The Evening Standard – 26th November, 2002

Celebrities will be heading to Somerset House tonight for the third annual opening of the Christmas ice rink.

They include Richard E Grant, Sophie Dahl, Janet Street-Porter, Michael Heseltine, Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman, film director Stephen Frears and artists Antony Gormley and Sam Taylor-Wood.

The question is: will any of them don skates? No one knows for sure, of course, but Shulman is known to go skating with her children, while Taylor-Wood and Street-Porter are also fond of going for a spin.

Heseltine, however, is expected to steer well clear of the ice. But that is not to say Tories are not naturally skating folk: last year Oliver Letwin, the Shadow Home Secretary, took his family for an outing at Somerset House.

This year the rink will have a distinctly Swiss feel. It is being sponsored by Switzerland and there is a 40ft Christmas tree from Basle.

Skating is becoming very popular in London. The Somerset House rink – which is even bigger than before, at 900 square metres – has already attracted 25,000 advance ticket sales. It is open from 10am-10pm until 20 January. Bookings through Ticketmaster (020 7413 3399). Call 020 7845 4670 or visit www.somersethouse.org.uk for information.