Off-topic Sunday on a Tuesday.
My mate Trawler has a new self-published book out, and I’m involved, I wrote a chapter. DTRA photographer, Ian Roxborough, is doing the layout and Trawler himself raced the Skooter Farm chopper at the first DirtQuake. I see strong parallels between the skate and dirt track early scenes here in the UK.
The book has a limited print run of 550. It’s due for release mid November 2017.
Available from: http://ukskateboardbooks.bigcartel.com
Here are some words from Trawler:
'This is my new book, 240 pages of stories and photos from the British skateboarding ramp era of the eighties . Following on from the well received ‘Snakes and Moguls’ book last year.
This books contains Farnborough, Crystal Palace, Warrington and all the famous and hidden away ramps of the time. All the British DIY skate-zines are included too, this was a great time to be skateboarding in the pre-digital times.”
'It was the early '80s and the first wave of British skateboarding was well and truly dead. The skateparks 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, Skil-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 skate-zines and newsletters to communicate between tribes. Out of nothing, skateboarders created and upheld their own scene. This book tells that story.'