Newcastle England Skate Scene - United Kingdom - By Matthew Sefton- Posted 9-12-06
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We've always had ties to the U.K. at Skate and Annoy, seeing as how Neil (the guy who originally said "let's make a skate zine.") was a transplant from Liverpool. In early print issues we had a U.K. scene report. Now we are stoked to post this comprehensive UK scene report on the Newcastle England area by reader Matthew Sefton, who is well on his way to being our official U.K. correspondent. Wait a second, correspondents usually get paid right? Better make him an intern instead. We hope you enjoy this. Read And Destroy! Don't forget to show your appreciation for his exhaustive reporting in the comments section. Someone tell me what "Toodle Pip" means. - K.ed.
So you're probably asking "Where the fuck is Newcastle upon Tyne?" I could trot out the usual tourist hype, but all you need to know are these salient facts: You've heard of Newcastle Brown Ale, right? This is where it comes from and the origin of Sacrifice Skates' beer label graphic. You've heard of AC/DC right? Singer Brian Johnson is from here, along with other notable 'celebs' as Mark Knopfler, Sting, Chas Chandler (The Animals bass player and Jimi Hendrix's manager), and Stan Laurel who moved here from Cumbria when he was 7. People refer to our fine city as "The Toon" and if you're born here, you're a "Geordie" (as long as you were born within a stones' throw of the River Tyne!). Newcastle is cold, hard and (some might say) bleak. Others would say its one of the most 'happening' cities in the UK that is currently having a huge pot of money poured into it, the people are funny and friendly and it has shitloads better skate terrain than our capital city, London. Which is, after all, the main thing! Pity it pisses down with rain a lot of the time...
Newcastle has a thriving skate scene that has carried on for years under pretty harsh conditions. This isn't Southern California with endless sunny days and video-shoot scenery, or Oregon with it's multitudes of Dreamland and Grindline concrete monoliths. In fact, look at the pictures and you might think "whoa, that's ghetto!" Maybe it is. But the skaters are dedicated and we make the best of what we've got while having shitloads of fun. That's what it's all about, right?
No scene report about Newcastle and its surrounding areas (we're talking 50 mile radius maximum here) would be complete without mentioning the spot that I learnt to skate at the age of 10 and 30 years later is still being ripped, most recently on the cover of the UK magazine Sidewalk by Flip's Geoff Rowley, incidentally sporting 2 black eyes and a bloodied shirt courtesy of a run in with the local nightlife. Five Bridges (or Gateshead Banks as we used to call it) is a paved area beneath a motorway (read "freeway) flyover. This ain't no Burnside! It's a large flatbank that we thought was heaven in the 70's and if you could bert slide it you were king for a day. Ironically, Five Bridges is now an officially designated 'skate spot', with the addition of some manual pads, grind rails and jump boxes. There's even talk of a mini-ramp going in soon (don't get too excited, will you? )
Cross the River Tyne from Five Bridges and you'll find the Exhibition Park skatepark, located in the City Centre on the edge of a large park. This is a concrete beauty built by local company Hellens and a mighty fine job they did too! Smooth and varied, the park is divided into 2 distinct halves - a 'street' area with stairs, flat banks and rails bordered by low transitions and a huge bowl, about 5ft in the shallow to 8ft with vert in the deep and hips a'plenty! A word of caution though - pick the times of your visits with care as the park can be a hangout for the city's undesirables, young and old. On my last visit I saw a blader threatened with a broken bottle by said undesirables because he failed to perform a trick on demand. Or maybe he just hated fruitbooters? Wouldn't be the first... The park is a favourite of Scottish ripper and Creature rider Stu Graham and the only thing the place is lacking, like virtually all UK parks, is real pool coping.
From the City centre, head about 8 miles to the coast and the South Shields Foreshore skatepark, another Hellens creation. The Foreshore is an odd beast, right on the beach so bring a sweeping brush unless you want a sand-propelled slam. The park is a mix of a street area with transitions of multiple heights on either side and a large pyramid, stairs and rails between, running down into a mellow-banked area with a halfpipe on one side and a huge 2-sided transitioned 'lump'! Too wide to be classed as a spine, the more adventurous skater can make the gap from one side to the other. It takes a while to find decent lines at the Foreshore and it's spoilt a little by some rough concrete surfacing, but there's fun to be had here and if you get bored you can go for a swim in the sub-zero North Sea or throw away your cash at the adjacent fun fair! Close your eyes and you could be in Santa Monica.
