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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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Am I alright to wet
my whistle quicky?

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No, no, no...

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Wait, wait wait! Come on!

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What are we doing?

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Put it right by Lance's face.

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- Yeah, there we go.
- There we go.

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- Can we get a...
- Yeah.

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- Rolling...
- Check mate.

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- Check please.

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Czech Republic.

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- Czechoslovakia.
- Czechoslovakia.

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How bad does that look?

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You got me thinking,
I'm a bit...

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Are you allowed to swear in it?

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I'm 53 years old.

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Old enough to know better.

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It's the most unlikely thing
to find

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in this suburban
semi-industrial bit of Essex.

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I always found it quite
magical, coming over here.

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I think about this amazing
kind of lunar landscape.

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Like tonight you look
at beautiful blue skies.

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The way the shadows kind
of come off everything.

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I never ever get bored of
walking through the door.

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I actually think about
Dion and Jonesy and Rob

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and Graham, and the people thatare sort of there, every Sunday

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It is a group of people that
you really associate with Rom.

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People come over and
they, they just get on.

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Why would you go to Rom?

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Which is rough...

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Looks a bit tired and you
have to pay to get in.

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Well, you've got to go
there for a special reason.

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What's special about Rom?

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Well, the pool is the thing
above all which is special.

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But not only is it a pool,
it's a sort of legit pool.

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It's a tough, scary
bastard of a pool.

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that you know, makes
you feel a bit afraid

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everytime you drop into it.

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You go there to immerse
yourself in 40 years of

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British skateboard history.

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And to sort of be wrappedup in that whole thing

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of being back in '78,

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and by extension back into the
backyard pools of California.

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To step into a landscape...

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where you've got this pool,

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which has been consciously
designed on the back garden

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pool of an American film star

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or whatever.

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Where kids used to break
in and skate around.

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In cultural terms, that's
absolutely extraordinary

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when you think about it.

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I mean, when did you guysstart doing the whole

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kind of breaking in and draining pools?

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It's all fake.

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That's so fake.

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Yes. It's all lies. All myth.

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Every time Dion skates the pool

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he's in California

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and Dion's skated backyard
pools in California

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He knows what it means. It'snot just an imagination for him.

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He's done it. And
that's what he's doing.

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We went out to Palm Springsone year.

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and actually got to drain a pool

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and skate and do
that whole thing, you know?

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And it was just like, I
couldn't sleep that night.

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I aimed to do all my life.
it's just, I've done it. What

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You know, it's part what,
what it was about for years.

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think God, love to do that.
watch it in videos and

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But if there's just not
pools like that over here.

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There is breaking in.

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There was, there was...

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But it's still like romanticallyblown out of proportion.

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You don't just come here andrip this park.

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It's got its own flavour and its own scenario.

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You'd put a little...time and energy.

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Maybe you two can rip this
park,

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but you don't justcome here and start ripping.

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Wow! Yeah!

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Oh whoa!

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You gotta want that rip.

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Nothing's free here, you know.

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Rough and... Rough and
steep and deep and gnarly.

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But it's good.

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I tried to find it and I couldn't find it.

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I drove past it several times.

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There were no signs sayingskate park here.

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You know, it's almost as if
it's deliberately hidden away.

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As this sort of slightly
kind of secret society...

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Or like a golf club that
you don't see the golf club

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because it's up the driveway
and behind the trees

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and behind the fences.

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It's got a little bit
of that character.

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It's this sort of extraordinarything when you finally find it.

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Adrian Rolt from G force, who
are the people that built Rom,

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went out to America, looked
at a load of skate parks.

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Saw Skateboard Heaven at SpringValley and some other parks,

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came back to Britain

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and started building a wholeseries of skate parks,

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which effectively they built during 1978.

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Rom is one of the last tobe built.

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But the very last is one
in Gillingham

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called Black Lion Skate Park
right at the end of '78.

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They all have this kit of parts,

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of a Pool, and a Half Pipe, anda

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Snake Run, and some Moguls,
and a Cloverleaf, and so on.

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But Rom is the only one that hasthe full set of all those bits.

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I was a professional skater

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and other professional skaters
came to the Rom

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while it was being built,

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and they saw the quality
of the construction,

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and they warned the owner
that it wasn't good enough.

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It wasn't smooth enough.

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I mean they had someproblems building Rom.

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It was built in one of
the worst summers in
British history with rain.

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It finally opened in the August.

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It was supposed to have
opened at the beginning of

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the six weeks holidays...

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But it pissed rain all Spring
so they had a lot of trouble

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finishing the concrete.

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And it finally opened
in the middle of August.

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And it just, I remember
walking in for the first

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time and just like, 'Wow'.

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We'd never seen a skate
park. There was no such

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thing in England, you know.

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That we'd had really
any proper experience.

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It's just... Died
and gone to heaven!

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And I've been in heaven ever
since! On and off, you know.

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So then he talked to his
architect and the architect

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searched a few resources

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in the skateboard
industry and found me.

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I had been in California.

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I had skated skate parks thereand I might know what the

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standards of a skate park were..

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What is required?

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And so they hired me to
come out here and consult

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with this construction crew.

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They had made this bowl
and part of the halfpipe.

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And it was really rough.

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It was uneven surface,
not suitable for the

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rest of the skate park.

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So, I consulted them
and they insulted me!

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It was a rough day
or two there.

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They were really hard on me.

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Construction crew up against a20 year old kid from California

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who is a skateboarder.

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They listened to me though
and you can see how the

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rest of the park is smooth.

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Except for the largeaggregate in the sand,

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which makes it a rough surface.

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It's a smooth design.

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The local papers were full ofthis news about this skateboard

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park thats going to be opening.

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And so I went over, tookthe tube over and saw

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them levelling the land.

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Saw them putting down the
steel frame for the concrete.

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I actually started skating
it before it opened.

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So where the workers would be there laying the concrete and I

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would wait until they went home.

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And try skating the place.

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Sometimes the concrete
was a bit wet, so it

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wasn't necessarily good.

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There was this mouthy, gobby
little ginger haired guy

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that turned out to
be Robbie Hunter.

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He said "They're buildinga skate park across the

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road from my house".

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So I'm like "No they're not!".

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"Yes they are,
come and have a look".

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So, alright.

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So we came down the upperRainham road,

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looked over the builders hoarding and sure enough

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00:10:05,674 --> 00:10:06,640
this place was being built.

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The first thing that was built
was the Performance Bowl.

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We used to come down here
at night, jump the fence

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and skate a bit when
the builders had gone.

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We got chased out.

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I think they got wise to kids
getting in, they sort of put

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security guard here I think.

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You couldn't get in
here in the evenings.

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I must have been such a
pain in the backside for the

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00:10:22,691 --> 00:10:24,762
builders and for the owners.

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One of the most evident
changes at Rom today

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is how much rougher it is today

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than when it was back in'78 when it was first built.

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The park was so brandnew. The concrete was

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a bluey, bluey white.

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Yeah, it was all white.
Pure white when I

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come over here

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You got like a white
residue on your wheels

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00:10:44,367 --> 00:10:45,368
coz it was so new.

191
00:10:45,403 --> 00:10:46,956
It had only been open
about three months.

192
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But I just remember
it being a bright day.

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The Rom skate park was so
clean and the pool

194
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Still looking that crystal white, with a sparkle to it.

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It felt like a different
world from like a grey rainy

196
00:11:01,108 --> 00:11:02,316
council estate in Essex.

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00:11:02,351 --> 00:11:04,249
And I thought, yeah,
this is a life, this is

198
00:11:04,284 --> 00:11:05,941
a place I'd like to be.

199
00:11:06,286 --> 00:11:10,048
And somehow they built this
little corner of California

200
00:11:10,083 --> 00:11:11,187
all grey and rain streaked..

201
00:11:11,222 --> 00:11:13,742
But nevertheless, a little
corner of California

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00:11:13,776 --> 00:11:14,674
in Hornchurch.

203
00:11:15,191 --> 00:11:17,055
No one knew how to make
a skate park. They just

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started pouring concrete.

205
00:11:18,229 --> 00:11:21,025
What they thought America
had poured, you know?

206
00:11:21,301 --> 00:11:25,132
They had no idea of thesethings. It was all experimental.

