Edit: Josh Hallett

Words: Farran Golding

Photos: Reece Leung

During the February half term holidays, Left Bank in Leeds installed a number of ramps courtesy of Pete King inside a church. The primary aim of this enterprise was to get more children actively involved in skateboarding, with Skate Pharmacy’s Kris Vile taking up a short residency in Leeds to coach any youngsters wishing to partake.

On February 18^th The Welcome Skate Store crew and I were given private access to the church for an evening. This resulted in great amounts of carnage as we initially struggled to work out the lines from quarter to bank to block whilst weaving in and out of pews and pillars.

Fun was had, beers were cracked open, hammers were hallowed and everyone spent a good portion of the night facing the poetic justice of being blinded by Josh Hallett’s camera light. Alongside the more street based obstacles inside the church, the main attraction was a ‘mini ramp’ in the centre. I’m cautious to say mini ramp, as when walking in the first thing I exclaimed was ‘that’s not a mini ramp it’s a fucking half pipe!’ Regardless, this didn’t stop all manner of West Yorkshire transition devils dishing up their own brand of skateboarding infused justice on the ramp as Martyn Hill, Dave Tyson, Joe Howard and Lee Rozee ripped it to pieces in the name of the father, the son and the holy slash grind.

Overall, the evening was incredibly fun but I feel slightly sorry for the children that had their first skateboarding experience here as the floor was not as welcoming as we’d imagined… However, as highlighted in the Whispers of last month’s issue, when the opportunity to skate something so out of the ordinary presents itself, seize it.