Category: Features

07.05.08
Words and pics by Phil Procter

About a decade ago a random little park appeared in Ravensthorpe and was rather misleadingly called called Aggroverts. I don’t recall any vert in there other than a 1foot wide tranny up a pillar on the miniramp! Almost 10 years later the park has changed hands and had a complete reworking by the hands of Snoz and his team.

The outcome is nothing like any other park in England, if anywhere?! Its more like a scene out of Apocalypse Now! The park might not be the biggest, nothing like the 75 foot vert ramps we see at Corby – but this place doesn’t want to be a skate leisure complex, it’s happy with its cement copin’, blood stained transitions and general rough and rugged northern vibe.

As for the ramps, not an inch of the place is wasted – there is literally not a single piece of the building that someone hasn’t popped a bank or tranny up against, not ever put off by low ceilings in some rooms, the solution is just to pad the rafters and bang in any height ramp, some as low as 18″ high. The baby spoon bowl is a joy, its actually scarily addictive too for something that can’t be 2foot deep!

The mains centre of the park is so gnarly, long lines of skulls daubed on the tranny while the blood drips down from the pool copin’ on the main bowled out section, leading to a driveway of sorts and several wall rides and a spine – it flows pretty well, I imagine the crashup factor could be pretty hardcore, but that will force you to session on, or find some abstract jersey barrier style object to hitup in the back. It’s all made of wood, tho some of the curvey joinery gives the impression of shapes only available to cement.

Never has a skatepark been so aptly named, get involved……….get RIPPED!

Address:

The Ripped
Unit 54,
Calder Wharf Mills
Huddersfield Road,
Ravensthorpe
Dewsbury
WF13 3JW
United Kingdom

Phone: 07886840468

Monday – Closed
Tuesday – 3:30pm till 9pm
Wednesday – 3:30pm till 5pm then skate wednesday starts 5pm till 10pm only £5
Thursday – 3:30pm till 9pm
Friday – 3:30pm till 9pm
Saturday – 10:30am till 10pm
Sunday – 10:30am till 7pm

Web: www.myspace.com/therippedskatepark

Saturday 19th April 2008

Words and portraits by Zac
Action shots by Andrew Vost
Darryl video clip by Phraeza

Concrete skateparks have always played host breeding creative individuals and acting as a public space where relationships can be founded. If you are a skater reading this, you will already know all about the social benefits of having a local meeting point for your scene. This special space breeds creativity that eventually leads to ideas that are more than just a shared session.

This park in particular has played a huge part in creating UK skateboard industry history and also breeding generations of great skateboarders since it’s first session. Built in 1978, Solid Surf Skatepark was one of a handful of large concrete skateparks constructed to host the craze of skateboarding. Harrow’s local scene quickly formed and the collection of heads that rocked the park quickly began to be known as the H-Boyz becoming the first generation of skaters to stamp their authority on this spot and get recognition elsewhere. As the fad wore out, the hardcore kept it alive and as the 80’s crept in, BMX riders started popping up, eventually sharing sessions at the park and once again providing another outlet for people to congregate and share their ideas.

Moving into 2008, like most of the UK’s 70’s skateparks, this one is in need of renovating to bring it up to date with the worldwide scene. Ongoing talks about raising the finance from the council have now reached a point where the message of its future has become a rumour of two halves; the first talking of renovation, the second fueling fears of demolition and underfunding. The proposed plans would currently knock down the park and leisure centre behind it and sell the land for flats worth up to £40m with only £300k made available to redevelop the park. This amount of money is nowhere near the amount that the park needs to replace the current skate park and only enough to build something small for the local scene. There’s no doubt that skaters feel short changed if this is allowed to go ahead, hence the importance of today’s event.

The day was initially put together by young, local skater Alex Reeves and friend Namir, who decided not to sit back and let the councils decide on whether the skatepark should be saved, but instead, got in touch with Death Skateboards, Crossfire and various SOS to help publicize the importance of the need to keep the park up and running due to public interest. Only time will tell if the effort will be worthwhile but there’s no denying that the effort has been made.

I had been looking forward to this day for a while. As soon as I was awake, my eyes peered through the condensation of my window and confirmed that those clouds did not move overnight. The threat of rain as forecast was still very much on the cards but the pavement was dry and that was good enough for me. This threat didn’t seem to stop anyone from making the journey to Harrow today though as the park was rammed with skaters from all over the South East and even as far as Sheffield, a great turnout to raise the much needed publicity.

An early pool jam seemed to be the only sesh that would go down on the day but the slippery surface created by the cold, damp weather didn’t stop Scott ‘Horsey’ Walker and other rippers from shredding the blue pit. This pool was never build correctly back in 1978, the transitions were never fully correct. Ask Rodga Harvey about the day he mentioned this to Jim Rennie who was brought over from Florida to build the park and he will tell you that they almost beat him up over it! To this very day the pool is kinked but it has always been sessioned regardless of human error. To think that one day this hole could be replaced with a perfect version is enough to make sure you get behind the fight for renovation, especially when you realise that kids like Darryl Dominguez would annihilate it for years to come and it would encourage other kids in the area to have something to do other than wreck the local town.