207
00:11:25,374 --> 00:11:28,204
The fact that you guys got
that stuff built,

208
00:11:28,239 --> 00:11:30,103
and it's still there
is just...

209
00:11:30,897 --> 00:11:31,760
It's incredible.

210
00:11:32,415 --> 00:11:36,592
Rom is the complete collector's
edition of G force skate parks

211
00:11:36,626 --> 00:11:38,836
and has everything in it
that they they ever built.

212
00:11:39,595 --> 00:11:41,010
We're in Romford right?

213
00:11:41,424 --> 00:11:43,254
I feel like I'm in San Diego!

214
00:11:46,809 --> 00:11:50,571
That transition, not
just in sporting terms

215
00:11:50,606 --> 00:11:55,542
but in cultural terms, indesign terms is amazing really.

216
00:11:56,060 --> 00:12:01,237
And so, to see these designscarved out of these holes

217
00:12:01,272 --> 00:12:03,136
in the ground in Essex.

218
00:12:03,446 --> 00:12:05,932
A county I should add,

219
00:12:05,966 --> 00:12:08,313
where Americanism was
really significant.

220
00:12:08,348 --> 00:12:11,109
Because of the American air
bases in East Anglia

221
00:12:11,144 --> 00:12:13,560
to a certain extent, Dagenham
at Fords,

222
00:12:13,594 --> 00:12:15,665
which is an
American intervention.

223
00:12:15,700 --> 00:12:20,567
You see this a lot across
Essex and across East Anglia.

224
00:12:21,948 --> 00:12:25,330
For myself and many, many
other kids of

225
00:12:25,365 --> 00:12:26,366
my generation
growing up in the '80s,

226
00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:28,126
we were just thrill seekers.

227
00:12:28,161 --> 00:12:30,646
We was spoonfed a hell
of a lot of stuff that

228
00:12:30,680 --> 00:12:31,854
come out of the States.

229
00:12:31,889 --> 00:12:33,925
And we just, we just
lapped it up, you know.

230
00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:36,410
We were a dry sponge, we
become a wet sponge and

231
00:12:36,445 --> 00:12:38,481
we just lapped everything up.

232
00:12:39,586 --> 00:12:41,933
I set about every single
day.

233
00:12:41,968 --> 00:12:44,625
Every single free
moment I had practising.

234
00:12:45,005 --> 00:12:48,388
Doing every trick in the book,
You know, reading

235
00:12:48,422 --> 00:12:50,424
every American magazine
I can get my hands on.

236
00:12:50,459 --> 00:12:54,359
So to see this sort of
little pool of California,

237
00:12:54,394 --> 00:12:59,019
this little bit of California onthe edge of Hornchurch in Essex

238
00:12:59,675 --> 00:13:02,816
in 1970s Britain, strikes
all sorts of chords

239
00:13:02,851 --> 00:13:05,198
with me as a historian.

240
00:13:05,715 --> 00:13:09,098
And that's why the more I saw
it, the more I thought about

241
00:13:09,133 --> 00:13:10,065
it, the more I thought...

242
00:13:10,444 --> 00:13:13,654
This is an important place.
This has got to be preserved.

243
00:13:14,448 --> 00:13:15,553
It's special, you know.

244
00:13:15,587 --> 00:13:18,280
You go all over the world,
people know this place.

245
00:13:18,314 --> 00:13:21,421
And to have you on your doorstepis, yeah, it's a privilege.

246
00:13:23,285 --> 00:13:24,527
It was so well organised.

247
00:13:24,562 --> 00:13:26,184
You had to pay on entry,

248
00:13:26,219 --> 00:13:27,185
had a cafe,

249
00:13:27,220 --> 00:13:28,635
had gaming machines.

250
00:13:29,049 --> 00:13:31,258
You had a shop, youknow, it had everything.

251
00:13:31,293 --> 00:13:33,605
And then you walkedinto the skate park

252
00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,505
and it was just anoasis of a playground.

253
00:13:37,230 --> 00:13:39,197
For bikes and skateboards

254
00:13:39,232 --> 00:13:42,062
and it's in Romford, seven miles from my house.

255
00:13:48,862 --> 00:13:50,070
Here we go. Here's Rom.

256
00:13:50,795 --> 00:13:52,245
So my memory is shot.

257
00:13:52,762 --> 00:13:54,730
So I actually might've
gotten knockout at Rom.

258
00:13:56,905 --> 00:13:58,285
We heard that they're
starting to have skate

259
00:13:58,320 --> 00:13:59,908
parks around the world.

260
00:14:00,874 --> 00:14:01,841
I was like, I want to go.

261
00:14:02,117 --> 00:14:04,119
And my dad wanted to show
me some more museums, so

262
00:14:04,153 --> 00:14:05,154
we went on a little...

263
00:14:07,467 --> 00:14:08,675
excursion that was awesome.

264
00:14:09,296 --> 00:14:10,263
Trying to find these parks

265
00:14:11,195 --> 00:14:11,954
and skate them.

266
00:14:11,989 --> 00:14:13,335
We fell in love with it.

267
00:14:13,369 --> 00:14:16,372
My son went when he was older
and he was like, I belong here.

268
00:14:16,407 --> 00:14:17,891
I don't want to leave here.

269
00:14:18,271 --> 00:14:20,445
Kind of was saying to me
like, you don't understand.

270
00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:21,688
I was like, Oh, I understand.

271
00:14:21,722 --> 00:14:23,759
We did the same like,

272
00:14:23,793 --> 00:14:25,381
but because of skateboarding
I felt like I belonged

273
00:14:25,416 --> 00:14:26,417
there, but I'm living here.

274
00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:28,005
It's Rom right here.

275
00:14:28,937 --> 00:14:30,800
Hornchurch, Essex.

276
00:14:31,111 --> 00:14:33,596
Simply the biggest and
the best. No question!

277
00:14:34,563 --> 00:14:35,598
Come see for yourself.

278
00:14:35,771 --> 00:14:37,393
So I guess it is
the biggest one.

279
00:14:37,428 --> 00:14:38,498
Safety equipment for hire,

280
00:14:40,396 --> 00:14:41,294
fully marshalled,

281
00:14:44,987 --> 00:14:46,092
first aid room,

282
00:14:47,196 --> 00:14:49,198
pro shop, cafeteria, club room,

283
00:14:50,717 --> 00:14:51,856
amusement machines!

284
00:14:52,995 --> 00:14:55,964
80
Pence for two hours.

285
00:14:55,998 --> 00:14:57,034
80 Pence.

286
00:14:58,725 --> 00:14:59,760
Well there you go.

287
00:15:34,381 --> 00:15:38,316
Well this place was originally
owned by a consortium

288
00:15:38,351 --> 00:15:39,731
of oil wholesalers,

289
00:15:39,766 --> 00:15:41,354
They owned petrol garages, etc.

290
00:15:41,388 --> 00:15:44,598
They decided to build the Rom
skate park in the boom time

291
00:15:44,633 --> 00:15:46,393
when other big companies
were getting involved

292
00:15:46,428 --> 00:15:47,429
like Tate and Lyle.

293
00:15:47,808 --> 00:15:49,845
They thought there was
a fortune to be had.

294
00:15:49,879 --> 00:15:52,744
And I used to come here coz
I used to wholesale skateboards

295
00:15:52,779 --> 00:15:55,195
because my brother builtthe first skate park in London,

296
00:15:55,230 --> 00:15:57,128
which was Skate City.

297
00:15:57,163 --> 00:15:59,751
The word went out, you
can go and tip hardcore

298
00:15:59,786 --> 00:16:00,890
at London Bridge.

299
00:16:00,925 --> 00:16:03,445
So all the lorries in Londoninstead of going out to

300
00:16:03,479 --> 00:16:04,791
Bedfordshire to tip thier loads,

301
00:16:04,825 --> 00:16:07,863
would come into skate
city and tip their load

302
00:16:07,897 --> 00:16:09,416
and get bunged a few quid.

303
00:16:09,451 --> 00:16:12,143
So my brother was earning
thousands of pounds and

304
00:16:12,178 --> 00:16:13,489
made a great big hill.

305
00:16:13,524 --> 00:16:15,146
Then they concreted it
and everyone came down

306
00:16:15,181 --> 00:16:16,147
this hill like

307
00:16:17,631 --> 00:16:19,323
Hit the bottom and
broke their arms.

