Impending Futuristic Armageddon

I don't know if you noticed but it's been snowing around London lately.  Not only has this caused 15 car crashes for every square mile, a queue for the Eurostar that stretches for nearly 4 miles, brought all air travel in and out of the UK to a standstill and curtailed my skating for the last week but it seems to have a pretty dramatic effect on light pollution too.

I guess having the floor of the city carpeted in white snow reflects all this amber streetlight back up onto the cloud cover and then is reflected back down and on and on, until it looks like the opening scenes of a 1950's Sci-Fi movie.  These shots were taken at quarter past midnight last night.

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Snow Induced Skateboarding Drought

With the lack of skating going on in my life right now, I've got a few more shots rescued from the now dead Canon.  This was always the one camera that I would have in the bag, I'm now making do with an old Olympus Mju II that has a questionable record when it comes to focusing but it'll do.

Fingers crossed the snow will hold off long enough to get a skate in on wednesday.  

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Don't Let This Happen - Save Baysixty6!!

I can't remember when Baysixty6, or Playstation Skatepark as I've always known it, opened up under the Westway, but I do remember how important it's been to so many London-born and London-based skaters over the years.
 

The midi-ramp has been witness to countless Wednesday night sessions throughout the years, concentrated in the cold, wet winter months. The arrival of the mini-mini created a new era of snake/barge sessions that are some of the best fun you can have skating in London.

Whip enjoying the old tomb extension

The park has been the venue for the Crossfire Jams and many demos over the years, and having the park is just as important to getting big teams and tours to stop off in London as it is for the next Ross McGouran or Nick Jensen, who both spent many of thier formative years skating there.

Currently there is a threat hanging over Baysixty6, one that I hope to god we, as a community of skateboarders, can neutralize.  

The Westway Development Trust are trying to get planning permission to turn what is now the skatpark into a Garden Centre, yep a Garden Centre and office space.  The reason they are giving for this move is "The skatepark does not serve the needs of the local youth"  What a rediculously weak reason to give.  I'm not even going to go into why that is the most lame excuse I've ever heard. 
 

So how do you help? It's all about public oposition and the two best ways right now to register your oposition to this insane plan are,  to sign the petition here...

Save BaySixty6 Petition

and if your on Facebook show your support here..

Save BaySixty6 FB Fan Page

I'm signed up to both and I'm going to do all I can to keep this place available for skaters from not only London but the South East and even further afield who travel into London to skate one of the few covered skateparks in the South of England.

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Flying Cameras and Explosive Landings

The thing about Christmas parties and free booze is, that you are pretty much guaranteed to drink more than you would normally.  And if the free bar includes Jameson's Irish Whisky, well then you might leave early because you suddenly become acutely aware of how wrecked you are and then drop your trusty Canon SureShot instamatic camera on the platform of Vauxhall station, watching in slow-motion horror as it explodes into millions of bits at your uc nstable feet.

If I can recover the film that is currently residing in the destroyed and mangled carcass of my poor Canon, I'll post them up in a kind of emotional farewell, obituary stile post. For now, here are a few random shots from the film before last.

Going Way Down to Come Back Up For a Date With Skate Destiny

So what do you do on a Saturday if you spent Friday night driving for six hours to get down to Cornwall to visit Whip for the weekend?  Drive for an hour and a half back up to devon with Whip, to meet up with the Bristol boys, and skate the Radness that is PRIME Skatepark in Plymouth, that's what.

I'd never got down in time to skate the old Flatspot park in Plymouth but I did get the chance to skate the Domain park which was Nick Marker's second indoor park in Plymouth, that also disappeared a couple of years ago.  Domain was a brilliant quirky park that made amazingly good use of the floor-space and Prime does pretty well too.  The Ramp-Room that accounts for maybe 2 thirds of the park is my kind of room. Take a look at the photos below.

Fast, beautifully constructed ramps with loads of weird little touches and enough bigger stuff to keep it a challenge. Tom and Joe definitely made good use of the midi section before a combination of cramp and shredded toenails got the better of them, after about 5 hours of skating mind.

Fingers crossed Nick has the magic formula sussed for PRIME to stay around for a good long while.

Had a really good session and it was good to see and skate with Reggie & Son,  Joe, Pob, Mike, Sam/Jesus, Tom, Dougall and Whip.

Get yourselves down there to see what I mean.

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Habgood barges into my shot of what Whip
referred to as "The Wembly Gap" to 50-50

I've no ideas what Pob is smirking about
but Reg is not amused.

Whip approves of the ramp-room

Iced Feet and M1 style Skateboard Fun

Years ago I made a decision to make sure I didn't stop skating over the Great British Winter. Unbelievably there were those who did stop in winter. Admittedly back then the UK only had two indoor parks and they where in the NORTH while I had moved South.

When my decision was made Radlands was a two hour drive and worth every minute of the effort, even 5 up in a FIAT Panda. Then of course Playstation/Baysixty6 opened and all of a sudden all-year-skating in a semi-covered park was available, even if you did have to ring Kev to see if the driving rain was making the the place dangerous to skate.

This year the UK is suffering the earliest onset of winter conditions since records began with snow and Ice landing when none of us poor Island dwellers are mentally prepared for it and Radlands is just a fading memory.

But if you have the drive and a car full of shredders to share the petrol, you too could get your arse up to Corby and skate Adrenaline Alley (what a name). That is exactly what Alan (Danger), Adam (Johners), Jamie (Harry), Ivan (Daih) and I did on Saturday.

A ten o'clock start should have had us in the park by mid-day but the odd road closure and U-turn got us there in about 3 hours. Remember to take a helmet, that's one of the few negatives about this place other than the amount of BMXers attempting tail-whips onto every platform in sight, officially the most ridiculous use of a bowl I've ever seen.

Johners and Danger were suffering with arctic trench foot and moaning at each other for the first hour or so, Daih was killing it from the start, Jamie was smithing it all over the shop while telling me to stop taking photos of him while skating and I was sliding-out all over the bowl, thanks to my poor wheel choice of Bones Skate-Park-Formulas on a refrigerated wooden surface. 4 slams in 10 minutes takes it's toll. Thank christ I had an old board in the boot of the car with some ten year old urethane that would do just fine.

the other part of the very large park that we sampled was the "Skateboard only" Berricks style training facility out the back. A smattering of street stuff, ledges, grass gap and that granite block style stuff and a tight quarter the length of the back wall with pool coping and a a hole with Rip- The-Ripper peaking out.

4 hours skating for about 7 quid when it was -2º outside isn't too bad. All the staff are really nice people but beware, food choices are limited and what there is will harden your arteries just by looking at it.

Here are a few photo's from the days exertions.

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Daih going Indy over the hip.

Johners grabbing his nose

Danger caught early on a fast BS-Smith up the escalator

Johners floating Frontside

Out with the new, in with the old.

Entrance to the Berricks style bit

Johners grinding over the Ripper

Daih throwing it High.

Harry educating the Yoof

Lifeblood Promo! Watch This!

New companies pop up all the time but they are not always backed by names as big as Bryce Kanights. One of THE skate photographers that have shaped the way the world of skateboarding has looked over the last 20+ years.

LIFEBLOOD is his new soft-goods and clothing company that has some of the most talented riders around like Kevin Kowalski, Johnny Turgesen, Frank Faria, Mason Huggins, Oudalay Philavanh and Cody Lockwood.

This company already has my attention and I'm sure after you've watched this little promo you'll understand why.

Have a good week end you Lot.

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