The BaySixty6 local got to work on the infamous ‘Bollocks’ with a flip frontside air in front of a packed, frozen crowd. For those of you who are wondering what the ‘Bollocks’ actually are, they are the legendary hips at the bottom of the park that have been sessioned for years. His kick flip frontside air over the nads secured some cash and warmed the hands of most. Dan Cates decided that 3 boards stuck together was far more exciting to ride than one today and his unique style combined of tech skills and total fun provided light entertainment.

The concrete half pipe got a roasting on the day thanks to a sick front blunt from Carl Wilson. The Death Skateboards rider laid down a bunch of tail slides and took his prize well. The last time this trick at this spot was covered internationally (TWS cover 1992) it was Mike Frazier who had the balls to huck one into the pit of doom. This half pipe is a gnarly ride but it didn’t stop Ben Raemers from chucking in wild nosepicks and fast backside disaster reverts despite skating with an injured knee. The session continued even as rain started to spit from above but it didn’t manage to stop people from skating . Funniest moment of the day was when local nutcase ‘Psycho’ Simon ripped off his shirt and pushed himself onto the lip helped by 200 people screaming to help him on from Monk’s loudspeaker pleas!

Eventually the damp, cold weather kicked in and stopped play, but everyone was up for it and the atmosphere rocked. Free shit was tossed out, punk bands played raw hardcore and as the booze kicked in, the traditional, beer can and shoe fight took centre stage!

Big thanks to Alex Reeves, Namir, Zorlac at Death/Power, Steve Douglas at Dwindle, Matt Anderson at Revival Distribution, H-Boyz, Adam & Jane Wood at I-Five Distribution, Relentless, Independent trucks, Heroin skateboards, Consolidated Skateboards, Dephect, Mark Munson and the Duffs team, Phraeza, Monk, Niall Kenny, Chris Johnson, Sam Ashley, Day Release the other bands and everyone who made it down on the day to support it.

Posted 07.04.08
Event: 23.03.08

This is the first time a proper skate comp has been run in a proper skate park in Edinburgh. How stoked are we! Skateboard Scotland got involved with running this event obviously. The sponsors of the event were Trangession Extreme, Focus, Schuh, Byte and Skateboard Scotland.

It was an early start. The Skatepark had to stage a Blader, Skater and BMXer Jam all on the same day so the skaters got hit with the first slot of 10-2. Most people managed to get up in time.

The under 16s comp kicked off at about 10.30. The standards were high. The skatepark has only been around for a few months but you could tell that there are some kids who are obviously never out of the place. There were about 25 kids who entered the under 16s. There were lots of nice tricks going down. Kieran Clegg was cruising around the whole park nicely and sessioning the mini ramp very well earning himself third place. Alistair Sampson was ripping it up with a backside boardslide down the handrail and a transfer from the big half pipe into the main part of the park during his first run. What a sick little kid, he got second place for his efforts.

There was no disputing who was in first place. Kieran Menzies (I was not judging any of the comps I might add) was killing it in both runs. Burning round the park at high speed he cleared the whole big jump box with a massive ollie as well as adding a kickflip and pop-shuv-it tail grab on the fun box too. You can tell that he is in the park far to often (lucky he has got a paper round or my wallet would be feeling it a whole lot more). In his final run he dropped in from the massive flat bank as you walk in from the park and preceeded to transfer all round the park at mach 10 with his amazing style. Well done my son!!

The over 16’s went off, the level of skating was healthy and it was very hard for the panel of Sam Paterson, Neil Currie and Seany B to decide who was going to walk away with the cash. They managed to whittle the top 6 down to Ben Leyden, Brandon Ide, Sean Allison, Benson, Kerr Mclaughon and Rory (not going near the second name). Here are some highlights from what went down. Brandon was ripping up the park with his lovely Kelvingrove style. He made some lovely big spin flips on the banks. He also made a lovely alley oop flip from the quarter to the big flat bank. Not excluding the kickflip backside 50-50 down the fun box block. Ben Leyden was also killing it with sal flips, Frontside pop-shuv indys, and a big kickflip to fakie on the quarter in front of the judges. Sean Allison (Wu tang as Sidewalk prefer to know him) was like a man possessed as usual flying round the park with rocks on the wrong part of ramps as well as trying a chink-chink down the hand rail and taking some major slams in the process.

Rory was ripping it up. He was super consistent with lovely tweaked airs over the big jump ramp followed by a lovely tail block at the top of the biggest flat bank as you come in. His efforts earned him third place and 50 quid to go home with. Kerr was ripping it up all day and I have lost track of all the tricks that he made at the top of the big flat bank. Blunt pull back to fakie, Blunt one-foot pull back to fakie and backside disaster to name a few. That obstacle is a silly height and folk making that many tricks up there diserve 100 quid for their efforts. Well down Kerr.

