Skatepark building in the UK has come on leaps and bounds in the last fifteen years. The 90s saw a wide array of council monstrosities, concrete dog eggs and splintered deathtraps pop up across the land, offering young skateboarders everywhere the chance to remember that no, they weren’t in California. While the creation of parks such as Crawley, Cantelowes and particularly Saffron Walden spurred councils across the country to step their game up and not just throw money at some local cowboy builders who know as much about skateboarding as I do about quantum physics, some of these relics of the wilderness years still exist, a testament to clueless box tickers and dodgy builders creating a perfect storm of utter shite.
As grim as these parks clearly are, we are aiming to highlight their crapness in a (semi) affectionate way – there has to be something to be said for a skatepark that’s harder to skate than any other spot in your town, and anything is fun with the right crew. These are part of our skate heritage so grab a tinny, scroll through, marvel at what someone at some point considered to be a genuine community facility and feel free to forward your own examples or tag us in on Instagram @sidewalkmag using the hashtag #somebodycallnyjah