Next stop Temple Park. Skating distance inland from the Foreshore is Temple Park skatepark, in the grounds of the leisure centre. Again, not a massive park, but home to our regular Summer friday afternoon sessions. This place is just fun. It's not big, scary or particularly gnarly - just a cool place to roll around and try new stuff before taking it to bigger transitions. Again, 2 halves - street area with transitioned and flat banks, including a nice gap to air across, large funbox, grind rails, manny pad, you get the picture. And the piece de resistance! A small but perfectly formed bowl, around 4 and a half feet deep, straight one side, hipped the other and a nice near-vert extension at one end. The surface throughout the park is smooth and kink-free (barring a small section of the bowl extension) and this place is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. I did my first frontside air for 25 years here!
Ever skated a park overshadowed by a huge Grecian temple on a hill? You've never skated Herrington Park then! Inland a 10 minute car hop from Temple Park, Herrington skatepark is situated in the middle of a really beautiful country park, manmade on old coal mining land and overlooked by Penshaw Monument, built in 1844 by John George Lambton and modelled on the Temple of Theseus in Athens (shit, you're getting a history lesson for free here too - rad!). If only the skatepark had had the same care and attention bestowed on it! Maybe that's a bit harsh, but the designers should have "too much flat bottom" tattooed on their foreheads. Herrington features a small circular bowl and a large circular bowl, connected by a 70's style halfpipe, aproned by a flat concrete area of 2 heights with a stair set, rail and flat bank. Turn up with your 50mm, 101a wheels and you'll struggle as the flat kills your speed. Jump on your Hosoi longboard with 78a No Skoolz, as I did the other day, and you're in carve-heaven! And if you're into longboarding or slalom, the country park is chock full of smooth tarmac paths and roadways with no through traffic!
From Herrington, head up the A19 and in 50 minutes you'll hit Prissick Plaza - www.prissickplaza.co.uk. And you'll hit it HARD! Now one of Europe's top skatespots and host to recent demos by the likes of Flip and Etnies, the plaza features replicas of skate spots from all over the world including the Love Park stairs, MACBA gap, and Pier 7. And it's not all for the street flippers - there's the bowl. A bowel-tingling monster modelled after the Encinitas bowl in the U.S., a left hand kidney with 6ft shallow end and 13ft deep end, in which I was honoured to witness Lance Mountain and Rune Glifberg tear the shit out of a few weeks ago. If you're in the area, Prissick is a must-visit. It's free, lit and kept relatively trouble free by the skate-marshals, who'll even lend you a brush to sweep out the bowl! Expect to see Prissick featured in tons of pro-videos in the near future.
"But what if it rains?" I hear you ask? Fair question - I've been to Prissick several times and every time but one (the Flip demo) it has rained. In Summer. A lot. Never fear. Head a few miles to the coast and you hit Redcar and the R-Kade indoor plywood paradise - www.r-kadeskatepark.com. Redcar is a ramp and street skater's dream, with every kind of obscacle imagineable whether you're into street or transition. The highlights are a wide, 5ft high mini with the smoothest surface you'll ever ride, a spined ramp complex and a huge low transition mini ramp area with tombstones, vert wall and spine. Many a session I've never left this area and when I have, its been with a huge shiteating grin on my face. Downside? This is the only pay-park I've mentioned, but trust me - it's worth it.
We're straying to the edge of our journey up here so better head back down to Newcastle, stopping off at our arch rivals Sunderland and the Silksworth SK8city skatepark - www.sk8city.co.uk. Silksworth is subject of a lot of debate among local skaters - some love it, some hate it. I love it! Silksworth features a street section with stairs, rails, grindboxes, flatbanks and a vert wall, 3 open-ended bowls from shallow 4ft to reasonably gnarly 8ft, plus a small 4ft deep enclosed capsule bowl, spined into the other bowls. Surface finish and construction is well done and one you find the lines in this place you're laughing. Again, situated in a sports complex, you can even go for a ski or snowboard on the adjacent dry ski-slope. And believe me - when you've felt how cold Sunderland is with its razorblade wind, you'll feel right at home on the ski slope.