Not all of you will be aware but Benson is hoping to make the transfer Stateside very shortly and was in need on some serious cash to help him getting across and started up over there. He thought that he would try and win the 200 quid first prize. To be honest with you the way that he was talking to me earlier in the week he seemed to think that he had won it already. Cocky wee bugger. Well obviously confidence in your own abilities can pay off as he did manage to win the 200 quid, even if he did manage to take a phone call during his first run. Here are some of the tricks that helped on his way to the cash: 360 indy and backside flip method over the big fun box, Backside disaster revert and Nose blunt revert on the quarter pipe in front of the judges.

Big props go out to all involved with sorting out this event. It was a great day even though it hard to start a bit early. Lovely my wife cooked me breakfast before I left. Peace to you all and I will see you at the Thistles.

Ali Menzies

Visit Edinburgh’s new indoor skatepark at www.transgressionpark.co.uk

Words and pics by Phil Procter

Subcultures have always had their own brand of art and when a graffiti collective called Wildbunch in the 80s spawned the man known as “3D” they probably never came close to envisaging the global acceptance of his work musically with Massive Attack or as an artist.

Tie this in with the abstract photography from skater, and one time SlamCity employee, Will Bankhead and we have a body of work well worthy of checking out. These two artists plus a couple of other notables such as Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones make up the visual side of the Mo Wax creation known as Unkle.

Warpaint is art inspired and used on the latest Unkle album, War Stories. It’s quite a departure from the first Unkle offering, Psyence Fiction, of some 16 years ago, both musically and art wise its much more organic and blunt in comparison to the lazer beam sharp Pointmen art that Futura2000 created to match up with DJ Shadow and James Lavelles ground breaking soundscapes.

The art itself definitely has an eerie feel, the boldly blacked out gallery adds to Robert Del Najas (aka 3D) blurring of the relationship between silhouette and shadow. The imagery is tweaked to haunting proportions, creating lasting impressions of skeletal figures staring out desperately lost in warzones and terror carnage.

While the photography that accompanies the canvas is much sharper, it still keeps the surreal element firmly in the forefront. The mixing of the formats adds some clarity, and the use of negatives keeps the desperate essence of all the work on show.

The exhibition is running until the 25th April, and the Lazarides Printshop next door will be having the prints on display until they are all sold.

Lazarides Gallery 125 Charing Cross RD
Soho, London WC2H 0EW Tues-Sat 11am-7pm

17.03.08
Words and pics by Zac
Skate shots by Claire Wilson

Growing up in the UK in the early 80’s on a skateboard was an exciting time. The explosion brought a sense of belonging and eventually became a catalyst for personal freedom never before experienced for most kids. This freedom, fuelled by the discovery of skate shops and magazines like R.A.D and Thrasher made people aware that kids in other towns and cities had the same train of thought, which led to a new discovery on a different level.

During school hours, myself and friends used to plan weekend trips so we could venture into new worlds, find new spots, meet new skaters and it did not take long until we were old enough to get on trains and really explore what was out there for ourselves.

We came to the conclusion that if an area was dry, we could turn it into a good day out with one piece of plywood and some cans of Cherry Pepsi. Indoor skateparks in the South East were non existent but we were lucky to meet a friend who had a mini ramp but it got soaked when it rained. To sustain our needs we helped build mini ramps under disused railway bridges, we skated car parks, derelict buildings and garages, until we discovered Wednesday night sessions at Southbank, which led to scary visits to the treacherous Meanwhile 2, the Latimer Rd vert ramp and any other area that was covered from the rain.

Kids were street skating all hours and the perception from parents and governing bodies were that skaters were just punks and outcasts from society. But this changed somewhat when indoor skateparks were unleashed.

Parents made the difference as they realised that their kids were not the scumbags the media published and that skateboarding was actually an alternative and a lifestyle, some were even jealous. A youth club 30 mins drive from us in Chessington opened and on week nights we used to skate until the lights went out.

This started to happen in various parts of the country and then Northampton’s Radlands opened proving that much more was possible. It was a saviour for the entire country and hundreds of kids from all over the UK would meet there for sessions. Some of those kids went on to change skateboarding forever, the catalyst was unstoppable and skateboarding was unleashed indoors inspiring youth centres and privately owned skateparks such as Playstation, Guildford, London Bridge and many more to provide a meeting place undercover.

20 years ago, the town of St.Albans in Hertfordshire became another name on the skate map you could not ignore. It was one of the first youth centres to address the demand of local skateboarders thanks to the input from Creme Skateboards rider Rodney Clarke who helped convince the people with the budgets to build a mini ramp outside of the main building.

This mini ramp was one of the best ever at the time and it’s safe to say that countless pairs of trucks left their mark on the coping from people who had traveled a long way just for the privilege. Winter sessions on this ramp were becoming a sore subject though, so jump ramps and quarters were built inside which eventually led to a full scale takeover of the building. Eventually the youth centre became a skatepark.

This weekend, we caught up with Rodney at Pioneer’s latest comp held on Saturday 15th March and got caught up in the great atmosphere once again. Explain what’s going in here for people today Rod…

“Well, today is all about trying to raise funds for the park as we we want change the layout and keep it fresh. As you know, the British indoor skatepark scene is under threat and struggles every year to keep itself alive and this fundraiser is a great way of pulling people together to raise awareness of what we are doing down here. The park has been open now for about 20 years now. you could say it’s the longest running indoor skatepark in the South East and opened about 5 years before Radlands, so the heritage needs to be looked after too.”

