I think England built a lot of public parks in the 70’s and instead of bulldozing the outdoor ones after the bust, they just left them to rot in the elements. House of Neil, can I get a confirmation? The Hackney Bumps is a 70’s era skatespot in London that is still going. There’s an event called the Hackney Olympics that takes place with some regularity. It seems like it might be a localized and smaller version of Skatopia. This year’s Olympics are on August 9th. My favorite quote from the web site:
Some people still claim that they can’t find HACKNEY BUMPS. I find this remarkable. Some people also claim that you will get killed when you go to HACKNEY BUMPS. That is not really true, though the kids that burnt the vespa and the (motor)bikes on the photos above DID have REAL guns, though they could not care less about the skateboarders…
Video and flyer after the jump. – Thanks to Tony Gunnarsson for the tip.
Hackney Olympics 2008
…”Hackney Bumps” a 1970s skatepark in London, England, that for mysterious reasons is shunned by skateboarders (despite being a kick ass spot with lots of lines, as well as the only park in London where drinki9ng is allowed and there is no supervisionary guards etc).
The event is on Saturday the 9th of August 2008 and involves mostly dirty skateboarding, bar-b-que, massive amounts of booze and some races and competitions etc.
Bumps footage:
10 comments
houseofneil
yup, you are correct. Lots of 70s era parks were just left to rot. Some were kept open as going concerns, like Romford, and some were dozed, but others were simply left as they were. Probably because a lot of them were put up by local councils on public land, not built by private investors. We had a bad 70s era park in Liverpool through the late 80s/early 90s. I don’t know what’s there now. Edge Lane anybody?
sideshow
The bumps are rough as fuck in all senses of the world…but they are the roughest of all the vinatge ‘crete.
As for the only park in London with drinking allowed and no security? All the parks here are like that…which is nice.
Tony
It is rough sure, but not that rough that it’s not worthwhile going. If you’re a London skateboarder then you’ll be used to roughness already but obviously you can’t comapre to Stockwell or any of the newer cement parks. The drinking part and no security – possibly a litttle hyperbole here and there is not always a bad thing…but clearly Hackney Bumps do not have the dictatorship of Bay66…Thanks!
PIGCITY
Have to mention, Stockwell. Check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUq1jKHjLjs
PIGCITY
Sideshow
Pigcity – we are nearly finished rebuilding Stockwell…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorm/sets/72157605923443210/
As for Pigcity itself, one day we’ll get to build that project:
http://a436.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/31/l_0f632a0637d169f8920ca697164ff933.jpg
chimp
I’m flying to London for the Olympics and to skate the new Stockwell concrete, so please have it finished 😉
and I hope you get to build the new Pig City…
PIGCITY
Hurry up with it, we’re crying out for a decent concreet park down here in Brighton. I can’t take any more flatbank-pyramid-quarter parks, filled up with little goth & emo shits and bad graf.
conahan
Hey what skatepark is that in the background of Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten?
houseofneil
I haven’t seen it, but if it’s underneath the Westway I’m guessing that it’s Meanwhile II.
solboy
It’s Meanwhile Gardens, the original one built in 1976, in the Ladbroke Grove area, homeland of The Clash.