308
00:16:22,084 --> 00:16:22,982
Couldn't stop!

309
00:16:23,465 --> 00:16:25,846
Oh this is good isnt it! Help!

310
00:16:25,881 --> 00:16:28,263
I used to have a van and go
around the country selling

311
00:16:28,297 --> 00:16:29,850
skateboards to the shops,

312
00:16:29,885 --> 00:16:31,197
and this was one of my calls.

313
00:16:31,611 --> 00:16:33,578
And I got friendly with the owner.

314
00:16:33,613 --> 00:16:35,235
and he said, "Do you
want to take it on?"

315
00:16:35,270 --> 00:16:36,478
I said, "yeah, I'll take it on".

316
00:16:36,823 --> 00:16:38,998
I think the first day I
stood behind that counter,

317
00:16:39,032 --> 00:16:40,861
I took about £1.40.

318
00:16:41,241 --> 00:16:42,691
It was disastrous.

319
00:16:42,725 --> 00:16:47,006
but we carried on, endeavoured ocarry on and it turned out okay.

320
00:16:49,836 --> 00:16:51,493
I used to have two Dobermans,

321
00:16:51,907 --> 00:16:54,289
We used to clear the
skate park at two o'clock.

322
00:16:54,737 --> 00:16:56,222
They'd run round and
get everybody out.

323
00:16:56,429 --> 00:16:57,809
Never bit anyone!

324
00:16:57,844 --> 00:16:59,604
They were just frightened ofthese Dobermans for some reason!

325
00:16:59,639 --> 00:17:01,710
They were always
under my control.

326
00:17:01,744 --> 00:17:06,025
But, that was just the story
that grew and grew, you know?

327
00:17:06,922 --> 00:17:08,061
Lovely when I think about it.

328
00:17:09,994 --> 00:17:10,857
I think I have, yeah.

329
00:17:12,859 --> 00:17:14,102
Big bad John, you know.

330
00:17:14,999 --> 00:17:19,866
Big John got this place in '78,it had been open six months.

331
00:17:19,900 --> 00:17:21,316
It was going bankrupt,
it was going to shut.

332
00:17:21,799 --> 00:17:25,906
He walked in the door, sackedeveryone, took over, got his own

333
00:17:25,941 --> 00:17:27,253
staff and he is still here now.

334
00:17:27,287 --> 00:17:28,771
It's unheard of man.

335
00:17:28,806 --> 00:17:30,463
And he didn't even skateboardbig John. You know what I mean?

336
00:17:31,084 --> 00:17:31,774
Unheard of.

337
00:17:32,361 --> 00:17:34,536
I mean it's been amazing whatthe Greenwood family have done

338
00:17:34,570 --> 00:17:36,676
with that place over the years.

339
00:17:36,710 --> 00:17:38,298
You know, all credit to
them sticking through it

340
00:17:38,333 --> 00:17:39,541
through thick and thin.

341
00:17:39,989 --> 00:17:42,889
John and John, they deserve
medals for that.

342
00:17:42,923 --> 00:17:44,270
It's amazing what
they've done.

343
00:17:44,304 --> 00:17:49,068
I ran the skate park from
1978 until five years ago

344
00:17:49,102 --> 00:17:50,586
when my son took it over.

345
00:17:50,897 --> 00:17:53,727
It's a testament to the
Greenwood family that

346
00:17:53,762 --> 00:17:54,970
have kept it going all
these years, you know.

347
00:17:55,004 --> 00:17:57,455
Its on it's arse at the
moment, as a business,

348
00:17:57,490 --> 00:17:58,560
but they still keep it going.

349
00:17:58,594 --> 00:18:00,389
I think they know how
important it is to people.

350
00:18:07,051 --> 00:18:10,779
To be able to bring my kids
here now and for them to enjoy

351
00:18:10,813 --> 00:18:12,505
the same things that I did,

352
00:18:12,919 --> 00:18:14,093
and see it the same way.

353
00:18:14,714 --> 00:18:16,509
Yeah, that gives you
a really good feeling.

354
00:18:16,923 --> 00:18:18,994
It's not about
making money anymore.

355
00:18:19,028 --> 00:18:21,548
It's about my old man's
legacy for one.

356
00:18:21,583 --> 00:18:23,032
He's done 30 years

357
00:18:23,067 --> 00:18:24,517
working there every day and it'slike be a shame just

358
00:18:24,551 --> 00:18:25,621
to tear the place down.

359
00:18:25,656 --> 00:18:27,485
Like he obviously cared
about it or he wouldnt

360
00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:28,728
have stayed for so long.

361
00:18:28,762 --> 00:18:30,937
John and his dad, they've
done an amazing job

362
00:18:30,971 --> 00:18:32,111
keeping this place going.

363
00:18:32,145 --> 00:18:33,767
Cause there's been hard
times with those guys.

364
00:18:34,768 --> 00:18:36,839
It got to the point threemonths ago when I had

365
00:18:36,874 --> 00:18:38,358
minus £2,000 in my overdraft.

366
00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:40,119
And that was it, game over.

367
00:18:40,153 --> 00:18:42,466
So literally... I'm on the edge.

368
00:18:54,754 --> 00:18:59,759
In English law, historic
buildings can be listed.

369
00:18:59,793 --> 00:19:02,624
That means they're protectedfor historic purposes.

370
00:19:02,658 --> 00:19:05,247
Grade 1 is St Paul's.

371
00:19:05,282 --> 00:19:08,181
You know, you can't even
breathe on that structure,

372
00:19:08,216 --> 00:19:10,632
without filling in a
form in triplicate and

373
00:19:10,666 --> 00:19:11,978
being denied six times.

374
00:19:12,185 --> 00:19:15,154
Grade two is the most common

375
00:19:15,188 --> 00:19:18,950
and it basically means
that whatever is considered

376
00:19:18,985 --> 00:19:20,366
to be of historic value

377
00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:24,818
cannot be altered or knocked
down without approval.

378
00:19:24,853 --> 00:19:26,786
Wow, so Rom can't be bulldozed?

379
00:19:27,062 --> 00:19:28,167
Oh, that's wonderful!

380
00:19:31,411 --> 00:19:34,449
You can't really consider a
building for listing until

381
00:19:34,483 --> 00:19:36,313
it's about 30 years old.

382
00:19:36,658 --> 00:19:39,488
So skate parks for a start,
fit very much within

383
00:19:39,523 --> 00:19:41,283
that 1970's bracket.

384
00:19:41,732 --> 00:19:44,493
Simon Inglis at English
Heritage gave me a call

385
00:19:44,528 --> 00:19:47,979
and said, "We're
thinking of listing a

386
00:19:48,014 --> 00:19:50,189
skate park in England,"

387
00:19:50,223 --> 00:19:53,330
"and we're thinking of
listing Harrow skate park."

388
00:19:53,537 --> 00:19:56,885
"So do you think this is
a good idea and

389
00:19:56,919 --> 00:19:58,404
have we got the
right skate park?"

390
00:19:58,438 --> 00:20:01,786
So I said, "Well, my
short answer is yes and no.

391
00:20:01,821 --> 00:20:05,031
Yes, it's a good idea, but also,you've got the wrong one".

392
00:20:10,347 --> 00:20:14,074
The first skate park that I wentto in my professional capacity

393
00:20:14,109 --> 00:20:16,732
was the Harrow skate park.

394
00:20:16,767 --> 00:20:18,734
A local authority skate park,

395
00:20:19,183 --> 00:20:23,049
from a historical and anwhich to me was very interesting

396
00:20:23,083 --> 00:20:24,050
architectural point of view.

397
00:20:24,084 --> 00:20:27,812
because it had many
of the elements of a

398
00:20:27,847 --> 00:20:29,918
classic 1970s skate park.

399
00:20:30,298 --> 00:20:32,023
But it was clear to me
that there had been

400
00:20:32,058 --> 00:20:33,162
certain changes

401
00:20:33,197 --> 00:20:35,303
certain adaptations,
some of the bits had been

402
00:20:35,337 --> 00:20:36,338
filled in, and so on.

403
00:20:37,443 --> 00:20:39,168
My last trip, I remember
visiting the Harrow

404
00:20:39,203 --> 00:20:40,515
skate park which...

