Edit from UK History

Rollerblading Is Easy.

We all know that, but in this case it is specific to a rather major UK point in history. At the height of its popularity in the UK, a number of “real” street comps were organised. This was one of these. Arranged by a group of skaters with no real interest in marketing, profits, fame, or whatever else seems to be needed to get people interested in a competition these days, this was amongst a few big gatherings we’ve had outside of skateparks in the UK. Arranged and publicised only through word of mouth and the ubiquitous UKSkate forums, skaters turned up from all over the country.

Well, as luck would have it over a decade after the event I found an old edit sat in an archive I have of old skate edits. More may be posted as I look through them. Enjoy:

And for my own perspective on the day, check out the gallery of photos I took at the time:
Continue reading Edit from UK History

King Of The Park – Blade Jam

MagsBlade LogoDue to injuries I didn’t take my skates to this event put on by Blade Life. It was a fairly chilled affair up at Mags on Ramps in Halifax with mostly locals and a few youngsters trying out the park on skates. The park is pretty basic but it’s clean, dry and the staff are great. Worth a visit next time any events are on there I’d say.

Due to lack of skating options I only stayed for a short time to shoot some photos and get out before the storms made the motorways impassable…

Slamm Jamm 16 photos

What needs to be said? In its 16th year and still going strong. It took a while but the photos from Slamm Jamm 16 are now here for you to view…

There are a few edits too:
Continue reading Slamm Jamm 16 photos

One City One Shot Episode #8

It was good to see John Goodman back out on skates. In celebration we decided to have a fun session around his local area. After a quick warmup at the ghetto council park we checked out this evil beast. It’s not much to look at but it’s rough and the autumn leaves weren’t helping a lot.

To be honest we only stayed a short time as Kyle and John landed a few tricks and we then moved off for more fun little spots. I grabbed a few shots here because there was no way I was going to even look at that rail with wheels on my feet. This was my favourite of the day.

 MG 5697

Rush Blade Jam 2014

It was a hot day. A long hot day. Great park though and many skills were exhibited. When it came down to it though, top spot went to a rather ill Alex Burston. I managed to get a few shots down even though my batteries had decided it was a good day to take a holiday. Cheers to the organisers and sponsors of the event, to Rush Skatepark for having us over, and of course to everyone who turned up. Hope those that made it to the lake in the evening managed to cool down adequately.

Oh, and there’s an edit out as well…

MCR Street Jam 2014

MCR_Street_Jam_LogoIn planning the second of what could become the UK’s primary street skate event, local boy and international rollerblading legend Alex Burston could never have guessed it would be right in the middle of the hottest weather of the year. Which would have been perfect, were it not for the biggest summer thunderstorms the area has seen for a generation landing right at the same time.

Was it a washout though? Did the street skaters pack up and go home? Of course not. Everyone still came and converged on Castlefields Arena as you would expect and when there was a break in the rain long enough to clear some of the puddles, mayhem commenced. The MCR Street Jam was on for another year.

Filmed by Scott Hallows and Tim Darker for The Booted

I however set off late and having nearly been washed off the M6 on my journey North decided to play it safe and went straight to the “after session” organised at Bones Skatepark. Here I got my camera out and took a few shots of the very hot warm-down session that occurred.

Rampworx Inline Only June 2014

Rampworx-LogoJust some photos I shot at the recent Inline Only session at Rampworx. They run regularly so you should get down to the next one if you can make the journey.

This time I was feeling particularly lazy so not only did I not skate (I skate there most weeks anyway) but I also only took photos of the main driveway section. I hope you enjoy the few shots I got anyway:

Noiya Jam 2014 Photos

Noiya LogoSo, I finally got around to sorting through the photos from the Noiya Jam at The House Skatepark a few weeks back. I’m afraid I missed the Open comp almost entirely and arrived just in time for the Experts to start. As a result I don’t have too many shots. I hope you enjoy what I did manage to shoot though.


Continue reading Noiya Jam 2014 Photos

Looking back a decade – Rampworx

Do you remember what you were doing ten years ago? Fortunately I’ve been carrying a camera most places since long before the #selfie became a thing so I can roll back the years quite easily. In this case, on the 8th of May 2004 I was skating Rampworx with a few friends and a camera. If you never saw the park back then, or if you did and feel like getting nostalgic check out the main room image below. The first panoramic stitch I ever did…

Rampworx 2004 Panorama

Also, keep an eye out as I’m uploading all of my old photos to the gallery so these should start appearing over the next few weeks. For now, see what other shots I got on that day: