This is as close as we get to flying

Gareth malone

In the first of a new summer series, the TV choirmaster, who lives in north London with his English teacher wife Becky and their children Esther, nine, and Gilbert, seven, tells how he coped with lockdown, and what he’s most looking forward to now it’s lifting...

The first time I went ice-skating it didn’t bode well. It was my tenth birthday party and my best friend’s mother broke her wrist on the ice. That put everyone else off but I still thought it was the coolest thing ever and carried on skating regularly until they shut our local rink in Bournemouth.

That was the end of that.

‘But a couple of years ago a friend mentioned she was going to ice-skating classes and I asked if I could join her. Until lockdown I was going to Alexandra Palace rink once or twice a week: there’s a half-hour class and then everyone has a cup of tea and practises on their own.

‘Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, who inspired a whole generation of ice skaters like me, can occasionally be spotted there but I would never dare talk to them! Apparently they practise there before appearing as judges on the TV show Dancing On Ice.

I’m spotted myself by people sometimes, but thankfully they never start singing.

‘I’m aching to get back on the ice. Nothing else gives you that freedom of gliding along – it’s as close as we humans can get to flying.

It’s amazing how quickly you can make progress. After just a few sessions I didn’t have to hold on to the side any longer, and now I go quite fast. And you get a real sense of satisfaction when you master something like skating backwards. I love that there’s an element of danger to it, but I’m careful. ‘A great joy of ice-skating for me is that it’s completely pointless. I know that I’m never going to be a figure skater but I’m at the age where I don’t care if I’m rubbish, I just enjoy it. My wife and kids are sceptical when I try to persuade them about the merits of it. But I’m going to keep chipping away at them. ‘During lockdown I’ve been practising my electric guitar more, and for the first time I’ve really started to garden. It’s served as a respite for me. I’ve also learned to appreciate the time we’ve had together as a family, going on bike rides and long walks, and that’s been special.

‘I’ve been working in my new office at the end of our garden, so my wife has been doing the home schooling. She’s had a much harder job than me, trying to keep the children in line.

‘Sadly, I haven’t seen my parents for months and they’re the people I want to see and hug, really hug, the most. We’ve been talking every day over Facetime but it isn’t the same.

‘At home, we’ve dealt with the stress of being stuck indoors by watching the Peter Kay retrospective, Comedy Shuffle, on the BBC, and US sitcom Space Force on Netflix, which is hilarious. But I’m really looking forward to going back to West End theatres and music venues again. And to Tokyo Diner in Soho for some sushi. It’s rough and ready, but delicious. Everyone is cramped together on benches, flirting over miso soup.

‘I can’t wait for the chance to get back on the ice, and I’d love to carry it on into my retirement. It’s good exercise, it’s sociable and it’s just a lovely thing to do.’

Torvill and Dean, and (below left) Tokyo Diner in London