405
00:20:41,378 --> 00:20:44,139
Really, it was reminiscent of
when I started skating.

406
00:20:44,173 --> 00:20:46,037
And there were, you know, a handful of old

407
00:20:46,072 --> 00:20:47,142
'70s parks still around

408
00:20:47,176 --> 00:20:48,212
That was 1980.

409
00:20:49,006 --> 00:20:50,973
And that was my first
experience in skate parks and

410
00:20:51,008 --> 00:20:52,251
really with skateboarding.

411
00:20:52,285 --> 00:20:54,977
And so when I see one of
those spaces, you know, one of

412
00:20:55,012 --> 00:20:57,048
these sort of heritage spaces,

413
00:20:57,083 --> 00:21:00,293
it brings back a lot of memoriesand great feelings, you know.

414
00:21:00,535 --> 00:21:02,433
At that time skate parks
weren't perfect,

415
00:21:02,468 --> 00:21:03,192
but in a way like,

416
00:21:03,676 --> 00:21:06,644
you associated the
imperfections of the skate
park

417
00:21:06,679 --> 00:21:07,714
to part of his character.

418
00:21:07,749 --> 00:21:10,993
And of course talking
to skateboarding people.

419
00:21:11,028 --> 00:21:14,203
The words 'Rom skatepark'
come up repeatedly.

420
00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:19,278
Romford to us, was we
travelled miles to come here.

421
00:21:19,312 --> 00:21:21,280
This is a Mecca for us.

422
00:21:21,728 --> 00:21:24,283
Coaches, buses, trains.

423
00:21:24,317 --> 00:21:26,250
However we could get
here, we'd get here.

424
00:21:26,837 --> 00:21:29,288
So the key thing was to

425
00:21:29,322 --> 00:21:31,186
find examples of skate
park that were both

426
00:21:31,773 --> 00:21:36,467
interesting and well designed
and that had survived.

427
00:21:36,502 --> 00:21:37,710
And this was the
most important thing,

428
00:21:37,744 --> 00:21:39,367
that had survived intact.

429
00:21:39,574 --> 00:21:43,094
And the Rom skatepark
immediately came to the

430
00:21:43,129 --> 00:21:44,579
top of of that list.

431
00:21:45,062 --> 00:21:49,031
And the skate park of
course, is not a park in

432
00:21:49,066 --> 00:21:50,447
the conventional sense,

433
00:21:50,826 --> 00:21:54,002
but it's not a building
in the conventional sense.

434
00:21:54,589 --> 00:21:58,765
It's a bit of concrete
that follows the contours

435
00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:00,974
of the designer's pattern.

436
00:22:01,009 --> 00:22:05,772
So in that sense, it is
truly a designed landscape,

437
00:22:06,635 --> 00:22:08,188
but it's built out of concrete.

438
00:22:08,672 --> 00:22:11,122
The people in charge of
designation of listing at

439
00:22:11,157 --> 00:22:12,261
English heritage

440
00:22:12,710 --> 00:22:16,265
haven't really come across
anything like this before.

441
00:22:16,645 --> 00:22:18,440
You skate a park like this,
and it's not just about

442
00:22:18,475 --> 00:22:19,648
skating individual features.

443
00:22:19,683 --> 00:22:22,237
It's skating between them
and skating from one end to

444
00:22:22,271 --> 00:22:23,997
the other and then moving
from one to the other.

445
00:22:24,032 --> 00:22:26,724
And you just build this
experience and

446
00:22:26,759 --> 00:22:28,554
probably every time you come here trying to mix up the order

447
00:22:28,588 --> 00:22:30,383
and you mix up the
direction you go in

448
00:22:30,418 --> 00:22:32,592
and you just, you know, if
you have a whole different

449
00:22:32,627 --> 00:22:33,628
experience every time.

450
00:22:33,662 --> 00:22:35,250
And you know, it's
just... it's just amazing.

451
00:22:35,664 --> 00:22:38,391
It's not a cathedral,
it's not a monastery.

452
00:22:38,978 --> 00:22:40,600
It's not a great house.

453
00:22:40,842 --> 00:22:43,569
It's about fun. It's
about recreation.

454
00:22:43,914 --> 00:22:47,573
So when I thought about
listing a skate park,

455
00:22:47,607 --> 00:22:50,161
I knew that I would be
testing the boundaries.

456
00:22:50,196 --> 00:22:53,130
Heritage is not about history.

457
00:22:53,924 --> 00:23:00,102
It's about what we consider tobe important about our history.

458
00:23:00,896 --> 00:23:06,212
Clearly what we value about
our heritage now in the

459
00:23:06,246 --> 00:23:07,282
beginning of the 21st century

460
00:23:07,316 --> 00:23:11,182
is different to what
people valued

461
00:23:11,217 --> 00:23:14,462
in the fifties or the sixties orthe seventies and so on.

462
00:23:15,117 --> 00:23:17,879
It moves on as we move on.

463
00:23:18,293 --> 00:23:20,640
So coming here today was
kind of reminder,

464
00:23:20,675 --> 00:23:23,402
a throwback to when I was
younger and more energetic.

465
00:23:23,609 --> 00:23:25,576
Kind of gave me that
thrill of when I first

466
00:23:25,611 --> 00:23:26,612
started skating parks,

467
00:23:26,853 --> 00:23:28,130
back in... Way back when.

468
00:23:28,648 --> 00:23:32,134
And so when I proposed the
skate park for listing,

469
00:23:32,169 --> 00:23:35,655
just thinking this is going
to test the boundaries,

470
00:23:36,069 --> 00:23:38,417
but at the same time feeling,
no, this is important.

471
00:23:38,658 --> 00:23:40,936
This is a sport that was
established in the '70s,

472
00:23:41,661 --> 00:23:43,663
and has taken root in this
country.

473
00:23:45,182 --> 00:23:47,943
At the same time, I thought
this is going to be a battle.

474
00:23:48,703 --> 00:23:52,154
One is fighting battles the
whole time, uphill battles

475
00:23:52,189 --> 00:23:53,501
to preserve buildings

476
00:23:53,535 --> 00:23:56,642
and I'll be honest, we
lose more than we win.

477
00:23:56,849 --> 00:23:58,885
People see dollar signs,
probably flattening it

478
00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:01,129
and turning into housing
or something like that.

479
00:24:01,163 --> 00:24:06,030
and so there's always this
sort of struggle to keep skate

480
00:24:06,065 --> 00:24:08,067
parks sort of alive really.

481
00:24:08,999 --> 00:24:13,624
At the same time we found that,of course, there were people

482
00:24:13,659 --> 00:24:14,729
working now for English Heritage

483
00:24:15,074 --> 00:24:17,594
who had skateboarded
in their youth.

484
00:24:19,078 --> 00:24:21,149
And instead of looking at
this proposal and saying

485
00:24:21,183 --> 00:24:24,842
"Come on guys, we can't do
this, there's going to be all

486
00:24:24,877 --> 00:24:26,775
sorts of opposition to this".

487
00:24:27,293 --> 00:24:29,778
They were saying
"Yeah, we get this."

488
00:24:31,193 --> 00:24:33,575
And that's the bottom
line really that BMX and

489
00:24:33,610 --> 00:24:35,094
skateboarding and all these
places and going to Rom,

490
00:24:35,128 --> 00:24:36,544
it was about having
fun, you know.

491
00:24:36,578 --> 00:24:37,441
We were enjoying it.

492
00:24:37,924 --> 00:24:40,686
It's an amazing life to
to be able to do that.

493
00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:43,654
To come here and have the
Mogul Bowls and have all

494
00:24:43,689 --> 00:24:44,966
the different concrete waves

495
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,865
and meet with these other
different skaters and be

496
00:24:47,900 --> 00:24:49,073
influenced and inspired by

497
00:24:49,108 --> 00:24:51,213
the latest tricks, things
that were going on.

498
00:24:51,248 --> 00:24:52,456
The films that were coming out.

499
00:24:52,870 --> 00:24:55,666
I mean Rom skatepark
really was a place where

500
00:24:55,701 --> 00:24:56,598
dreams were made of

501
00:24:56,633 --> 00:24:58,427
if you were that age
and into skating.

