th 31 Jul 2020 | The other Norfolk roller derby league on YouTube and in Canada.  |
fr 24 Jul 2020 | BBC doc United Skates has stunning (often synchronised) rolling from black American skaters. It also has racism, gangs, developers and closing down roller rinks but stay with it as the ending is encouraging.
|
th 23 Jul 2020 | Nice to see that roller derby skate outs are still alive in the USA. |
tu 7 Jul 2020 | In a lifetime of laughter and tears we have noted that most people like what they're used to and that usually means clichéd predictability so when the Blue Thunder Rollers renamed themselves we were impressed they resisted Suffolk Punchers or such like. Recently Suffolk Roller Derby skater Dr Astrid Coxon has revived the draught horse allusion.
|
tu 30 Jun 2020 | When Richard Branson goes roller skating with some rock dinosaurs and it's not him who breaks his ankle surely an up cock by God ... ♫ |
we 10 Jun 2020 | Just one more confirmed Covid-19 case in Suffolk yesterday. A fifty sixth reason to be cheerful ... The twenty stair rail is really <beep>ing that up.
|
su 31 May 2020 | Rollerworld Colchester has started a Crowdfunder page so they'll still be there when the stay at home let's them re-open. Inducements include roller derby and speed skating sessions.
|
fr 29 May 2020 | Crikey! A non-helmet wearing backflip on roller skates in a skate park and the suspension of British american football extended to the beginning of July. |
mo 25 May 2020 | Short track slider (not roller) Elise Christie has been on a journey. |
mo 18 May 2020 | Suzi Rufell is a better roller skater than Rachel Parris. |
th 14 May 2020 | Scot Alicia Rodgers and her mates bought roller skates after seeing Whip It (they are not alone) but then omitted the next step learning to skate. Alicia is now learning to skate for a charity live performance on 25th May. She's doing better than us (we can't shoot the duck off skates) and thankfully she had gained a helmet by the latter part of week two.
|
mo 27 Apr 2020 | 896 confirmed Covid-19 cases so far in Suffolk and total yesterday, the rate of increase seems to be easing. The thirty fifth reason to be cheerful continues yesterday's roller derby theme with a tattoo related YouTube. ♫
|
su 26 Apr 2020 | 877 confirmed Covid-19 cases in Suffolk and total so far. The thirty fourth reason to be cheerful ... London Roller Girls eh? |
we 22 Apr 2020 | When Cambridge Rollerbillies were Romsey Town Rollerbillies they shared a warehouse with a cycle polo team, it was very Whip It if not banked track. Sadly the Billies didn't get an anonymous angel unlike Sacramento Roller Derby ... even if your premium bond pulled the big one you still wouldn't have enough money. |
su 29 Mar 2020 | 25-year-old Lola Bouvier, a fallen ice-skating star with an outsize ego, decides to become “the greatest roller-derby champion of all time” but unwittingly joins one of the worst French teams: the Cannibal Unicorns! French tv comedy Derby Girl ... the production stills look a bit obvious ... and cheap.
|
we 11 Mar 2020 | A charming immediately post Edwardian Easter card with a roller skating small girl who is also a bit scary with her stick to hit the fluffy little chicks. A rolling on cards album update that includes rolling skating bears, cats and a dog.
|
sa 15 Feb 2020 | Roller derby in its present flat track iteration is a young sport so there's always a new way to interpret the rules. We recall a downed skater having three seconds (a bit mean eh?) to get up but we can't find it in the current WFTDA rules.
|
mo 3 Feb 2020 | Suffolk Roller Derby recreating old time derby fun in 2018 and Ipswich. |
th 1 Jan 2020 | Happy New Year. The bit of Suffolk that is near the coast tends to go into hibernation during January but we'll forage for any stirrings. In the meantime here's the pic we meant to use about bank track roller derby in that there London and the 50s.
|
mo 23 Dec 2019 | Whenever an half arsed journo describes roller derby as skaters racing furiously you know they've never seen a bout ... mind you the skaters' state of mind might be furious ...
