raddays » Skateparks

Clifton Skatepark, Nottingham is Now Open !

For Fun — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 09:23:12 +0000

After a long summer of eagerley awaiting the opening of the new concrete skatepark and bmx pump track in Clifton, the time has arrived for you to roller around the smooth curves and flats which has been constructed by Maverick Industries.

We will let you decide how good the park is, so go and check it out as the secuirty fencing is offically down now !. There is real pool coping and tiles on the deep bowl section along with a few other area's to add some fine detail. Not sure about the practicability of the wood chipping on the landscaped sections thou, we're sure the special people may find it fun to throw it about the place once they get bored of dossing down there.

Clifton Skatepark, Nottingham - Large Bowl section

Watch out the car park gates are locked at night so please check the locking up times on the board. At present it has been know to be busy at 08.30 in the morning on weekends with excited users (don't blame them).

Hopefully this facility will encourage new and old skaters and rider on the scene. But then there's the scooter at mid morning to watch out for !. There is a brick textured surface to the red bank to link back to the days of the infamous BroadMarsh Banks that were demolished for some greedy reason or two (this would be an ideal spot for the City Council's next artistic skatepark, with existing shelter from the rain).

Street section at Clifton Skatepark, Nottingham

There is an opening event on Saturday 24th September between 12.00 lunch time and 3.00pm, check out the details on the flyer below.

The BMX pump track seems a bit tight, but we're sure someone will have some fun and grazes out of it.

: Clifton BMX pump track at the Skatepark, Notttingham

It's free to use every day of the week during the parks opening times, however there is no floodlighting due to planning restrictions. Please be aware the Council park has a perimeter fencing and gates for night security.

Clifton Skatepark, Nottingahm. Bowl sections.

Many thanks to Nottingham City Council project team for pursing this skatepark project over the last few years and the guaranteed use of this creative skatepark will show this type of facility is greatly needed and benefical to the local community and city of Nottingham.

Hopefully the user numbers may stop local and parish councils funding these pointless in most cases, metal/slippery ramp parks on tarmac surfaces and these wooden ramp bike course that only resemble a dog assult course.

Enjoy and we want more !!

OPENING EVENT UPDATE 24th Septmber 2011

The weather was fine and there was a great turn out of riders of all ages snaking runs everywhere trying to get their hands on some of the great prizes that had been donated by the Jam sponsors.

Backside air out of the bowl at Clifton Skatepark opening Jam session, Nottingham

Hopefully the City Councillors were impressed and will see this type of facility is not a waste of money and will be used for many years to come, unless the Chav's take control.

BMX air in the deep bowl at Clifton Skatepark, Nottingham

Unfortunately there wasn't much room for scooter's to roam free around the skatepark today and maybe the spectacle will encourage them to try skating or BMXing once they get a little older.

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1980′s Old School Skateboarding

For Fun — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 09:05:55 +0000

1980's Old School Skateboarding

This is the era when I first started Skating standing up properly, as in the late 70's I was just knee boarding down hills on my American Fyer. I think it was around 1984 a time just before Skating got big again. The was no Ramps or Skateparks near us in the East Midlands as they had all closed down in the late 1970's or early 80's. We just bombed around the streets making up stuff and having fun.

I first borrowed my sisters friend's 1970's skateboard which I later found out was a Jeremy Henderson Benjy Board setup. If only I still had it now !, but unfortunately my Dad took the Deck to the local Dump and I only have the Tracker Trucks, Yo Yo wheels and deep riser pads left. I wonder how many classic decks and skateboards have been buried in our Land fills over the years before the time of Ebay.

My first 1980's setup was a Sims Jeff Phillips deck, Independent trucks and Variflex Street Rage wheels. I later replaced my wheels with Powell Peralta Rat Bones 96A.

Places we use to ride:

Nottingham - Broadmarsh Banks - Behind the Bus Station.
Local Streets
Bedminster Skatepark, Bristrol

Wanlip 1970's Skatepark.
Warrington Vert Ramp at the Roller Disco.
Went to Horncastle Vert Ramp, one day.
Manchester - A Vert Ramp in a Squash Court at a Leisure Centre.
Banbury Vert Ramp.
Birmingham Wheels Vert Ramp.

