Tag: uk

Throughout the last decade, Worksop-native Dan Beall has emerged as one of the most bigged up skaters to come out of the infamously tight Sheffield scene. In between posting e-musings with James Cruickshank on the Pigeon Shit blog and controversially supporting Leeds Utd he has landed a spot on Nise Skateboards, shot a megaton of photos with the prolific Burrell and racked up loads of proper British footage; glass-encrusted terrain, industrial estate backdrops and grinds on grit bins. The scene video hotspot has produced some of the UK’s raddest skaters without a doubt, and amongst them, Dan Beall is definitely one to keep your eye on in the new decade.

We asked fellow Worksop head and Blueprint pro Mark Baines to do the honours. Read the interview below to learn more about someone you will be seeing a lot more from in the next few years. Nice one, Baines.

Interview: Mark Baines
Photography: Alex Burrell

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Gateford, Worksop, in between Sheffield and Nottingham.

How was it for skating there, was there much to skate?

Skating in Worksop was amazing. For the first 2 or 3 years there wasn’t a park or anything so it was strictly street skating. The spots that we skated aren’t really about anymore. Like my school, Valley, that was pretty much where we skated every day after school and it wasn’t too far from my house so I pretty much lived there. Also the legendary B&Q which I’m sure you’ll have skated many a time?

Yeah we all grew skating there too, not bad for a car park. Who did you grow up skating with?

I started skating with a few boys I went to school with but they stopped a few years after to get involved in other stuff. Then I got to meet Greg Somerset and Dave Dave who are a bit older than me. They had been skating loads longer than me and had travelled about places so I just used to tag along with them.

Fakie 360 Flip

You don’t live in Worksop anymore, where do you live now?

I live in Sheffield now been here for about 5 years or so.

How is that compared to Worksop?

It’s a lot different mainly because Sheffield’s a big city and Worksop is a well small town. There’s always something happening in Sheff and there’s loads more people about that are into the same sort of stuff as me. It’s also a big advantage having the House down the road so if it’s wet there’s always somewhere to skate, whereas in Worksop if it was raining we would have to break into old factory’s and usually get fucked for trying to have a skate.

Do you work? Or are you just skating at the moment?

Not at the moment but over the summer I was working in Nottingham teaching kids to skate. That was good just watching kids that have never skated before and by the end of the week they were dropping in and stuff and you could tell they were fully hyped on it. It’s really sick to give kids an opportunity that I didn’t have when I was growing up.

Yeah that’s cool, kids are the future of skating so it is good to give them a decent start. Onto some football related business, you’re a Leeds United fan, you know we all hate Leeds United right?

Yeah mate everyone seems to hate us but I’ll let it pass at the min while you’re stuck in league 1 and aren’t going anywhere anytime soon hahaha. I like the fact everyone hates Leeds because it brings more of an atmosphere to the games and I can have a good dig at my mates when we beat them.

Ollie up, wallie off.

Why not Notts Forest or Sheffield Wednesday?

Well it’s all down to my dad taking me to watch Leeds back in the day. If my dad didn’t have a big influence on who I supported I would probably support Forest or Sheff United, never been into the Wednesday Scum haha!

Watch your mouth…Who are you riding for now?

I’m riding For Nise Skateboards and Slugger Skate Shop in Chesterfield.

Below: Backside Tailslide

Tell us about Nise as it’s a new UK company right?

Nise is a Nottinghamshire based company that is co-owned by Benjamin Durnan-Fletcher and Tom Siveyer, two top blokes. It started as a skateboarding school about 3-4 years ago and have been making boards etc since then.

How is it pronounced?

I believe it is pronounced NICE. It stands for Nottingham Indoor Skateboarding Environment.

Who else is riding for the company?

At the minute it’s mostly Nottingham based with Joshua Checkley, Chris Mann, Tom Cumming and Luke Coates, also riding for them is Richie Mann reppin the north. Craig Smedley and Will Golding ride for the urethane team as well.

What plans do Nise have for 2011?

The plans for 2011 include a trip in April to Poland on a filming tip, the skate school is expanding rapidly so that’s going to be a big part of next year also there is quite a few artists involved on doing the next range of boards that are looking pretty damn good.

Who’s your crew you skate with in Sheffield now?

There’s a big cru in Sheff but I mostly skate with Ash Hall, Shaun Currie, Cruickshank, DEAD Dave, Chadman, Burrell, Matt Grant and loads of other heads. There’s always someone about skating so it’s hard to say.

A good scene in Sheffield right now then?

Yeah it’s going off in Sheff at the min everyone’s killing it and seems to of escaped the Dev green vortex. There are loads of new spots poppin up as well which is always good. There’s also a few scene vids that are close to ready.

Would you consider living anywhere else?

Yeah course. If I was to move out of Sheff it would probably be abroad somewhere, no idea where though. Somewhere hot maybe? It’s easy enough to get about in the UK so if I was to move it would be somewhere far far away.

You went to the UKSA comp recently, what’s your verdict on contests after that one?

I thought I’d go down to see if I could get into skating comps again, I had a bit of a bad one and am probably going to avoid comps from now on. I can see why these sorts of things are good for skateboarding but it’s well not my vibe.

Nosebonk

What are your plans for 2011?

Not really got any plans for next year as of yet, the only thing I’ve got planned is finishing my part for Cruikshank’s video which should be ready for January-ish. Other than that I just want to travel more and go places I haven’t been yet.

Any people you want to give and thank you or shout too?

I want to thank all my boys, Poh, Oli, Ash, Shaun, Baines, Dave Adlington, Cruickshank, Jerome, Chadman, Burrell, Chung, Dave Dave, Greg, Matt Grant, Neddy, Hirst, Rye Gray, Henry, Gordo, Ben and the NISE cru, Nathan Morris, Kennelle at Slugger, Lucciano Becchio, my bird Lyd and anyone else I’ve missed. SAFE.

Neddy spent the day with Dan earlier this year and came back with this edit filled with typically fluid bangers. Watch it below…