We Keep Reading,

that it is going to get very cold,

maybe not as cold for the River Thames to freeze over, as it has done from the 1300's at least 23 times, but it might be cold enough to skate on the lake in Regent’s Park in London, as many did on the 16th of January 1867, on that fateful day the greatest ice-skating tragedy in British history took place, in the Luton Times & Advertiser, 19 January 1867, the following is described:

at about a quarter-past four, when a large number of persons were skating and sliding on the western side of the lake upon an area of water probably of six acres, the ice suddenly, and without the least warning, gave way and broke into thousands of pieces. From one to two hundred persons were immersed,

above from the Illustrated London News | 26 January 1867 this ‘dreadful skating accident at Regent’s Park,’ which saw 41 people lose their lives, from all walks of life, is best described by those who experienced it themselves. One of the survivors was a Mr Dunton, of Frederick Street, who narrates his experiences in the Oxford Chronicle & Reading Gazette, 26 January 1867. He was on the lake with his two children, when ‘without a second’s warning the ice seemed to glide from under us, leaving us in water quite five feet deep.’ He goes on to describe the harrowing experience in the following terms:

'Such a sight I hope never to see again. Quite 150 persons were struggling for life. Heads and arms were to be seen all around amongst the broken masses of ice. Two yards from me a little boy was drowning…I stood in this position for nearly half an hour, sinking down in the mud deeper every minute, until the water reached my chin. I held my children as high as possible above water until I felt my legs being cramped with the cold. I said to the eldest, ‘Is there any help coming, Fred? Wave my walking-stick, for I am sinking down in the mud.’ Presently the boy said, ‘Father, a man is swimming to us, and we shall be saved.’ On looking round I saw a brave young fellow plunging through the ice towards me',

above from the Penny Illustrated Paper | 26 January 1867 the Glasgow Evening Post observes:

every grade of society was represented by the mourners for the lost ones. Ladies of station were sorrowfully looking after sons who had not returned last night to the homes they had left yesterday morning full of life…Poor Irish women who earn an honest penny by the sale of oranges were ‘keening’ at the gate, and wildly calling upon the name of the husband who brought his hot chestnuts yesterday among the skaters at the park, and ventured his life and lost it in selling them, The list of victims, printed in the Waterford Mirror & Tramore Visitor, shows the varying classes of people on the lake that day. Listed as among the deceased is H Woodhouse Esquire, of Tavistock Square, and an officer, Lieutenant R Edwin Scott. Alongside them were many working men, just trying to earn a living from the skaters at the park.

One of the dead was James Griffin, aged 29, of Drury Lane, who was selling oranges to the skaters. He was in the midst of the melee when the ice broke, and lost his life. Meanwhile, John Bryan was selling roast chestnuts when the ice broke up. His portable stove was later surfaced with his body, so if it gets cold enough to freeze Regent’s Park this year, or any other for that matter take care if you go on the ice!