502
00:25:11,544 --> 00:25:13,512
There are certain type
of people, they are.

503
00:25:13,926 --> 00:25:15,272
The Romblians I'll call them.

504
00:25:15,652 --> 00:25:18,344
Skate park communities
overall, is they're

505
00:25:18,378 --> 00:25:19,103
largely without class,

506
00:25:19,138 --> 00:25:20,760
largely without racism,

507
00:25:21,140 --> 00:25:22,382
bigotry and so forth.

508
00:25:22,417 --> 00:25:24,350
There's not a lot of
that inside a skate park.

509
00:25:24,799 --> 00:25:27,008
Because we tend to find that
our priorities are different.

510
00:25:27,387 --> 00:25:29,355
The priorities tend to be,

511
00:25:29,631 --> 00:25:32,634
people are much more
interested in keeping their

512
00:25:32,669 --> 00:25:34,567
bones inside of their skin,

513
00:25:34,602 --> 00:25:37,225
and their teeth inside of theirmouth. Rather than leaving

514
00:25:37,259 --> 00:25:38,675
them on the bottom of the ramp.

515
00:25:38,985 --> 00:25:40,228
They like rough surface.

516
00:25:42,610 --> 00:25:43,783
That's all I can say.

517
00:25:44,301 --> 00:25:45,820
You know, this
place is a predator.

518
00:25:45,854 --> 00:25:47,166
The Skate park is your predator.

519
00:25:48,029 --> 00:25:49,202
And you're the pray, man,

520
00:25:49,237 --> 00:25:50,721
and some days it'll
let you get away of it.

521
00:25:50,756 --> 00:25:53,759
Other days it will chew
you up and spit you out.

522
00:25:54,104 --> 00:25:56,175
And you've got to
be scared of it.

523
00:25:56,382 --> 00:25:58,177
If you come here and you're notscared of it, you're an idiot.

524
00:25:58,522 --> 00:25:59,558
Because you're
going to get hurt.

525
00:26:05,391 --> 00:26:06,461
'Rom Rash'

526
00:26:06,495 --> 00:26:07,876
I don't know what it was like
back in the day.

527
00:26:07,911 --> 00:26:09,429
It must've been a lot
smoother back then.

528
00:26:09,464 --> 00:26:11,328
If you go down at Rom,
you stay down down.

529
00:26:21,856 --> 00:26:23,582
Soon as you look out the
door, there's a pool.

530
00:26:24,203 --> 00:26:25,929
Jesus Christ, look
at that, you know.

531
00:26:27,206 --> 00:26:29,380
You know, you go in and you
think, right i'm just going to

532
00:26:29,415 --> 00:26:32,245
go in there easy today cause I
know it took a lot of victims.

533
00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:33,971
They always do, pools.

534
00:26:34,006 --> 00:26:35,145
You lose yourself.
It's like a madness.

535
00:26:35,835 --> 00:26:37,768
You just go in there and
just fighting these walls.

536
00:26:37,803 --> 00:26:39,252
And just think,
oh i'll have you.

537
00:26:39,287 --> 00:26:41,634
In your head, you just feel
I had to do that to you.

538
00:26:41,669 --> 00:26:44,775
You know, it was like it
gets personal when you're

539
00:26:44,810 --> 00:26:45,845
in these pools, you know.

540
00:26:46,156 --> 00:26:50,022
Just want to rip them up a bit
and get your 'Ugh' out of you.

541
00:26:52,162 --> 00:26:54,509
People always go in
thinking they'll rip the
shit out of them, you know.

542
00:26:54,543 --> 00:26:58,133
It basically it backfires on
them, somewhere along the line.

543
00:27:02,068 --> 00:27:04,830
In the pool, I broke my wristwhen I was about twelve in '87.

544
00:27:05,106 --> 00:27:07,142
Compound breaks -
Bones sticking out.

545
00:27:07,384 --> 00:27:08,557
Face first into the ramp,

546
00:27:08,592 --> 00:27:10,111
his teeth literally
popped up on the deck.

547
00:27:10,318 --> 00:27:12,596
No 'Hampsteads'eleven years later.

548
00:27:12,872 --> 00:27:14,667
Knocked myself out,
knocked my teeth out.

549
00:27:14,702 --> 00:27:16,255
I've had nine knee surgeries.

550
00:27:16,289 --> 00:27:19,258
Broke my hand, broke
my elbow and foot.

551
00:27:19,707 --> 00:27:21,778
I've got severe
arthritis in both knees.

552
00:27:22,088 --> 00:27:23,642
Heart! On many occasions.

553
00:27:23,849 --> 00:27:26,058
It doesn't stop me riding
unless I ride three or

554
00:27:26,092 --> 00:27:28,577
four times a week and then
I'm hobbling everywhere.

555
00:27:28,888 --> 00:27:30,649
If you come to a place
like this and you get on

556
00:27:30,683 --> 00:27:32,858
a bike or a skateboard,
you've got one in the post.

557
00:27:33,479 --> 00:27:35,654
If you're scared of it,
that's when it's gonna happen

558
00:27:35,688 --> 00:27:37,276
and you shouldn't be here.

559
00:27:37,310 --> 00:27:39,174
You gotta have a bit of a
kamikaze way about you and

560
00:27:39,209 --> 00:27:41,176
in you, to want to do it and
not be scared of slamming.

561
00:27:41,211 --> 00:27:42,937
When you relax it don't
happen as much you know.

562
00:27:42,971 --> 00:27:43,765
And even if it does...

563
00:27:44,697 --> 00:27:45,491
Tough shit.

564
00:27:45,525 --> 00:27:46,526
Brush yourself off, try again.

565
00:27:48,149 --> 00:27:50,323
If I've been hurt and I can't
skate for a couple of weeks,

566
00:27:50,358 --> 00:27:51,324
It's so frustrating.

567
00:27:51,704 --> 00:27:55,328
My wife will tell me, "For fucksake. Go and skate. Go to Rom".

568
00:28:04,096 --> 00:28:07,893
When I left school, worked at
Halfords, nicked a few stereos.

569
00:28:08,928 --> 00:28:10,343
I want to work in a skate park.

570
00:28:10,619 --> 00:28:11,690
It's not a proper job.

571
00:28:12,414 --> 00:28:13,312
What's a proper job?

572
00:28:13,553 --> 00:28:16,487
Like what? Grow up and
be an adult. Fuck that.

573
00:28:16,522 --> 00:28:18,524
I didn't want to grow up.
I wanted to be Peter Pan,

574
00:28:19,076 --> 00:28:20,112
and this was Never Never Land.

575
00:28:20,906 --> 00:28:21,700
And still is.

576
00:28:24,254 --> 00:28:27,706
There was a family vibe to
it. Endless days of skating

577
00:28:27,740 --> 00:28:28,603
and it didn't cost...

578
00:28:28,983 --> 00:28:31,088
All it cost you as a pot
noodle and a couple of Cherry

579
00:28:31,123 --> 00:28:32,158
Cokes really wasn't it?

580
00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:34,126
So there was that little bit
of one-upmanship, you know.

581
00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:38,095
Who could do the best
trick with the best poise,

582
00:28:38,130 --> 00:28:39,718
elegance and dexterity?

583
00:28:39,752 --> 00:28:42,168
Dressed in the best
clothing, you know, with

584
00:28:42,203 --> 00:28:44,308
The best floppy-ist fringed
hair cut you could have

585
00:28:44,343 --> 00:28:45,793
got at the time as well.

586
00:28:47,035 --> 00:28:50,038
Romford has been my local,
yeah, for 35 years, like

587
00:28:50,073 --> 00:28:50,970
my entire adult life.

588
00:28:51,212 --> 00:28:53,904
You know, and all my teenage
years.

589
00:28:53,939 --> 00:28:55,941
Romford was the place that I
always wanted to come to

590
00:28:55,975 --> 00:28:56,976
no matter what.

591
00:28:58,633 --> 00:29:00,911
I don't know what it
is about Romford.

592
00:29:00,946 --> 00:29:01,912
It's just, I
don't know.

593
00:29:02,257 --> 00:29:04,328
Like you know, I'll have my
ashes scattered here probably.

594
00:29:04,363 --> 00:29:09,299
It's one of those places. It's
just part of who I am really.

