ACK
At Crieff High School in the 1960s I can remember Morrison's Academy closing so the pupils could go skating at a loch at Drummond Castle. Those of us at state schools had to make do with slides as your wife remembers.

ACK
The last Elfstedentocht in Holland was 1997 (i had to Google that date) and the last Bonspiel on the Lake Of Menteith was in 1979. Both have had "near misses" in 2012 and 2010 respectively. Although these have always been occasional events they seem to be getting rarer.

Mick J. Mrs K comes from Peterborough (and until recently had relatives living there). She reminds me that flooding fen fields just outside the city was common as was school caretakers sending buckets of water over parts of playgrounds to freeze and function as slides. Probably H&S Gestapo prevent this now.

@ACK 5.03
There is a page at Wiki outlining Fen skating, last resurrected a few years back, there is a training track on one of the farms local to Welney for roller skate practise in order to be ready.

Fen Skating Wiki entry

Icy pictures Recent icy pictures of Welney Washes

Mick.

@GC
Oh, and in case you were misled by this "My liberal friends sometimes ask me why I don't devote more of my science journalism to the sins of the Right." it is a quote from the link I provided

Mick J, you could ask some of your Democrat buddies how many Republicans have joined Greenpeace in trying to sabotage Golden Rice?
Nov 22, 2016 at 6:02 PM | Unregistered Commenter golf charlie.

I have Democrat buddies? News to me!

As for the Greenpeace campaign at Golden Rice, appalling and a cause of much suffering and death. Their page has been updated, previously it was a fine example of innuendo and misdirection with high proportion of falsehoods such as claims the seed will carry Monsanto style license costs, it will not. Now softened in content but still gag material and for some reason loaded with unrelated pictures, no pictures of the suffering caused by Vitamin A Deficiency.