Raiders of the Lost Park episode 2
Earlier this Summer we decided that it was high time we started to visit and document some of the bizarre, and at times bewildering, council built skateparks that litter the playing fields of the UK.
Since the late 2000’s, the vast majority of council-funded skateparks have been built by reputable companies with direct input from skateboarders and BMX’ers insuring that the modern crop of parks no longer look like some of the abortions from the previous era – many of which you can find listed here: Concrete Dog Eggs.

We began this Raiders of the Lost Park project with a visit to the green metal anomaly that is Nunroyd Skatepark on the outskirts of Leeds, which despite looking terrible, actually spawned a really heavy and enjoyable session.
Since releasing the first article, we’ve been inundated with suggestions of places to visit next on Facebook and via the the #somebodycallnyjah hashtag on the SidewalkMag Instagram which is both amusing and somewhat concerning.
A skater from Stoke-on-Trent called Ben Evans was one of those people who responded to the call for targets for Raiders of the Lost Park episode 2 and offered up two bizarre-looking skateparks near his home which we duly elected to go and visit. With the Welcome Skatestore crew, plus a couple of Barnsley and Derby heads in tow, we turned up at Tunstall skatepark to be greeted by what looked at first like a load of unskateable scrap metal dumped on an old tennis court. However, as with the first mission, things slowly took on a different hue as people got their heads around the park and began to enjoy its weird offerings.

“It’s kind of like going street skating in a scrap yard, just with more kids on scooters…”

Anyway, enough blabbing – sit back and enjoy Raiders of the Lost Park episode 2 at two of the best worst skateparks we’ve ever seen. Leave a comment on our Facebook or underneath the YouTube video if you’ve got a skatepark suitable for a mission. Part 3 coming soon.