Jamie Stenner - Fish round the curve
Seeing skateparks over the internet that are far away always set’s something off inside me. You see lines, coping, hips and ledges and im driving to check it out as soon as i can. Then i think, what if i could get a lot rollerbladers there too and get a sick session going.
Well i did..Skatemeet number 5 took place at Saffron Walden about 2 hrs north of London by train. Meeting up in the city early then trecking it all the way there with 6 skaters was like the old days when you’d get to a skatepark at sunrise and wait for it to dry and then skate it all day. This took a little more organising with cars meeting up with us in the small town where the skatepark is located. Good friends Jen and Sam picked us all up and then by the time we got the park we were greeted with a great view. Lots of rollerbladers!!!People came from all over. Jamie stenner and his crew drove for 3 hrs just for the session and they weren’t dissapointed. A huge turn out from the Cambridge crew included Dave Nevello,Tim Parker (Rolling Revival), Rupert Morgan, Dom Benatar Sam and Jen. Birmingham crew also made the effort to get there.
Sam Cooper - Full cab royale
Well, the skatepark consists of 3 major bowls surrounded by a small street coarse. Bowl 1 has tiled coping and one of the hardest bowls to find lines in. Bowl 2 has a small half cradel and then the mother of all bowls. Bowl 3 with a deep end of 11ft,8ft hip and 6 ft spine. Local kids Dan Ives and Joe Harvey already finding amazing lines and killing the coping with long grinds, transfers and carving skills to make the older guys sit back and watch. The street section was small and congested so the sessions moved from bowl to bowl with enough skaters there that all 3 bowls were getting skating most of the time.After some warm ups the local kids opened up the session on the big bowl and made it look easy. Joe ripping with long grinds on the vert side and everyone following suit and getting the coping warn in. Stenner stepping up and grinding the corner to perfection with fishbrains and ally-oop makio’s. Dan Ives, well you really need this kid skate, linking long grinds and throwing 540’s and 720’s 5 ft high in the middle of his bowl run.The street section was getting used mostly by Cambridge boy Sam Cooper with technical spins to grinds and stylish backslides. Dan again lacing a fullcab true-topside pornstar down the edge. Everyone is sorta moving the session around to hit everything and making use of the whole park.
Adrien Crasnault - Lui Kang to topsoul
The perfect weather and sunset ensured the sessions to continue as the lights came on and making the park look even more amazing. Thanks to everyone for making the effort and having an awesome day. Young kids pushing themselves in front of the older guys is always a pleasure to watch and really what skatemeets are all about. Products from Kingdom, Ignition and Be-mag is always a pleasure to give out to the young rippers and thanks for the sponsors who support it..Look out for the next one. Im trying to keep is one a month for this year.
Photos and Text - Dale Travers