In the Summer of 1985, for some reason I decided to build a Half Pipe in my Dad's Transport Cafe back Garden during the Summer Holidays from reclaimed wood. The design was used from some Skate or BMX mag around that era and was the timber frame type and not the plywood transition template design which we later found out was far stronger and easier to produce a perfect Transition (name of some Aussie Skate Zine, which I had some where).

Here's Mk2 Six Hills /Broughton Lodge Cafe Vert Ramp, half finished!

Broughton Lodge Cafe Vert Ramp at Six Hills, waiting for more plywood

Broughton Lodge Cafe Vert Ramp Mark-II at Six Hills on the A46

: Six Hills Vert Ramp Mk2, at Broughton Lodge Cafe on the A46

This was the Mark 2 Ramp, however sadly we never put protective rails on the platforms (Sorry Rob).

Does anyone recongnize any of these Skaters, I think some were from the Mansfield area.

Broughton Lodge Cafe Vert Ramp at Six Hills in the Mid 1980's

Six-Hills-Cafe-Vert-Ramp---Old-School-Skate-Mid-1980's

We had a few trips down Bedminster Skatepark in Bristrol as there was, and is a great Skate Shop down there called ">Rollermania. I think this was one of the first times we saw anyone do a Handplant or Air in the flesh as no one up the Cafe Ramp had mastered these kind of tricks yet. Until later on when the word spread about the Ramp.

Big Air at Bedminster Skatepark, Bristrol Mid-1980's - Hot Pants were the Rage !

Leopard Skin Hot Pants must have been in fashion in those good old days. This Guy was good on the Quarter Pipe, it must have been his local spot. I wonder if these lots are still having a roll about.

Handplant at Bedminster Skatepark, Bristrol in Mid 1980's

They have refurbished this Skatepark now and it's good to hear it's still going strong.

Handplant at Bedminster Skatepark, Bristrol in the Mid-1980's

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NOS VINTAGE AIRWALK FOOTWEAR JACKED LO OLIVE SZ 8 SKATEBOARD SHOES
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Vintage Old School Wide 1980s Alpha Dragon Skateboard
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LEGALIZE SKATEBOARDING STICKER SKATEBOARD 80S TX
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Santa Cruz Park Rider Wheels 1970s RARE NOS Skateboard Sticker
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4 guys pointing Blockhead Vintage skateboard sticker
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KRYPTONICS Gamma Reactors Skateboard Wheels 97a Black 59mm 1980s Originals NOS
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SHORTYS BLACK PANTHER BEARINGS ABEC 5 SKATEBOARD new
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skateboard from 1980s
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Coping on the Yorshire Coast

For Fun — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:19:19 +0000

Yorkshire's Coast line has now gained some extra surf. Whitby, Scarborough and Bridlington have great smooth freeformed concrete skateparks to keep you entertained. These waves will never go flat.

Whitby - West Cliff Head

This U shape bowled skatepark is situated on the open ground on West Cliff, next to the old paddling pool and Go Karting. Parking is free and right next to the skatepark, if you get there early enough or it is out the holiday season. It is floodlit which is a bonus for the shorter days or late night sessions, however I am not sure what time they turn off (hopefully someone will inform us).

Whitby Skatepark on West Cliff, Yorkshire, U.K

Whitby Skatepark at Night, loads of close free parking

Whitby FREE skatepark on West Cliff, North Yorkshire Coast, U.K

Scarborough's Skatepark and BMX Pump Track - Hairy Bob's Skatepark

Ideally located between the North Bay and South Bay at Scarborough, hopefully to far to walk for all the Chav's and robbers out there. Parking is Pay and Display between certain times and is right next to the Skatepark. You have the lovely view over the North Bay Surf and the Promenade to practise your manuals on. As you can see from the pictures below there is a bowl section with different levels and a street course area too. Just behind that is a BMX Pump track with Tarmac berms and the usual jumps.

It is floodlit too, I am not sure what time they switch off thou. If anyone wants to inform us please feel free.

All this is free, so ride it well and respect it, as there must have been a lot of hard work and effort involved from all parties to produce a awesome place to ride. Let just hope there's many more places like this cropping up around the country, and move away from the 'off the shelf ' generic skate ramps.

Get your heads together and get involved and just look at the results. It may take 2- 5 years to get it built, so just think if you are say 13 now you best get your fingers out and get fund raising before you become to the darker side of life.

