Long Reach Skates

Those who have lived through an Atlantic Canadian winter will tell you that there's nothing you can do, but embrace it. The men and women of the late 1800s did just that, embracing skating as a popular pass time. In Saint John, the Victoria Skating Club was opened only to the wealthy  members, or those who could afford a day ticket to enjoy skating in comfort, safe from the elements. 

Victoria Skating Club on City Road in Saint John, photo courtesy of NBM

For the men and women who lived along New Brunswick's vast rivers, skating had an entirely different purpose. Skating was used in Atlantic Canada as a mode of winter transportation during the 1800s and 1900s. Men and women used the St. John and Kennebecasis River to travel distances as far as 130 km, taking about 7 hours to get from Saint John to Fredericton. (That's ~19 kmph, but with a good breeze and on good ice, skaters could often reach speeds up to 32 kmph.)

Exhibitor Tag May 1876, photo courtesy of NBM

It’s no surprise that Atlantic Canadians developed their own skate to travel around New Brunswick. James A. Whelpey developed the Long Reach Skate when he was 18 years old, and began manufacturing them in 1859 first in Greenwich, New Brunswick and later in New Hampshire.

Whelpley Skate Factory in Central Greenwich, Kings County, New Brunswick, photo courtesy of NBM 

He is credited with bringing skating into the mainstream of Canadian living. Long Reach Skates were unique in the sense that they were able to deftly handle the ripples in the ice created by wind and snow. Skates had to be long level and sharp to deal with the hard northern ice. The skates extended past the foot, up to 20 inches long, some thought this was the origin of the name of the skate, when in fact they were named after the Long Reach portion of the St. John River in Kings County.

"The skates used are called Long-Reach skates, from their great length." From Golden Days for Boys and Girls in 1893

The skates were equipped with leather straps to strap the skate to the wearer’s boot and a screw to add extra sturdiness to the heel. Depending on the style of the skate, they cost from 60 cents up to six dollars. It wasn’t all practicality though; Whelpley’s skates were also used in speed skating competition, helping National Amateur Speed-Skating Champion G.D. Philips win his title, skating 220 yards in 20.4 second. Long reach Speed-Skates were widely regarded as the best, they differed from traditional Long Reachers in material and length. Some had holes drilled into them to reduce weight. Today the sport of speed skating uses much more refined technologies, but James A. Whelpley can be credited with furthering the sport in Atlantic Canada. A pair of Long Reachers can be found on display at the John Fisher Memorial Museum in Kingston, NB.

Long Reach Speed Skates on display at the John Fisher Memorial Museum in the basement of the MacDonald Consolidated School in Kingston, NB. 

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