The UK’s Strangest Spots
Seeking out unusual, eye catching and downright bizarre architecture to skate is one of skateboarding’s biggest pleasures – whether it’s the Death crew hunting down ‘Death Approved Spot’ UK crust in Squadrophenia or Bob Burnquist hitting natural transitions in the deserts of the US. Striving for innovation is as much a part of an architect’s make up as it is a skateboarder’s, so finding a building work or sculpture of an aesthetically striking nature which also has the bonus of being skateable is almost a sensory overload when hunting for Chin.
Here we’ve compiled some of the most eye catching spots which lay across the UK, taken from the pages of our magazine and featuring plenty of rippers with the necessary all terrain enthusiasm to deal with often less than perfect ground, kinks and the other handicaps invariably thrown up by the desire to escape the confines of your local skatepark.
Kylesku Bridge
Matlok Bennett-Jones – boneless photo by CJ.
This find came about on a 2015 Sidewalk and Rollersnakes trip to the Scottish Highlands, the rest of the photos from which we could have probably made up this article with. Luckily for you we’re not that lazy, but if you haven’t read it then we can highly recommend perusing it and wondering at what may lie in wait if you swap that annual jaunt to Barcelona or Copenhagen for somewhere more off the beaten track…
Wandsworth Roundabout
Geoff Rowley – Boneless photo by Horsley.
This long serving South London gem sprawls over a fair bit of ground and offers up plenty of lines for those willing to deal with badgers-arse ground (though recently resurfaced) and the fact that almost every part of it is gnarly as fuck. The tunnel next to it is long known from it’s appearance at the beginning of Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, while the main section has been skated by too many rippers to list off – but hats definitely tipped in the direction of Ben Raemers’ mental front disaster (Albion ender) and front blunt (enjoi’s Oververt) on the wall which had previously only seen tricks popped into the bank.
Bradford Forster Square Sculpture
Doug McLaughlan – backside air by CJ.
Bradford’s Forster Square plays host to this iconic Yorkshire spot, alongside for a long time some whippy quarters until a recent renovation sadly displaced them. Much grimmer to skate than it looks, a cobbled run up and hard to figure out transition means that not much has really gone down here. Dougie’s floated backside air and Lois Pendlebury’s kickflip ender in her 2009 ‘As If, And What‘ section are two which immediately spring to mind.