Looking back a few years, how did this operation start?

I have lived in St.Albans all my life and myself and friends would build mini ramps and jump ramps around town and in woods, but we would always get kicked out and were told we couldn’t do what we were doing. So we approached the youth club to see if they would want skateboarding there and they let us share the hall with different user groups, like fireman playing 5 a side football and old people playing badminton so we had to move ramps about a lot but we got used to it. Then it closed. Unfortunately someone got hurt and tried to sue the park, but fortunately nothing came of it but the atmosphere changed due to the new fire regulations so we could not get quite as many people in. Since then, I have been involved with the design of the park and also run the skate school for kids and i guess because live nearby it has become the number one place for me.

If this park was to close, would it leave a hole in the local skate scene?

“Yeah for sure, if you look at London’s skate scene, it’s huge but there aren’t many indoor facilities to tackle the British winters that we have here. Fair enough there are many new outdoor parks that have been built and some of them are amazing to skate but we need somewhere indoors to ride. We also have Bay 66 in Ladbroke Grove but that’s a miniscule amount of parks for the amount of skaters that are based in the London area. Eventually, this building here will have to move to a new venue. This plot of land is earmarked for development as it is so close to town and city developers see this spot for more housing so they are looking to move us on in the next few years. On the pretense of that, we will only be allocated the same amount of land to redevelop, so the idea is to expand the park, incorperate the outdoor area and increase our footprint so when the time comes, they don’t allocate a shed in a field for us instead.”

How can skaters help you in this cause?

Keep coming to the park. Pay to get in knowing the money is being well used and tell friends about what we are doing here so they can come and support the cause. Thankfully we have local support from the skate scene. Companies like Death Skateboards always support the park. Their riders skate here regularly and a lot of their team are here again today. This generates interest from the kids as they have something to aspire to and that is really important too. So big thanks to them and all the people that have skated and continue to skate here at Pioneer. Also, big thanks to Crossfire as for continued support to the skate scene in the UK and for bringing people together. Look out for the Girls Jam here soon and keep skating…”

The jam itself was great fun with healthy turnout to raise money for the parks’ future. Everyone paid to get in whether they were helping at the event or just there to skate. Blind Skateboards rider Chris Oliver won on the day with big tricks such as varial heelflip 5-0’s down the ledge followed by runner up Amir Williams riding for Listen Skateboards’ whose murder flips and consistent flow edged Rodney Clarke who came third with alley oop tech steez and huge wallrides. This comp though had bugger all to do with competing, it was all about fun.

You can visit Pioneer on MySpace and find the park at Heathlands Drive, St Albans, Hertfordshire here on google maps.

Sponsored
1st – Chris Oliver (Blind)
2nd – Amir Williams (Listen)
3rd – Rodney Clarke (Creme)

over 15
1st – Kyron McGrath
2nd – Duncan Phil
3rd – Dom Pusey

under 14
1st – Ben Rafferty
2nd – Shawn
3rd – Adam Day

under 11
1st – Louis Tambola
2nd – Oliver Nash
3rd – Joe Pike

18.01.08
Words and photos: Jenna Selby

Mange tout, mange tout Rodney…there’s your hint for the location of this months girls skate interview. You’ve guessed it, representing the land of frog’s legs, garlic strings and berets is 2007’s French Women’s Skate Champion: Claire Alleaume.

Hailing from Caen in the lower Normandy region of France this skater is one of the first to represent Globe Girl, the new team to replace the now defunct Gallaz skate team. Claire is one of the most modest people you will ever meet to the point the only way I was able to wean any valuable information about her background was by harassing Lisa Jacob over pizza at a late night house party in the deepest depths of Paris.

Jenna Selby asked Lisa to give a brief introduction to Claire’s interview, this is her response:Claire is crazy. Sociable. She doesn’t actually skate that much but she’s really into jet skiing. Claire is a must have accessory at parties…kind of like a jack-in-the-box!

Bonjour Claire, how’s it going – do you think Lisa’s description of you is fair?

Hi! I’m fine thank you, trying to revise some semiotics. I think Lisa’s description is pretty fair, although I’m not crazy, only sociable (in good measure!), which Lisa thinks is crazy as she’s a-sociable! However I am totally into jet skiing and knitting. You can’t make waves or jumpers skateboarding can you?

Putting Jet skiing aside, let’s dive straight in (Sorry about the dad style pun!): At the end of the last year you were crowned Skate Champion of France for the girls, how did that come about?

Hmm. In France there are comps organised throughout the year by our Federation, in different parks across the country – (Claire won 3 out of 5 contests to get the title.) It’s all a bit too “federated” to my liking, but to be honest the comps are great fun. We all get together and have a nice weekend, not much else you could wish for! Apart from no competitions, federations, or crowns, of course… It’s good that someone is organising fun events, but I’m not into this sporting bollocks.

This Federation, besides organising skate comps and crowns what else do they do exactly?