595
00:29:11,404 --> 00:29:12,923
I couldn't drive past
here and not come in.

596
00:29:12,958 --> 00:29:14,131
I don't think my
car would let me.

597
00:29:14,166 --> 00:29:15,961
I would have to go
the long way round.

598
00:29:17,238 --> 00:29:18,929
I'd be fighting
the steering wheel!

599
00:29:18,964 --> 00:29:20,206
I love the place.

600
00:29:20,241 --> 00:29:22,381
I don't know what I would have
done if it wasn't for Rom.

601
00:29:22,968 --> 00:29:23,969
I really don't.

602
00:29:24,417 --> 00:29:26,972
Lot of the people I work
with and associated with,

603
00:29:27,006 --> 00:29:28,490
were up to no good
lot of the time.

604
00:29:28,525 --> 00:29:30,009
I think I would have found
myself dragged into that.

605
00:29:30,044 --> 00:29:31,597
It's kept me on the
straight and narrow really.

606
00:29:31,631 --> 00:29:32,805
It really did, you know.

607
00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:34,634
I've the best and the worst
days of my life over here.

608
00:29:37,327 --> 00:29:39,225
We were pretty poor.

609
00:29:39,260 --> 00:29:40,951
I remember coming over
here in my P.E shorts and

610
00:29:40,986 --> 00:29:41,987
Georgie Best's football boots.

611
00:29:42,919 --> 00:29:45,197
But, yeah... Rom!

612
00:29:45,818 --> 00:29:46,543
This is home.

613
00:29:47,026 --> 00:29:48,959
It's not like, Oh,
this is my second home.

614
00:29:48,994 --> 00:29:51,962
This is my first home
and has been forever.

615
00:29:51,997 --> 00:29:54,171
You build up a family.
There's a community.

616
00:29:54,206 --> 00:29:55,345
I lost my mom young...

617
00:29:56,035 --> 00:29:58,175
And remember the day I lost
her, the first thing I'd done,

618
00:29:58,210 --> 00:30:01,523
two hours after her dying in
the hospital, was come here.

619
00:30:01,834 --> 00:30:03,422
And everyone's like,
why is he here?

620
00:30:03,456 --> 00:30:04,595
Where else could you go?

621
00:30:05,182 --> 00:30:08,013
I didn't want to be at home
with my family. I wanted
to be here with my family.

622
00:30:08,047 --> 00:30:10,049
Because people just kind
of let you get on with it.

623
00:30:10,429 --> 00:30:12,396
He asked me, he said,
"You got any photographs

624
00:30:12,431 --> 00:30:13,190
and things like that?"

625
00:30:13,225 --> 00:30:15,434
I said "Yeah some old photos".

626
00:30:15,779 --> 00:30:18,678
I thought it was going to be abirthday surprise or something.

627
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:22,130
He's come in one day with
this big tattoo on his leg

628
00:30:22,165 --> 00:30:24,063
So I was flabbergasted
when I saw it.

629
00:30:26,548 --> 00:30:28,757
I thought it was... Weird.

630
00:30:28,792 --> 00:30:30,345
And strange to have it done.

631
00:30:30,380 --> 00:30:33,348
But love and affection to him.
He bares his soul, doesn't he.

632
00:30:33,383 --> 00:30:34,522
It's love and affection.

633
00:30:34,556 --> 00:30:36,558
You can be you and
you're accepted for it,

634
00:30:36,593 --> 00:30:38,629
which is the beautiful
subculture of BMX,

635
00:30:38,664 --> 00:30:40,252
skateboarding, skating whatever.

636
00:30:40,666 --> 00:30:42,944
You kind of, it's
come one come all.

637
00:30:42,979 --> 00:30:45,429
There's less judgemental
people at a skate park

638
00:30:45,464 --> 00:30:46,499
than there is in a church.

639
00:30:46,534 --> 00:30:48,881
It teaches kids
everything in life.

640
00:30:48,916 --> 00:30:51,263
It teaches them, if you want
something, you have to

641
00:30:51,297 --> 00:30:52,333
work towards a goal.

642
00:30:52,609 --> 00:30:55,267
It embeds a life philosophy in
children that you can't buy.

643
00:30:56,578 --> 00:31:00,755
The era that grew up in
skateparks have that thing

644
00:31:00,789 --> 00:31:02,550
about their skatepark.

645
00:31:03,378 --> 00:31:06,865
And it's... You can't shake it.

646
00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:10,558
Guys I know from Rom,
I've known my whole life.

647
00:31:10,834 --> 00:31:13,147
Me and my wife been together
eight, nine years now.

648
00:31:13,699 --> 00:31:16,322
We actually met through this.Wemet through her daughter,

649
00:31:16,357 --> 00:31:18,393
her youngest daughter,Charlotte came over here,

650
00:31:18,428 --> 00:31:19,429
started skating with us.

651
00:31:19,774 --> 00:31:20,948
It's actually how I met her!

652
00:31:21,500 --> 00:31:24,952
Rom was a real mixture ofdifferent types of people.

653
00:31:24,986 --> 00:31:28,990
But they were pretty...
I'd say peaceful if

654
00:31:29,025 --> 00:31:30,026
you, like, you know.

655
00:31:30,578 --> 00:31:32,131
Pretty rad as well.

656
00:31:32,166 --> 00:31:33,822
Some guys there that
could just skate.

657
00:31:34,030 --> 00:31:35,790
Yeah my first time I
come down Rom...

658
00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:38,758
And there was a guy in
the tiniest velvet shorts.

659
00:31:38,793 --> 00:31:40,312
Skating the pool
and that was it.

660
00:31:40,519 --> 00:31:42,417
Ragging around the
pool, front-side grinds.

661
00:31:42,452 --> 00:31:43,384
No one else there man.

662
00:31:43,591 --> 00:31:44,523
Beautiful.

663
00:31:45,973 --> 00:31:47,112
Absolutely amazing.

664
00:31:47,388 --> 00:31:48,527
It must have been Graham.

665
00:31:49,079 --> 00:31:51,737
It's the only thing I can say,it's got to have been Graham.

666
00:31:54,602 --> 00:31:56,811
Graham's unique, he's
got his own style.

667
00:31:56,845 --> 00:32:00,573
He's got a very surfy style
skater, which I like.

668
00:32:00,884 --> 00:32:03,093
You know, that kind of
old school skating

669
00:32:03,128 --> 00:32:06,545
is hard to replicate unless
it comes naturally.

670
00:32:06,786 --> 00:32:09,375
It took me a little while to getused to his sarcasm, I think.

671
00:32:09,410 --> 00:32:11,101
But everyone knows about
that. His little rants,

672
00:32:11,136 --> 00:32:12,413
you know what I mean?

673
00:32:15,416 --> 00:32:18,143
The main thing I know aboutDion is that he's always at Rom.

674
00:32:18,488 --> 00:32:21,870
I don't think I've ever been
at Rom when Dion isn't there.

675
00:32:22,595 --> 00:32:25,771
He's in there, I mean,
he's already defining

676
00:32:25,805 --> 00:32:28,912
so many things, you know, causeyou know, he had a bad accident.

677
00:32:30,155 --> 00:32:33,537
I fell off a scaffold, broke
my ankle, knee and hip.

678
00:32:33,572 --> 00:32:35,401
I was off work about 18 months.

679
00:32:35,608 --> 00:32:37,334
I was registered disabledfor a while.

680
00:32:37,369 --> 00:32:39,060
They told me I'd probably never
going to walk without stick.

681
00:32:39,095 --> 00:32:42,236
And say, probably in 10 years
you're probably be in a chair.

682
00:32:42,581 --> 00:32:44,583
17 years later, I'm
still going strong,

683
00:32:44,617 --> 00:32:45,480
so I proved them wrong.

684
00:32:45,894 --> 00:32:47,068
He's grinding
that pool and that.

685
00:32:47,103 --> 00:32:48,932
It's actually unbelievable.

686
00:32:49,277 --> 00:32:50,969
You know, that is a
story on it's own.

687
00:32:53,109 --> 00:32:55,249
You know, some people
call it like a midlife

688
00:32:55,283 --> 00:32:56,422
crisis don't they?

689
00:32:56,457 --> 00:32:58,010
You know what I mean?