As you're in the area, Pennywell is next stop. Another outdoor concrete park, this one is nothing to get too excited about but still worth a skate. Consisting mainly of transitioned and flat banks with a bit of grindable street furniture, standout is the mini ramp complex of 4ft and 5ft heights, complete with corner transitioned hip. The surface at Pennywell is smooth as silk and you get out of the park what you put in. A word of caution though - word on the street (I heard it from Johnny the shoeshine boy for 10 bucks) is that the park has been taken over by 2 local gangs who regard it as their 'turf' and don't take kindly to 4 wheeled visitors.
Back to Gateshead now (the River Tyne separates Newcastle to the North from Gateshead to the South, spanned by the famous five bridges). Leam Lane is another outdoor concrete park built by the local council and like Pennywell, although it's not going to feature in the next Zero video (well, you never know!), it's a fun little park that's well made, smooth (notice how I keep mentioning the surface of these places? Our 'crete ain't always up to Dreamland standard!) and for its size, suprisingly rideable. Split into a street section with pyramid, flat banks, manny pads and rails bordered by transitions, the park also features a nice little 4ft capsule bowl, spined (wide but do-able!) into the main park. Locals are friendly for the most part but watch out for selectively-blind BMXicans dropping into the bowl during your run.
As we're in the area, it would be rude not to visit a skatespot of almost mythical proportions - The Wallows. Er, no. Not that one, unfortunately. Christened by local shredder (and veteran of multiple collarbone breaks) Gappa, Wallows is a series of 3 concrete halfpipes ranging from 4ft to 5ft to 6ft joined by waterfalls and is great for holding 'longest 50-50' (sorry Dave D - should that be 'fiddy-fiddy'?!) contests. There's a few other bits and bobs like manny pads, grind boxes and a deadly looking rail on a steep flat bank, but the halfpipe is what it's all about. Perfect for developing tricks to higher and higher transitions. Bonus is that Wallows is directly behind the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (where my son and daughter were born, incidentally), so if you happen to be pacing around a delivery suite waiting for your better half to drop one, you can pop out for a quick skate - result! If only they had bowled out the deep end...
If you've made it this far in a day (which is perfectly possible as all these places are so close together) you're probably about ready to kick back at my gaff? Not quite though. We haven't visited any of the UK's infamous council built, tarmac surfaced metal framed ramp parks. Ooooh yes - we've got a couple just minutes from my front door and you know what? They're cool! The Teams skatepark (or Eslington Park Skate Facility, to give it it's grander official title) is one such park but the ramps (built by Lightmain) are actually bloody good with great transitions and a weird composite plastic surface that is fast, smooth, grippy and dries really quickly. At least they are bloody good NOW - when the park was built the builders used dome-headed rivets, rendering the entire place unskateable until the error of their ways was pointed out to them and the rivets were replaced! Usual fare is here with the added attraction of a fantastic mini ramp of 5ft and 6ft high sections. A roll around at the Teams then it's off a skateable distance to Dunston park and its super fun 4ft mini. A bit rough around the edges but it's kept me going through the Summer when I needed a quick fix!
So there you go. The tour's over - hope you enjoyed it! If you're coming to Newcastle, make sure you support skater-owned skateshops by visiting Scotty at Native Skatestore - www.nativeskatestore.co.uk - as the guy does a hell of a lot for the local scene. We're starting to get bedded in for the forthcoming Winter here so a lot of the spots above will be under snow and ice for a while. Good job I'm in the middle of building a mini-ramp in a basement up the road from my place, isn't it? Toodle pip!
Matt Sefton, August 2006.
Newcastle England Skate Scene - United Kingdom - By Matthew Sefton- Posted 9-12-06
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photos © Matthew Sefton