was used as a set for a major scene in the award winning Scottish film "Small Faces". Incidentally, many of the extras in the scene were regular Murrayfield skaters!

In 1998 Torvill and Dean returned again to Murrayfield and headlined the cast in a spectacular Ice Show.

The 1998 Poster of the Spectacular Ice Show

 Sinead and John Kerr with their Choreographer  Peter Tchernyshev outside Murrayfield with members of the arena staff

Sinead and John Kerr Competing