690
00:32:58,045 --> 00:32:59,598
You're either... Some people
are unfaithful aren't they?

691
00:32:59,943 --> 00:33:04,223
You know with me, I think itwas back to the boys with toys.

692
00:33:05,535 --> 00:33:09,401
You know, I've been a father,
I'm been working for all these
years,

693
00:33:09,677 --> 00:33:10,678
putting on weight.

694
00:33:11,230 --> 00:33:12,300
I was in a sales job,

695
00:33:13,405 --> 00:33:14,958
and, you know, growing
a family and that.

696
00:33:15,234 --> 00:33:18,168
I never really had much of an
outlet after that, hobby wise.

697
00:33:18,203 --> 00:33:21,033
Once I had given up the
pubs and the clubs, and
the raving and all that.

698
00:33:21,068 --> 00:33:22,241
It you know what I mean.

699
00:33:22,276 --> 00:33:24,726
I had a lump in the
side of my face here.

700
00:33:24,761 --> 00:33:29,041
I went up there to the hospitaland they told me, yeah, you

701
00:33:29,076 --> 00:33:30,629
have got Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma,

702
00:33:30,663 --> 00:33:32,217
which is like a really bad one.

703
00:33:33,252 --> 00:33:36,221
Obviously. I was quite upset
when I was told that but,

704
00:33:36,255 --> 00:33:37,670
mainly thought of my
kids to be honest,

705
00:33:37,705 --> 00:33:40,432
You know you do, don't you,
when you hear bad news.

706
00:33:42,848 --> 00:33:45,851
Got fixed after that time and
just ended up with a big

707
00:33:45,885 --> 00:33:48,336
'Mars Bar' down the
back of my face.

708
00:33:49,268 --> 00:33:51,098
And I thought, you know, I've
got to try and live again.

709
00:33:53,065 --> 00:33:54,618
Yeah, when growing up
and everything and I was

710
00:33:54,653 --> 00:33:55,412
an angry kid, you know.

711
00:33:55,930 --> 00:33:57,621
All the boys I rode with back
in the day, you know, I'd

712
00:33:57,656 --> 00:33:58,657
be like throwing my bike...

713
00:33:58,691 --> 00:34:00,486
F you, F this, F
that and everything.

714
00:34:00,521 --> 00:34:01,867
So angry at the world.

715
00:34:03,075 --> 00:34:05,491
I'd been adopted, I'd
been nurtured, I'd been

716
00:34:05,526 --> 00:34:06,527
given love and affection.

717
00:34:06,768 --> 00:34:09,288
But I still had
this rage inside me.

718
00:34:09,323 --> 00:34:11,152
We were just running around
lawless,

719
00:34:11,187 --> 00:34:14,328
but we wasn't
horrible little fuckers at

720
00:34:14,362 --> 00:34:16,054
the same times, you know.

721
00:34:17,262 --> 00:34:19,643
We'd grown up in a
Thatcherite Britain

722
00:34:19,678 --> 00:34:22,784
and what Thatcher taught us was
you be the best you can be...

723
00:34:23,647 --> 00:34:25,684
But use everyone beneath
you as a stepladder.

724
00:34:26,305 --> 00:34:29,377
I had sort of associated
skateboarding with being very

725
00:34:29,412 --> 00:34:34,313
noisy and to certain extent
sort of quite them and us.

726
00:34:34,969 --> 00:34:37,696
I was nice and I was
white and I was polite.

727
00:34:37,730 --> 00:34:40,285
I was described as like thetriple threat.

728
00:34:40,561 --> 00:34:42,252
Hold my hands up. I was
a bloody good shoplifter

729
00:34:42,287 --> 00:34:43,115
when I was a kid.

730
00:34:43,357 --> 00:34:44,841
And that's how I earned
extra pocket money.

731
00:34:45,255 --> 00:34:47,395
People wouldn't even
turn their heads and

732
00:34:47,430 --> 00:34:48,431
look at ya, you know so.

733
00:34:48,914 --> 00:34:49,811
Well... Yeah.

734
00:34:52,159 --> 00:34:54,540
There is very much a sort of
sense that they come from a

735
00:34:54,575 --> 00:34:58,820
subculture of which you as a
passer-by can't really enter.

736
00:35:01,651 --> 00:35:04,757
I'm a 58 year old,
born again skater.

737
00:35:05,241 --> 00:35:07,898
There's a whole fraternity out
there of people of varying

738
00:35:07,933 --> 00:35:08,934
ages. It's okay to skate.

739
00:35:08,968 --> 00:35:10,832
And that's what I really
like about this place.

740
00:35:11,143 --> 00:35:13,732
It's a big mix of people.
It's a very large college

741
00:35:13,766 --> 00:35:14,767
if you like, of individuals.

742
00:35:15,251 --> 00:35:16,735
Very eclectic group.

743
00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:19,979
Oh, like a family community
of like Rom and all the

744
00:35:20,014 --> 00:35:21,360
locals who come here.

745
00:35:23,431 --> 00:35:24,812
More than friends, really.

746
00:35:25,468 --> 00:35:28,540
You get people from all
backgrounds and walks

747
00:35:28,574 --> 00:35:29,610
of life who do it.

748
00:35:29,886 --> 00:35:33,614
Right now I'm in media, so I
do a lot of video production,

749
00:35:33,648 --> 00:35:37,859
events and we also have
film studios in Las Vegas.

750
00:35:38,170 --> 00:35:40,552
So I'm a contracts manager
now, and I'll deal with

751
00:35:40,586 --> 00:35:41,346
scaffolders all day.

752
00:35:42,312 --> 00:35:44,072
A lot of them are like cavemen.
They've got no understanding

753
00:35:44,107 --> 00:35:45,557
or appreciation for
anything like that.

754
00:35:45,764 --> 00:35:48,525
I'm a carer. I do one to
one care for disabled and

755
00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:49,388
mentally handicapped people.

756
00:35:49,837 --> 00:35:53,185
I'm a senior examiner for
the Civil Aviation Authority.

757
00:35:53,461 --> 00:35:56,326
So I'm flying the
Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

758
00:35:56,361 --> 00:35:59,398
Full time occupation,
nine to five Mac engineer.

759
00:36:00,537 --> 00:36:02,401
Nonetheless, there's this
idea that what you do outside

760
00:36:02,436 --> 00:36:03,575
of your job

761
00:36:03,609 --> 00:36:07,234
is compensation for the things
that you put up with

762
00:36:07,268 --> 00:36:08,269
within your job.

763
00:36:08,994 --> 00:36:13,481
Where I give so much of myselfto my job and the people I've

764
00:36:13,516 --> 00:36:14,827
worked for, and support I give.

765
00:36:15,552 --> 00:36:18,659
There has got to be a
point where I've got

766
00:36:18,693 --> 00:36:20,385
to become myself again.

767
00:36:20,695 --> 00:36:23,077
I thought it would be nice
to just dabble and have

768
00:36:23,111 --> 00:36:24,147
a skate now and again,

769
00:36:24,458 --> 00:36:26,908
but it's not like that. It getsunder your skin before you know

770
00:36:26,943 --> 00:36:27,978
it, you're hooked ain't you?

771
00:36:28,220 --> 00:36:30,602
You know, I'm over here mostdays. I can't help it, you know.

772
00:36:31,258 --> 00:36:33,191
I'll pull up on a job andopen my boot up and my

773
00:36:33,225 --> 00:36:34,053
skateboard's always there

774
00:36:34,088 --> 00:36:35,331
You know, I take it wherever
I go.

775
00:36:36,055 --> 00:36:37,195
"What the bloody hells that?"

776
00:36:37,229 --> 00:36:38,506
It's a skateboard!

777
00:36:38,541 --> 00:36:40,059
"Oh! What are you going to get
for Christmas? An Action Man?"

778
00:36:42,683 --> 00:36:45,030
[Look out all these
fantastic uniforms specially

779
00:36:45,064 --> 00:36:46,721
designed for Action Man].

780
00:36:49,552 --> 00:36:51,036
Really taking the piss, you know!

781
00:36:51,312 --> 00:36:53,418
I'm like whatever... I
don't even try and defend it

782
00:36:53,452 --> 00:36:54,488
anymore. It's just like...