|
sa 14 Dec 2019 | Christmas roller disco in the Tommy Mills sports hall Framlingham tomorrow am. |
fr 13 Dec 2019
 | Some North American and Australian place names suggest they were named by the indigenous peoples. Biloxi a coastal resort in Mississippi is one of those names and this postcard of the roller rink prompted us to think was it Picking your feet in Biloxi? No, it was Picking your feet in Poughkeepsie.
|
sa 7 Dec 2019 | We've renamed this roller derby section rolling to make it more inclusive. |
su 1 Dec 2019 | We were pleased to see the dress rehearsal Framlingham's Off-Ice Skating Club's Christmas show Peter Pan. Like last year's show this year's is charming and has lots of impressive lighting effect. More info and tickets from pippatigerlove@talktalk.net.
|
we 27 Nov 2019 | In our childhood we read from the public library an autobiography of a Canadian sports promoter working in 1950s London. Not surprisingly he promoted ice hockey but perhaps more surprising also bank track roller derby, The long term result of our reading was when Twitter showed a derby league forming in Essex we had a very faint idea what it was about. The Triple Sword Roller Girls never completed their gestation but no doubt the skaters are still out there somewhere. |
fr 15 Nov 2019 | Skate outs and dancing for the Hydra? Definitely! ... roller derby eh? |
sa 19 Oct 2019 | Sunday we arrived at Hogtoberfest on the outskirts of London in time for the presentations but there was freeriding afterwards. Hogg Hill continues to develop with new to us dance and street luge. We were particularly impressed with a very young woman who despite a dressing on her right leg and struggling to slow in the first right hander was still buckboarding.
|
su 22 Sep 2019 | British Championship roller derby this afternoon on the Beeb website. |
sa 7 Sep 2019 | Didn't know that wholesome (and no doubt fragrant) Julie Andrews skated bank track roller derby ... she didn't mention it amongst her favourite things.
|
su 10 Aug 2019 | We were very flattered when Jerry The Commissioner Seltzer replied to our Facebook comment that the previous flat track roller derby two whistle start made for more variety in play. He pointed out that in old time banked track derby the pack just kept rolling. We are very sorry to report that Jerry passed away at the beginning of last month.
|
sa 3 Aug 2019 | Usual mainstream overblown journalism when writing about roller derby but also the unlikely info that writer Damon Runyan co-created banked track derby with promoter Leo Seltzer. Runyan wrote the Broadway short stories on which the musical Guys and Dolls was based ... certainly seems unlikely but then Runyan was also a sports reporter with a liking for boxing.
|
sa 22 Jun 2019 | Very pleased to see Denver keeping the roller derby skate out alive and entertaining. |
th 30 May 2019 | Short track roller derby, three on the track, seven in a team, turn right in the first half turn left in the second, no lead jammer and NO penalty box you lose two points for a penalty (seven penalty ejections?) ... interesting but not stupid eh?
|
tu 12 Mar 2019 | In an attempt to please Mr Google the roller derby section has been reorganised with Norfolk Roller Derby, Suffolk Roller Derby and the now defunct Seaside Sirens having their own pages.
|
mo 25 Feb 2019 | Roller derby skater Boris Gridcity in Houghton Regis ... don't worry, most people don't know where it is either. |
we 13 Feb 2019 | 
Victorian and Edwardian roller skating clearly went together with fancy dress ... plus ça change eh? |
tu12 Feb 2019 | Roller derby skater Lulu Bloodlust gets a tenth admirer on Flickr. |
tu 29 Jan 2019 | Here's a roller derby novelty, the British Championships Mansfield Roller Derby v Hellfire Harlots B is free entry ... though it is a ways to Mansfield admittedly. |
su 20 Jan 2019 | Suffolk Roller Derby men's single bouter at Inspire Ipswich this afternoon. |
tu 18 Dec 2018 | The London Rollergirls are recruiting coaches for next year, applications close 28 December. It used to be the law at roller derby bouts that if the announcer mentioned ex-LRG coach Ballistic Whistle there had to be an official time out.