Scarborough Skatepark, North Bay, Yorkshire Coast, U.K

Hairy Bob's Bowl Section at Scarborough, Yorkshire Coast, U.K

Scarborough's-BMX-Pump-Track-at-Hairy-Bobs-Skatepark

Hairy Bob's Street section at the Skatepark, Scarborough, U.K

Scarborough-BMX-Pump-Track-at-Hairy-Bobs-Skatepark - The Rear View

Check out Hairy Bob's website for future events and news.

Bridlington Skatepark - Gasworx Skatepark

This is another awesome skateaprk that is only 30 minutes away from Scarborough, so you could get yourselves a weekend or day trip going down the Yorkshire Coast.

There is a minimal charge to enter this skatepark as it is supervisied at all times which is not a bad thing really. It is fenced off and secure, so you should only get riders using it and not any wasters trying to ruin your session.

Check out the website for full details - Gasworx Skatepark , Briblington North Yorkshire.

Gasworx Skatepark, Bridlington - Bowl Section with Pool Coping

Gasworx Skatepark, Bridlington, North Yorshire, U.K

GasWorx-Skatepark-Bridlington, North Yorkshire-Street-Section

If there any more or future plans for great Skateparks, please post it on here so that all can check them out.

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Location, Location, Location

For Fun — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:16:43 +0000

Dont know what the answer is to this, why do we seem to build skateparks in certain parks of the our cities which are in the middle ?.

I think on one hand if it gets a bunch of kids interested on doing something it is very good, and pays in the long run. Even if it gets a few locals focused on doing more with there spare time will benefit the local area in someway. They may encourage other kids to get involved and using a skatepark or BMX track and hopefully slowly build more activite groups and future generations. However then you get the mindless few who can spoil it for them and others and put them off going especially when they are short in numbers. You often hear stories of items being stolen, users being threaten or beaten up, stones being thrown and the ususal bottles being smashed when they get drinking.

Do you have the parks fenced off and opened and controlled by the council, say like Bridlington. But have a very minimum day charge (say £1.00). So its still open to all.

Or do you have more parks, in all types of area's ?, and just get on with it.

Where do they situate skateparks in the USA, away from housing estate, in large city parks. Is there any lessons we can learn from them.

As some Council could possibly say, we spend all this money and nobody really uses it (generalization), although this could be down to it either being built in the wrong location or built with little consultation like they did in the 90's.

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Do You Like Flat Bottoms

For Fun — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 08:20:07 +0000

Just thinking with all these bowls cropping up, nearly all the British built ones seem to have flat bottoms and no split levels. Unlike the USA built one at Safron Walden.

I ridden the one in Marsailles, Saffron and the one at Doncaster (flat bottom). It seems more fun and and you can get some really speed with bowls with split levels and more contours.

Is it what the riders want or is it that the British contractors are not experienced in creating bowls with more contours.

Are the councils opting for the off the shelf components contractor as they are on their approved list, how do they compare a park built by Dreamlandskateparks compared to others in the market?

I hope this isn't be short sighted in the long term for the skaters and bmxers, when we were sold something which could have been more creative with the funding.

Just a thought, these questions have properly been asked already.

If split level bowls are the ones we want, then is it the cost of extra depth, which gets them omitted from any designs.

Just concerned that we are building all these nice parks, and its not what we really want in some situations, because we may not know what we want at these early stages of mass concrete Skatepark construction across the country.

On looking around at the parks in design stage and on the internet/magazines it seems that a lot of the parks with bowls in are on one level with differing heights around the top instead of having split level/waterfalls in the bowl section.

I was just wondering if this is the best way/easiest or the cheapest way to construct a bowl section. Is this something we want or what our contractors can provide.

Unless the user has ridden some good parks in the States and Europe then they will have nothing to compare it to. I think we need to have a quick learning curve on these new skateparks so we do not live to regret it some day. As it may be a long time coming around for them to be renewed or altered.

I skated Hayle bowl over the summer holidays and they have a rollin area, which I though was good to encourage a new smaller and younger users in to out much loved past times. This bowl area seemed to be used more to me, because of the rollin area, more so than say Saffron where you have to drop in. Which can be very daunting on concrete for the first time.

As long as the budget allows us, is it worth considering on all new projects with bowls to have Rollins. As long as the designs are creative and challenging, isn’t it worth adding a small rollin for the future?.