You could associate the French federation for skating to the UKSA in terms of what their roles are, but the FFRS doesn’t do what it really should do. First of all, it’s with rollerblading and hockey, so they haven’t got much interest in the wooden plank.

The comps are good, but the Federation should also be helping councils put up worthwhile skateparks and showing the general public how skateboarding can be an environmentally friendly way of getting about, a great eye-opener, and an efficient way to lose weight! (although it’s not working for me yet.)

You’ve been skating for 6 years; I guess skating with the Poseuz Crew helped push your level

It’s been great skating with the girls all these years. It has definitely pushed me to try more stuff and just keep on skating.

Sorry quick step back, for those who don’t know, can you explain more about the Poseuz crew (pronounced Posers Crew en anglais!).

The Poseuz Crew is just a group of girl skaters from France and Germany. It’s Lisa Jacob, Mathilde Bouvet, Pascaline Pouzols, Claire Essertel and Juliana Marinho from Munich. We met through skating and just meet up when we can and have a skate. We made a website but it hasn’t been updated lately, it has old vids on it though, and you can come round to the forum for a chat!

How long have you guys been together?

I have no clue! Sorry. Some years, I’d say.

What sort of comps did you go to and which countries did you travel to?

We went to the comps organised by the Federation, the Gallaz comps, the European ones, the local ones… We traveled to Germany, England and Wales, Slovakia, Austria etc, and around France. I love traveling, it’s exciting!

I know you have the website – www.posseuz-crew.com – to represent you but did you ever get round to making a video?

We were meant to make one, but of course we never finished it. There are old clips on the site, and you’ll be able to catch a glimpse of Lisa and I in a banging video called Patchwork by Ludo Azemar, out soon sometime!

Maybe one day we could perhaps do a Rogue v’s Poseuz?

That would be fun. All kickflipping to fakie on banks. Counting how many we land in a row!

Kickflipping is a big thing for girls in France too?

That’s all we do. To fakie, if at all possible.

There always seemed to me that there were a lot of very good girl skaters in France but you say the numbers are very few, why do you think that is?

No, there aren’t many girls skating in France, there are many more in England I think. I’m not sure why girls aren’t skating; I suppose many sociological aspects come into play, and ideas that skateboarding is image-damaging or something! Whizzplanking hurts though, let’s be honest. I can understand quite easily why people don’t want to get hurt! More and more girls are getting into it over here though (skateboarding, not getting hurt).

About 7 or 8 years ago in England all the big comps like Urban Games, NASS, King of Street had a girls section in their respective competition and there was a real boom in numbers of girl skaters and also level. Since they have been dropped, the number really has really curtailed off in the last few years to the point that we’ve got very few younger girls coming through. Is the same happening in France?

In a way, yes, even though that does contradict what I just said earlier. It seems it’s a tie between two tendencies, girls getting into it and older girls not skating anymore. There used to be the Gallaz comp which was a big thing, with girls coming over from the US, Australia, and Europe. You don’t need a comp to keep on skating, but I appreciate the fact that it may be easier to be motivated when you can skate with other girls once in a while and use a comp as an excuse to move about.

I never made it over to the Gallaz comps, what were they like – have they replaced it with anything since it ended (2005)?

It was fun, but sadly it hasn’t been replaced by anything since. We’ll get a session together and you’ll be invited, no worries! I’ll give you a VIP pass, if you give me some of your chocolate.

Did you have any big names traveling over for it?

All the girls from America, like Vanessa Torres, Amy Caron, Violet Kimble, and Australian steez maestro Monica Shaw. There were also the European girls and the Frenchies, trying to manual while balancing a baguette on their heads!

You’re now representing Globe Girl, what’s your/their plan for world domination etc? How’s it differ from Gallaz?

Apparently Gallaz was too fashion-orientated, so Globe decided to start Globe Girl, with a range of more functional skate shoes. It’s basically Globe shoes, in “girls” colourways. I’m stoked on the tartan Finale myself! I think Gallaz still exists, but not in France anyway.

I know you banned me from mentioning it but I felt the public had a right to know: Let’s talk about your record for the most kickflips landed in one minute (Check out the footage of her and Cedric the 360flip champ here).

Who said you were allowed to mention it? Ha, it was a thing on TV, a record-breaker program, ages ago. I did 8 heelflips in a minute on some shit platform, and I spent a nice weekend on the beach and got paid a bit. I can’t see what the fuss is all about? Haha. And I can’t believe “Guinness World Record” posted it on Youtube!

Ok ok, so moving on swiftly, although we conducted this interview in Paris, you are quick to point out that you don’t come from these parts (the reason why no portraits with Parisian landmarks) and are very proud to stay true to your Normandy roots.

I hope I didn’t sound too proud, but I am happy to be from Normandy. I like how there’s nice countryside, yet I live in a quiet town which is big enough to have Steve Reich come to the theatre and small enough for the only real jazz club to be in the back of a truck! I’ve always lived here so I wouldn’t mind a change, but as long as I’m traveling I think Lower Normandy is a nice place to be!

Your English is so good that I wouldn’t have known you were French. ..if we weren’t umm in France! How did that come about?

