Our 2016 Photographers Stories series continues with this selection from Midlands-based lensman and Get Lesta affiliate Matt Clarke. Swampy ditch spots, shitty shoes, abandoned mines, kebab shop drops and DIY shed ramps all paint a microcosmic picture of the trials, tribulations and successes of UK skateboarding.
1) Callum McRobbie – Crailslide, Kettering
This spot is amazing! Found by Joel Peck and friends, it’s the usual story of a drainage ditch with transitions and bank to ledges but is next to a rad skater’s bungalow that overlooks a reservoir. The guy Sean gave us some homemade mead and honey, let us use some tools to clean up the spot and even let us go out on his canoe!
Callum got this long fast crailslide after getting rid of the slime at the bottom with some cat litter, but not without his board going in the swamp right behind me in the photo.