Should we have a lessons learned database on every major skatepark project to help get it right sooner. We may have it place already, hopefully. I just hope we are getting it right for the future and enjoyment of riding.

I don’t know how competent our concrete contractors are in comparison to the USA ones, if we have inexperience in this area should we get established companies from the States on board to help us out. Alternatively we could possibly have a performanced based contract with an over seas company to get around the tendering process. As like the Bournemouth Artifical Reef project, who used this form of contract.

Do the Councils hold back a retention on the contractor if the project and surface is not up to scratch?.

The other thing, it’s a shame with all these new CDM regulations in the building that Preliminary costs on a project may be 15% of the overall total before anything has started on site. Are there ways to save money here to put towards our parks?.

Just a few questions, that have probably been asked before somewhere already.

I’ve been skating (not much) off and on since 1984, but always paid an interest on the scene and how the skateparks have come and gone. What companies have jumped on the band wagon to sell all these off the shelf parks to the mislead Councils. It’s great to see these new concrete parks cropping up around the country as I think it is positive step forward for Skaters, BMXers and Inliners. The industry as a whole will benefit as I believe these groups have a good community structure.

On the links page, there are names of established Skatepark contractors that are now building awesome parks. Lets just keep the Cowboys away from ripping off the Council's and building skateparks that will never be used.

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Micro Extension to Keyworth Skatepark, Nottingham

For Fun — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 20:16:52 +0000

Anyone who uses Keyworth Skatepark in South Notts regular, are you interested in getting some ideas together to extend the rear of the park. This is subject to riders in general not wanting the trials area any more.

Keyworth Skatepark in South Nottinghamshire

There is approximately an area 14 x 17m available at the rear of the park, and possibly fill in the odd wasted dead spot here and there. Making it more useable.

We all know funding can take for years, but you have to start somewhere, the local council has said get some plans drawn up so that they can pass them through ROSPA and so on before we waste time on planning an extend which will not be passed.

If you use the park regular and are interested in helping to get ideas together/funding/general helping out etc.

Please post a reply or idea's.

Keep these good parks coming and getting more imaginative!!

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Possible New Skatepark at Rushcliffe Country Park, Nottingham

For Fun — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:20:04 +0000

I was speaking to the guys at Rushcliffe Country Park today about skateparks, they have an old wooden mini ramp there at present. The location is great and there could be a possibility of upgrading it to a concrete one, if the demand was good enough.

Rushcliffe Country Park Mini Ramp and BMX Track

I know its all down to funding, but the Park Manager may be up for gaining funding if a petition or interest is generated for this idea.

We may be pissing in the wind, but its worth a go, especially as skating and BMXing is here to stay.

For the older riders with a family it is somewhere you could skate and watch your kids on the great park opposite. The older skaters could even note down the Steam Engine numbers whilst they were having a rest !!.

Please check out Rushcliffe Borough Council website for the location and contact details, as you may want to express or suggest it would be a great idea and would be used regular if built to the users requirements.

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Cornwall’s Concrete Waves

For Fun — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:17:14 +0000

Cornwall's Skatepark information to follow shortly.

Here's a few photo's to get you going !

Hayle Skatepark, Cornwall, The Main Bowl

Hayle Skatepark, Cornwall, Side Bowl

Tuckingmill Skatepark, Cornwall, The Main-bowl

Tuckingmill Skatepark, Cornwall, The Small-bowl

Mount Hawke Skatepark, Cornwall, The Big Vert-Ramp with amazing rollin

Mount Hawke Skatepark, Cornwall, The Street-Course

Mount Hawk Indoor Skatepark, Cornwall, Street Sections

Mount Hawke Indoor Skatepark, Cornwall, Mini Ramps and Spine

Truro Skate Plaza, Cornwall - A massive concrete area

Truro Skate Plaza, Cornwall, The view from Mini Ramp

Truro Skate Plaza, Cornwall, The Main Stair Set

Wooden Waves Skatepark, Newquay, The Vert-Ramp

Wooden Waves Skatepark, Newquay, The Street-Course

Wooden Waves Skatepark, Newquay, Mini Ramps Area

Wooden Waves Skatepark, Newquay, Street-Section - FREE TO RIDE

St Merryn Skate Bowl, Near Padstow, Cornwall

Cheers