Arriving at The Bus Station, a small covered area with lots of ledges and manual pads the crew set to play and it soon became apparent that everything was very slippery. Not just slippy to skate on but glass like under foot. I don't know how anyone managed to stay upright all day, it was lethal!
The first shot I bagged ended up as one of my best of the day on an upturned paving slab. I'm glad Mark asked me to look at it, it worked really well. The second is a very colourful one, and of an easily recognisable and well known UK spot.
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| Mark Radman - b/s lip |
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| Justin Rawnsley - half cab b/s crook |
Harley & Jasper had headed out from the main group to find a spot they knew and after these shots were taken we followed in the cars.
Pulling into the car park, I was surprised to see what I thought was an overhanging roof which seemed to protect the entire spot - a large flat area at the entrance to offices with a selection of composite blocks spattered across the front of the building. I was greatly disappointed to find as I approached on foot what was in fact just a decorative arrangement of metal strips which did nothing in the way of protecting the area below. Worse still, ground maintenance had found it necessary to cover all visible paving with corse salt. I swear it wasn't that cold.
Jasper and I had chatted about a long shot with good composition and this place looked perfect. I set up and walked across the road and into the next car park. Both the floor and block Jasper was skating were wet. Not just a few spots, but black footprints on grip tape wet. Not a simple session!
As I hurried back to show Jasper the shot, we were ejected by two very quiet security guards but to be honest, it was too wet to skate anyway. *blows raspberry*
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| Jasper Pegg - wallie b/s lip |
2 snapped boards and this shot resulted.
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| Alex Diss - bonus |
On a different note, this week saw the start of a skatepark build in my home town, Bury St. Edmunds.
I've lived in BSE for about 13 years now and since my first visit to the rider owned Hardcore Hobbies, I've been astounded by the level of commitment and enthusiasm shown by the local skate & BMX community. Headed by shop owner Jay Mills and initially Dom Tinkler before moving to the mountains, the scene was given a leg up with a complex of wooden mini ramps at Olding Road in 2000, which was later extended with a street coarse and a BMX pump track. Although the park was maintained by the local authorities, by 2012 this very well used park was heavily rotting from the frames outwards and was in need of serious structural work if the ramps were to survive another year.
With the council's support, a plan was hatched to replace wood with concrete. Extensive meetings and fund raising led to what is to hopefully become my favourite skate park.
The old wood was removed and the site cleared just before Christmas in preparation for the new park.
I plan to start a new blog to cover this build over the coming months to update you with the latest and expect to see more shots from the park here once it opens.
#skateboarding #photography #milkskateboards #miltonkeynes #uk #hys