My Mum is English, and she has always spoken to me in English. At home it’s a bit of a bilingual fair, as we all speak both languages. I’m very lucky!

You come over to England twice every year in part to visit the area where your family is from, which is where exactly?

My Mum is from the fantastic seaside town of Weston-Super-Mare. I still have two uncles there, and my other uncle lives with his family in London. It’s great visiting them all. Thanks for everything, by the way.

Ha ha are you as proud of your Weston Super Mare roots? Lisa mentioned that you tried to impress her with the place, although all she seems to recall is old people!

Ha ha. Weston isn’t quite as wonderful, is it? Full of junkies and oldies! We did go on a trip there with the Poseuz crew and although it’s not full of spots, we had fish and chips on the (brown, mushy) beach, by the (old, rutted) pier.

Just a side thought, I was under the impression France was famous for it’s wines but you tell me that in Normandy it’s Cider (and William the Conqueror)…you must have a taste for it because of your Somerset English roots!

Let me tell you, the best cider is from Lower Normandy! Well, I admit I haven’t tasted them all yet, haha. It is true that there are great cider farms over here. French Cider generally doesn’t have as much alcohol as the English Cider, but otherwise it just depends on the types of apple and the “savoir-faire”. There are other nice drinks made from apples here, like Calvados and Pommeau.

Anyway, there are definitely more cider farms than vineyards in Normandy! Anyway back to the interview, how long did it take before you were allowed to break away from the family routine and skate over here?

I traveled very early; my Mum has always thought it was a good thing for me to get out there. I was about 12 when I started going to places, on my own or with friends. We used to camp for 5 weeks in the summer with my family in England and Wales, and progressively I started skating around and going to London more.

Where else have you skated in the UK, I know you’ve been impressing Zac down at Canti!

Oh I love the Lowes! I’ve skated in Manchester, Stockport, Brum, Leeds, Caerdyff, Newport, Bristol, Cornwall, London etc. I love the UK.

What’s planned for Claire’s New Year?

I want to skate more as I haven’t been skating as much as I wanted to lately. I want to try and make the most of my last year doing this course at uni, read all the books lying around in my bedroom, take more photos, travel somewhere special, go to the Boardroom and Scotland with Tamsin, go to more exhibitions, learn more about many things (notably about philosophy of music), and spend time with my boyfriend and friends. I’m being way too optimistic, but I’ll give it all a try!

On wrapping up the interview Claire is crying over the extremely strong cheese she has bought. What is your French people’s obsession with this pungent dairy craze – it would definitely clear a park in 2 seconds flat!

All I’ll say is, strong cheese fo’ life.

Cheers Claire, any shout-outs?

First of all I’d like to thank you for coming to Paris and for the good time we spent! Thanks to Greg at Globe Girl for everything, and thanks to Zac. I’d also like to thank all the girls (Lisa for Queen, Mathilde for rock star), all the boys, my friends Ophélie and Antoine at Uni (Aposa love), Tamsin (miss you), Kev, Fos and the Londoners, the skaters in Caen and Bud Skateshop (R.I.P Cyril), Théodorine, Manu and Barricade, my friends in Paris, the Sidewalk forum lurkers, everyone who has let me stay at their place, Waits & Brel, McGregor & Wittgenstein, Roo & Susie & the kids, Ben & Ed, Mum & Dad, Bros & Sis, and last but not least, my lovely boyfriend Erwann!

And finally the most important question of all: Do you wear garlic and a beret?

Every single day, walking to the bread shop to buy my baguette.

Jenna Selby

CLICK IMAGE FOR VIDEO.

What’s Adrenaline Alley?

The Alley Indoor Urban Centre is a registered charity based in the heart of England in Corby, Northamptonshire. The Centre has numerous facilities such as a recreation room, internet suite, Café, band practice and music tuition rooms, a conference room and retail/repair shop.

The ramp park offers unique resi ramps including Europe’s first 70ft resi vert ramp complementing a foam pit, resi jump box, bowl, and popular street and wave section consisting of various ramps, rails and boxes.

Where is it?

Arnsley Road
Off Priors Haw Road
Corby
Northamptonshire
NN17 5QW

Google Maps

Why?

For the vert alone, Adrenaline Alley is worth a visit. This 14ft high, 70ft long beast is going to be seeing a lot of action in the future and is helping the next generation of young vert skaters hone their skills in safety.

The bowl is quick and fun, with sessions always gravitating towards it, with a guaranteed dry bowl skate always a bonus. The street course is somewhat disappointing to skate, with too many small obstacles crammed into the space, it clearly orientated towards bikers and bladers. However, the new plans for a skate plaza will sort this, and will definitely put Adrenaline Alley on your visit list.

www.adrenalinealley.co.uk

08.01.08

If you ever took a minute to think about all of the untapped talent out there that is just waiting for it’s 15 minutes of fame, then it can become a pretty overwhelming thought indeed. The skateboard industry can be rather merciless in this regard, so it takes a lot of hard work to separate the wheat from the chafe.

