Le Friquet ice rink is chillier than ever
THE ice rink at Le Friquet Garden Centre is using a more advanced chiller system this year, with aluminium pipes below the skating surface.
Three large chillers operating at minus 10C are used to freeze the water by using a liquid called glycol. The glycol is cooled, freezing the surrounding water. Once the primary layer is frozen the ice thickness is built up gradually by increasing the water.
‘We add on five millimetres of water at a time then let it freeze until the ice is about four or five inches thick,’ said rink manager Matthew Gouveia.
‘It took us about two weeks to fully set up the ice rink, including the carpentry and painting.’
Between now and 9 January, when the team at Le Friquet will start dismantling the rink, daily maintenance will take place, which includes scraping the ice at least twice and respraying ice.
‘We scrape the ice at least twice a day to remove the snow dust which we see a lot of after a busy session,’ said Mr Gouveia.
‘Also in the mornings when there is a lot of condensation that drips from the poles and freezes, we have to scrape.’
The ice rink will close on 8 January.
This year the system has a melt function so the rink will only take a few hours to melt, whereas previously it would have taken a couple of days. Once the rink has melted the pipe work will be removed before the barriers are taken away.
Skating sessions are available every day up until 23 December from 10am and 7pm, apart from Sundays and Saturday 9 December. On Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve the rink is open from 10am until 3pm, and it will be open every day from 10am until 4pm from 27 December until 8 January.
Off-peak sessions are available Monday to Friday until 22 December from 10am until 2pm for £5 a person. After this, all sessions are peak with adults priced at £13 and children £11. Parent and toddler sessions and sensory-friendly sessions are also being planned.