|
th 13 Dec 2018 | In 2014 and Ely we snapped a Red White and Bruise Rollers scrimmage with Suffolk RD and we're pretty certain we snapped a RWB skater with a mixed league team in Bletchley. Like the Seaside Sirens very regrettably RWB are pulling up their track tape for the last time. As a league that pretty much could only draw on military and their families at RAF Lakenheath it was likely to struggle. The brilliant bit is they are giving away their t-shirts for just the postage. Ours arrived this morning and it fits!
|
su 9 Dec 2018 | This morning in the Tommy Mills sports hall Framlingham in front of a very supportive and appreciative audience The Little Mermaid whizzed about on off ice skates. One of the many very young cast members had to be taken to the toilet during the show but like we said before nobody fell over. Such an opportunity for the young to learn self confidence ... hope there'll be another show soon.
|
we 28 Nov 2018 | Saturday at Inspire Ipswich a sur5al format roller derby tournament hosted by Suffolk Roller Derby. |
su 18 Nov 2018 | The skaters at the rehearsal of The Little Mermaid in the Tommy Mills Framlingham's sports hall today were wearing off ice skates, they look like inline skates but the four wheels are mounted in a curve so only two wheels touch the floor making spins and turns easier. At the rehearsals nobody fell ... more here
|
su 28 Oct 2018 | Live European roller derby on the BBC website this afternoon. |
sa 20 Oct 2018 | Last Sunday we asked a Killa Hurtz coach if there would be a skateout for their bout with hosts the Leicester Dolly Rockits, Don't know she said But everyone hates skateouts ... so just us then. It seemed a fairly even bout but then we stepped out to see the score and the Rockits were easily pulling away so don't trust us on anything. A comfortable 225-063 Rockits win despite early on losing a skater with an ankle injury, it's always ankles.
The Dolly Rockits are full WFTDA members and two Rockits told us the league wouldn't be competing in the British Championships next year as they want to concentrate on tournaments. |
th 18 Oct 2018 | Congratulations to Rebellion Roller Derby who have been accepted by the Women's Flat Track Derby Association as an apprentice league. |
su 14 Oct 2018 | When we arrived at Loughborough Leisure Centre this afternoon it was pouring with rain and the car park completely full, we had to circle until a leaver made a space but the Leicester Dolly Rockits were very welcoming. The mixed league support bout of rookies and second bouters was very impressive; Bambi jumped the apex, there was organised blocker offence on a power jam and a pivot shouting To me! To me! when play had broken down (she's officer material). Very good stuff indeed.
|
su 16 Sep 2018 | Play off finals in today's British roller derby Championships live on BBC online from 1:30pm. At 4:30pm the Norfolk Brawds play Rebellion Roller Derby. |
tu 26 Jun 2018 | Very regrettably Southend's Seaside Sirens have pulled up their track tape for the last time. Back in the days before roller derby got a bit up itself they produced some enjoyably witty skate outs and we snapped what was their and the Norfolk Brawds' first public bout. Some good has come from it as the Sirens have donated £1,000 of their remaining funds to GB Junior Derby.
|
th 14 Jun 2018 | In the manner of a roller derby programme that so relentlessly refuses to identify mixed league team skaters' home league the Women's Tour web site fails to identify national champions and the web generally is surprisingly reticent ... and what's more nowhere like the predicted 5,000 in Framlingham yesterday. But still the riders tended to be friendly if ... more here
|
th 31 May 2018 | roller derby 2016 included Norfolk Brawd Vixen Mortar making a marriage proposal mid-jam and a Chelmsford Killa Hurtz Girl on a corner in Wimslow Arizona |
th 18 Jan 2018 | Usual slightly off journalism associated with derby but Sunday 4th February the Beeb is streaming this year's roller derby world cup from Manchester. Spotted in a vid on the Beeb page ex Concrete Cow and Grid City skater Magic Beanz now a London Roller Girl ... every girl's dream to wear the pink:)
|
sa 6 Jan 2018 |  Inevitably jokes about falling over feature in Victorian and Edwardian postcards about roller skating along with fancy dress and roller rink staff promoting the surprisingly ubiquitous rinks but women on skates were also portrayed as attractively elegant ... especially on French cards.
|
fr 5 Jan 2018 | Roller derby has more rules than the town council (it is possible) and so needs something like this. |