The Departed - UK board brands of yesteryear
From Benjy Boards to Blueprint, Reaction to Superdead, here's part one of 'The Departed - UK board brands of yesteryear'.
After five and a half years of carnage, Crayon Skateboards came to an end in 2013. An announcement on the company’s official Facebook page from owner Matthew ‘Dykie’ Ryan gave special thanks to three people in particular – Nick Richards for filming, editing and web design, Phil Morgan for board and brand design, and Nat Jones who worked on every aspect of the business including catalogues, website and boards.
Crayon team riders included such luminaries as Chris Jones, Welsh Tommy, Korahn Gayle, Dan Wileman, Paul ‘Barber’ Cooper, James Coyle, Andy ‘Evz’ Evans, Matt Davies, Steve King and Chris Gibbons, plus flow rider Jamie Richards. Jones, Coyle, Gayle, Cooper, Wileman and Welsh Tommy all featured in the Summer Tour video from 2010, along with Barney Page and Nicky Howells.
In 2013, Crayon released the Five Years DVD, with highlights including a shared part from Jones and Coyle, wizardry from Welsh Tommy (in what was actually his debut pro section) and a technical onslaught from Evans. Later in the year, to mark the closure of the brand, a retro DVD called simply Crayon Skateboards 2007-2013 RIP was released, which looked back over the good times.
Many former Crayon riders have been picked up by other leading brands, most notably Nike SB’s Chris Jones who was one of the first riders signed to Paul Shier and Nick Jensen’s new company Isle Skateboards, and Bristolian Korahn Gayle, who has found a new home at Skateboard Cafe. Matthew Ryan, meanwhile, went on a cycling trip across the USA.