Through perseverance and self inflicted famine, Wouter Struyf has been delivering incredibly under-rated images for the love of it. Just a happy go lucky chap who enjoys clicking away at his mates. Wouter Struyf’s time to shine is long over due. – Ralph Lloyd Davis

Full name?

Wouter Struyf, that’s what ‘s on my passport. But most of the guys I skate with call me “Wooty”.

How long have you been a photographer?

I first picked up a camera 3 years ago. I wouldn’t call myself a ‘photographer’ though. I just like to take photographs of my surroundings.

How did you get into it?

I always liked to skate (I’ll call it “roll around”), I already do this for 7 or 8 years. But I bailed real hard while snowboarding and had to undergo 4 operations including some cartilage transplants. Since then I can’t skate without having pain. I couldn’t stay home though, it’s too much fun to go out in the streets. So I found myself in the position of having two options: Take photos or film. I did both of them a short time but I ended up taking photographs instead of filming. Just liked it more I guess. If I am asked to do I will film or edit too! No problem.

What were the best and worst bits of advice anyone gave you in regards to photography?

Never got any advice from anyone! I learned it all by trial and error and lots of reading and some more looking around and studying other pictures. “Keep doing it” would have been the best advice I ever got.

Why did this image you have submitted inspire you so much to take up photography? What effect did it have on you?

There isn’t really one I could pick. I haven’t really picked up photography because of a photograph I saw, I just wanted to try it, I think. There are lots of photographers I like! Most inspiring must be Grant’s work and probably the picture of Todd Swank just pushing around would be the most influential.

Have you ever felt bad about taking a photo? If so, which one?

Not that I can think of right now. I hate it when people don’t like it when I take I photo of them. Always looking away and hiding! Everyone needs to learn to love themselves as they are a little more! It’s not the same, but it makes me feel bad….

What were the best and worst days shooting skateboarding of your life ever and why?

It definitely depends on the session going down and the skaters in the session! I just hate it when they skate only for the picture. Just skate for the fun of it and the photo is just an extra! If there’s no vibe between the skater and me, then it’s just real awkward and I don’t enjoy it at all. Just skating with friends would be the best days. Then if someone is going for something big I ‘ll pop out the cam and flash!

What’s the relationship like between a photographer and filmer?

Don’t have that much experience with filmers on the same spot. If so it’s the same one most of the time and he’s a really nice dude . Only thing is he never wants flashes firing in his shots and most of the time I agree so I have to wait to get my shot! I gladly move out of the filmers frames if I am sure he/she’ll get something decent. If not (like lots of filmers here in Belgium) I’ll just stay on my spot when I think I got the golden spot!

What main advice would you give to upcoming skate photographers?

Do it for yourself and the love for it. Not for anyone else and definitely not for the money or fame…. The Skater’s style is so important and makes the photo most of the time! Enjoy it!

Please tell us why you have picked your fave skate shot you have submitted.

I chose a frontside blunt slide “performed” (skateboarding is a performance for sure!) in Antwerp, Belgium (September, 2006). I find it really difficult to pick a good shot made by myself cause most of the time I don’t like them at all (after a month or so I start to like them). I just like the light and simplicity in this one.

If you look good you can see another friend in the background smiling. That’s what really defines that session. We were just riding around that day and just having fun. It was a real fun day. That’s my memory and that’s what makes the photo probably.

Are there ways of getting better/free equipment as you continue to grow or do you have to fund everything yourself?

If there is a way let me know cause I can use some! Empty pockets all the time. I think my “ass licking” skills aren’t that well developed.

Is the work of a skate photographer well paid? Do you get by in life with this income alone?

Income? What income? I wish I could live off it, but that’s just a dream. I just graduated so I hope I’ll find a job real soon.

Please tell us about the non skate shot you have submitted and the story behind it.

It was taken September 2005 in Wimereux, France. It’s on a field trip I went on for school (I studied Biology). We were out studying all marine creatures and had to fish the coastal area. Those are two of my classmates coming out of the water after pulling that net around for half an hour. It was taken with a old Petri I found a week before in my fathers closet, so I had no idea if it would work and how it would come out (because I had to guess the exposure). It’s plain and simple and combined with a sweet memory in my mind.

Does music ever inspire your photography? What music artists can you not leave for a tour without?

My music taste varies a lot. There is not one kind of music I can say I really hate. I am open for everything!

If you were to buy a pocket snapper for capturing skating on a budget to get going, which camera would you suggest?

I would take my fathers Petri with some B/W film or cheap slide film. Flashes aren’t all that – just get creative!!!

Would you recommend digital or film?

I love the look of film. I haven’t found a way to get near to it with digital but it is getting to expensive for me. If I ever win the lottery or find a pile of gold I’ll immediately buy the gear and film I always wanted – x-pan, mamiya RZ, 37mm and some other lenses and maybe a field camera. (Dreaming keeps me alive)!

What are the benefits of using film or digital?

Digi Easier work flow/faster results + less expensive after buying the machine itself.
Film? It looks better and you have the ‘magic’ of not knowing exactly how it’ll look, I always am so stoked when I get a real good roll of film back! Plus you know you’ve still got your originals when your hard drive crashes!

What kit do you use?

