John Frederick James Smith universally known as “Icy,” was born in 1889, in Barnard Castle, County Durham the thirteenth of fourteen children.
Although he first went into the family metal business, he soon decided that the end product was too enduring to encourage many repeat orders and in the pre-refrigerator age, decided to sell the public something that would not last as long – ice.
As his business expanded he moved to Darlington, where he entered public life and soon became Mayor. He next moved to Durham where he bought Bishop’s Mill, installed a turbine to generate electricity from a diverted river and turned the mill into an ice factory. Before long he became in turn, County Councillor, City Councillor, Alderman and eventually, Mayor of Durham.
Towards the end of the 1930s, it became clear that the development of modern refrigerators would soon put an end to the business of selling large blocks of ice to the public. So “Icy” Smith decided to go in for ice on an even bigger scale – and in 1939, the idea for the Durham Ice Rink was born.
However, with the outbreak of war his plans received an early setback as all building work was ceased. Wit the ice plant already installed, “Icy” Smith proved his resourcefulness by having a huge marquee tent, the largest in Europe, erected to cover the uncompleted building. Seven huge posts, set into the ice, supported the giant structure but failed to inhibit the rinks use as members of the Royal Canadian Air Force stationed in the north of England too every opportunity to partake in their favourite sport.
After the war a permanent roof was built onto the rink, and urged on by his son John, a veteran referee of over 500 services games during the war, “Icy” Smith gave his full support to the development of ice hockey in Durham. Unlike rink management elsewhere around Britain, Smith insisted that his team should be based on local players with only a sprinkling of Canadians. The question has to pondered, where would British ice hockey be if only a few others had followed his example?
As a direct result of the pioneering spirit of this one man, construction of further rinks in the area followed, in Whitley Bay and then the Billingham Forum.
J.F.J. “Icy” Smith died in 1965, but he would undoubtedly have been proud to see the number of teams playing ice hockey in Britain today. He would also have been proud of the achievements of ‘his’ teams, Durham Wasps, Whitley Warriors (though his original name for them was Whitley Bees) and the Cleveland Bombers, together with their various junior teams.
Compiled with research, provided by Martin C.Harris & Tony Boynton – April 1988.
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