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Mark ‘Trawler’ Lawer’s 8ft Tranny and a Foot of Vert – Preorder now

Mark ‘Trawler’ Lawer’s new book ‘8ft Tranny and a Foot of Vert’, offering up a potted history of the UK backyard vert ramp era, is now available to preorder. Read the press release and the book’s intro below, alongside a few choice glimpses of what lies inside, and get preordering!

This is my new book 240 pages of awesome stories and photos from the British ramp era. We built them tight back then 8foot transition and a 1 foot of vertical. Hence the title. Following on from the well received Snakes and Moguls -70’s skateparks book last year. This books contains Farnborough and Crystal Palace, Warrington and all the famous and hidden away ramps of the time. All the British skatezines are included too, this was a great time to be skateboarding in a pre digital era.
Thanks for reading on, Mark ‘Trawler’ Lawer
Available for pre order here.
It was the early eighties and the first wave of British skateboarding was well and truly dead. 
The skateparks had died and many closed and were demolished due to the low attendance and high insurance costs.
Skateboarding went into a deep coma and was on life support, it needed intensive care.
All that was left of our skateboard scene were a few survivors, we were outcasts left to fend for ourselves. 
What were we to do? 
We had nowhere to ride, nothing else existed and we sure as hell didn’t want to give up.
Time to get building, be resourceful and figure out how to keep this thing going. 
We got busy with the hammer and nails, Skill-saws and countersink screws. 
The ramp era was born. Born out of necessity, we had a deep drive to keep the fun and stoke alive.
Before too long a network of ramps were popping up in the strangest places all over the country. 
From barns to farmers fields, the back end of sport centres and on private land out of the public view, we begged stole and borrowed to hoist our splintery creations. Every diehard skater in the dark days helped out and taught themselves how to do it. 
These times saw an awesome high speed progression in skateboarding. It didn’t go up in the level of participation but the level of performance went through the roof.
We kept it alive, generating a thinly spread underground movement with occasional sparsely attended contests and homemade skatezines and newsletters to communicate between tribes. 

Out of nothing skateboarders created and upheld their own scene. This book tells that story.

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