Canon and mamiya with the cheapest flashlights I could find, 1 sender and 1 receiver, some cables and lightslaves and some tape and other ‘useful’ crap.

Your photography website address if you have one?

If I ever can set my mind to one thing/layout I’ll let you know! For now follow my “adventures” on users.telenet.be/fooliage (I know, I know I am just too lame to get a ‘real’ web address…)

8th December 2007

Words: Moose
Photos: Ben Norton and John Wildsmith

Santa wouldn’t have known what to make of this year’s Crossfire Xmas Jam, had he turned up of course. Hundreds of people queued for hours in the cold and wet outside Bay Sixty 6 to make sure they could get inside to witness yet another skate riot. If you’ve never been to an Xmas Jam, you’re missing out big time. No rules, no real time limits, a shitload of prizes and proddy, and as much fun as you can possibly squeeze into a day.

This year’s Jam was graced with the presence of the Osiris international team of John Rattray, Garret Hill, Corey Duffel and Diego Bucchieri, who stoked the kids out by signing body parts, posters, tshirts, Mum’s car keys and anything else that was handed to them.

The cream of British skateboarding turned up to have a laugh, cruise about and possibly earn some cash-dollar by knocking out bangers across the park. Riders who were spotted, and possibly captured by Crossfire’s lenses, included Neil Smith, Danny Brady, Louie Cooper, Joel and Seth Curtis, Joey Pressey, Kris Vile, Vaughan Baker, Lee Blackwell, Aaron Sweeney, Kev McKeon, Carl Wilson, Josh Roullion, Boots, Marc Churchill, Pete King, Ollie Tyreman, Greg Nowick, Tom Knox, Chris Ault, and fuckloads more.

With Zac Slack at the helm and manning the megaphone, shouts of “Mind the media scum” were just about heeded to as the Jam got underway and skaters threw themselves across anything they could in a monumental scrum of skateboarding. The handrail got absolutely dominated this year with tricks like you wouldn’t believe getting scraped across it’s steely structure. Kickflip frontboards, frontside bluntslides, backside tailslides, frontside shove-it boardslides, feeble 180s, crooks. Seriously, the list goes on and the footage speaks for itself. Blueprint’s Danny Brady brought the smoothness to the hip ledges with some buttery nosebluntslides and frontside 5-0’s to fakie as well. In fact, I’m not going to bother telling you much more about what went down as if you watch the video, you will know. And if you were there on the day, you definitely know.

I will, however, tell you about the two-man destruction team that come in the form of Death protégé Carl “Potter” Wilson and Vans flow rider Aaron Sweeney who did not stop shredding all day, and even when the lights got turned off you knew they could have carried on ripping for hours more. The vert wall saw them throw down massive crailgrabs, nolliecab melons and noseblunts on the inside wall. Oh yes, it got destroyed by these two and it didn’t end with the vert wall either.

The miniramp jam saw everyone shralp the coping to pieces, with Marc Churchill throwing down frontside feebles to smith, Pete King getting his lip-action on noseblunt disasters and all sorts of technical trickery, and Potter and Sweeney hucking up massive frontside airs and stalefishes. Sweeney even got his head in a spin on a beaut of a backside 540, whilst Kris Vile rolled up, took one look and put down an alley-oop bigspin fakie 5-0 like he was just chilling in front of the telly with a cuppa. Piss take. Potter also swallowed up the whole ramp with a backtail shove, and his eyes must have been bigger than his stomach as he bit off more than he could chew and rolled away somewhere about three streets away.

Proddy toss time, and the scramble for free shit managed to leave one kid with concussion and another with a bleeding eye. Whilst we’d usually be down for a bit of scrapping, this was too far and obviously some people forgot that they were decent human beings and resorted to caveman instincts of ‘kick the shit of of them’. Definitely not cool, we were all there to have a good time and now those two kids are leaving with scars they didn’t want. Remember, we’re all skaters, we’re all equals, and we’re all friends. There’s no need to hurt anyone just to get a free tshirt.

Aside from that, the Jam went off like a cat with a rocket shoved up it’s arse. The after party messiness can be see over in Night Raids, which was a laugh until we got the boot for apparently being ‘too rowdy’. To be fair love, we could have been much worse, but we weren’t and we were all enjoying ourselves right up until the last.

A massive thanks to everyone that turned up and got their skate-on, it was a top day and by far the best attended one to date. You know what that means though don’t you? We have to beat that next year and make it even better, so anyone not there this time, sort it out and get your arses there in 2008. Shout outs to all who turned up to support, Paul and all at Bay Sixty 6 Skatepark, Alan Christensen, Martyn Thomas, Crossfire staff, John Wildsmith, Ben Norton, Greg Atkins, Mel, Aiden, Matt and Simon at Jett 26, Don Brider and our friends and sponsors at Osiris, Sidewalk Mag, Document Mag, Venture, Creme, Blueprint, Heroin, Landscape, The Harmony, Karma, Death, Kill City, Creature, Casual, Plan B, DGK, A Third Foot and Spitfire.

Check the footage from the Xmas Jam below, or for the full-fat version, right click and save it to your desktop – it’s at the top right of this page…