PROBABLY most Bristolians who have grown- up in the past 40 years have at some time been to the ice rink. It has been a place to meet friends, somewhere to go in the school holidays or for birthday parties.

We all have our memories of it. Many involve trying to skate and ending up flat on our backs. And as a result leaving for home with our clothes soaking wet.

Then, of course, it is the place we all associate with Bristol's Olympic gold medal skate Robin Cousins. It is where he learnt to skate and where he trained. That too secures it a place in the hearts of Bristolians of a certain age.

When the prospect of closure was last raised 20 years ago, there was a huge public outcry. We backed a campaign, supported by Robin himself, to keep the rink open.

But everything has its day and even its most ardent supporters would accept that Bristol's ice-rink is past its best.

That said, it is home to the Bristol Pitbulls ice-hockey team and its closure is a real blow for them and their owner Richie Hargreaves who has done so much to put the city on the ice-skating map.

Hopefully there will be a new one built, even if it is not in Frogmore Street, and a new era of ice-skating in Bristol will begin.