783
00:36:54,902 --> 00:36:58,319
The chap from English Heritage,one of their buildings inspectors.

784
00:36:58,354 --> 00:37:01,391
And I just noticed there was a Rom skatepark sticker

785
00:37:01,426 --> 00:37:02,427
on his guitar case.

786
00:37:02,461 --> 00:37:04,291
And he said, "Oh yeah,
it's great, isn't it?"

787
00:37:05,637 --> 00:37:07,501
And this is the guy whospends hours looking around

788
00:37:07,535 --> 00:37:10,711
archaeological sites and lookingold cathedrals and things.

789
00:37:10,918 --> 00:37:12,022
It is mainstream.

790
00:37:12,057 --> 00:37:14,646
And that's certainly, I think
that's certainly

791
00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:15,612
the case with
skateboarding

792
00:37:15,647 --> 00:37:17,718
and the whole
kind of creativity of it.

793
00:37:17,994 --> 00:37:21,273
You know, people make films,
they do photography,

794
00:37:21,308 --> 00:37:24,690
they do tattoos, they make
boards,

795
00:37:24,725 --> 00:37:26,174
they run board
companies.

796
00:37:26,623 --> 00:37:30,282
You know, often alongside
their kind of regular jobs.

797
00:37:30,317 --> 00:37:34,044
So it's not just skateboardingitself, it's the creative stuff

798
00:37:34,079 --> 00:37:37,634
that goes with skateboardingas well that attracts people.

799
00:37:37,669 --> 00:37:39,671
You know, someone
like Monkeyglove Matt.

800
00:37:39,705 --> 00:37:42,743
No idea what he does for his
day job,

801
00:37:42,777 --> 00:37:45,470
but he takes really great
pictures and

802
00:37:45,504 --> 00:37:46,540
a lot of them at Rom.

803
00:37:46,885 --> 00:37:49,888
So for him, part of presumably
the attraction of skateboarding

804
00:37:49,922 --> 00:37:55,100
is not just the skateboarding
itself, but the photography
around it.

805
00:37:55,134 --> 00:37:58,103
What I really enjoy about it isthat it's capturing that moment.

806
00:37:58,137 --> 00:38:00,519
I almost want to look throughlens. I kind of want toget in there

807
00:38:00,554 --> 00:38:02,901
and I have been hit
a couple of times,

808
00:38:03,177 --> 00:38:05,110
which strangely enough,
in a weird way I enjoy.

809
00:38:05,144 --> 00:38:07,388
So there's also a bit of a
sadomasochistic element to it.

810
00:38:07,423 --> 00:38:09,528
But I guess it's part of,
for me,

811
00:38:09,563 --> 00:38:12,669
it's the skater getting
that trick, landing that

812
00:38:12,704 --> 00:38:16,052
trick and being able to just
capture that moment for them,

813
00:38:16,328 --> 00:38:19,055
is something that I
just really enjoy.

814
00:38:22,403 --> 00:38:24,957
Skateboarding now, it's got
quite a strong identity.

815
00:38:24,992 --> 00:38:28,340
It didn't then, you brought
Dunlop green flash or baseball

816
00:38:28,375 --> 00:38:29,203
boots from Woolworths.

817
00:38:29,790 --> 00:38:31,895
That's what you skated in
you because we could only

818
00:38:31,930 --> 00:38:33,172
dream of Vans, you know.

819
00:38:33,449 --> 00:38:36,141
That skate world is sort
of, really kind of dictated

820
00:38:36,175 --> 00:38:37,245
whole sneaker culture

821
00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:40,041
and streetwear, street
fashion, from sneakers to

822
00:38:40,076 --> 00:38:42,596
graffiti, and to a certain
extent, even a lot of music,

823
00:38:42,630 --> 00:38:47,325
has been influenced by that
kind of freedom of expression

824
00:38:47,359 --> 00:38:48,395
that skateboarding is.

825
00:38:48,636 --> 00:38:50,983
It's a massive thing, isn't
it? There's a music culture,

826
00:38:51,018 --> 00:38:53,400
there's a fashion, there's
a language, there's lots of

827
00:38:53,434 --> 00:38:56,334
aspects to skateboarding.

828
00:38:59,544 --> 00:39:03,133
Well, this weekend we have
the unique experience of the

829
00:39:03,168 --> 00:39:06,930
20th anniversary of the first
piece that was done here at

830
00:39:06,965 --> 00:39:07,759
the Lakeside hall of fame,

831
00:39:07,793 --> 00:39:09,795
also known as the concrete gallery.

832
00:39:10,002 --> 00:39:13,558
The first piece was done
in August, 1999 by myself.

833
00:39:14,213 --> 00:39:18,977
Been heavily involved in the
English graffiti scene since
1983.

834
00:39:20,116 --> 00:39:24,258
Been a massive collector of
anything 1980s from clothing

835
00:39:24,292 --> 00:39:25,293
to BMX bikes to music.

836
00:39:27,192 --> 00:39:29,850
I get involved. I like
to get involved. Yeah.

837
00:39:29,884 --> 00:39:32,128
I'm all or nothing. I'm
all or nothing. Yeah.

838
00:39:33,025 --> 00:39:36,374
There's a strong bond betweenart and music.

839
00:39:36,408 --> 00:39:38,686
It's like a stick of rock. It
runs straight through
the middle.

840
00:39:38,721 --> 00:39:42,380
You know, Ted Nugent,
Led Zepplin and it
was like

841
00:39:43,450 --> 00:39:46,176
Blondie and Devo and it
was like wow. And it was

842
00:39:46,211 --> 00:39:48,558
like, this is our thing.

843
00:39:48,593 --> 00:39:51,768
Skateboarding said this was
our thing and skate parks, all

844
00:39:51,803 --> 00:39:53,667
it did was blast that music.

845
00:39:56,635 --> 00:40:00,881
I think it's a really great
match with skateboarding, art,

846
00:40:00,915 --> 00:40:02,434
street art, skateboarding,

847
00:40:02,469 --> 00:40:05,333
and the whole ethos of
skateboarding. The do it

848
00:40:05,368 --> 00:40:06,196
yourself thing,

849
00:40:06,231 --> 00:40:07,474
graphics on the bottom
of boards.

850
00:40:07,508 --> 00:40:10,546
I think it's a really nice thingthat works together. You know,

851
00:40:12,548 --> 00:40:15,792
I think skateboarding really
is like a school of hard knocks

852
00:40:15,827 --> 00:40:16,828
and you've got to try, try, try.

853
00:40:16,862 --> 00:40:19,140
You keep getting battered
into the ground until

854
00:40:19,175 --> 00:40:20,176
you get it right.

855
00:40:20,210 --> 00:40:23,213
And that is a perfect
preparation for doing

856
00:40:23,248 --> 00:40:24,249
a piece like this.

857
00:40:24,594 --> 00:40:27,355
You know, there was always
a real divide of being

858
00:40:27,390 --> 00:40:28,218
outside and inside

859
00:40:28,253 --> 00:40:30,151
and the barrier of the fence.

860
00:40:30,497 --> 00:40:33,603
I guess the fence is a real,
not so much an inspiration,

861
00:40:33,638 --> 00:40:36,019
but it's a really big bit of
Rom, you know, that divide

862
00:40:36,054 --> 00:40:37,227
from being outside to inside.

863
00:40:37,262 --> 00:40:40,610
And then getting in and havingall this geometry to kind of

864
00:40:40,645 --> 00:40:44,338
discover to be able to carveyour own lines for it, you know.

865
00:40:45,512 --> 00:40:50,068
Freestyle it, free flow aroundthis structure. You know,

866
00:40:50,102 --> 00:40:52,450
that's what really inspiredthe piece.

867
00:40:54,659 --> 00:40:57,247
I have always been an
artist, always painted as

868
00:40:57,282 --> 00:40:58,421
a kid like every kid does.

869
00:40:58,456 --> 00:41:01,528
It wasn't until I started
skating I became aware of

870
00:41:01,562 --> 00:41:02,977
graffiti and street art.

871
00:41:03,012 --> 00:41:05,290
And that kind of

872
00:41:05,324 --> 00:41:08,466
alternative art scene with like graphics for skateboards and stuff like that.

873
00:41:09,156 --> 00:41:10,951
Yeah, I think they're
completely linked.

874
00:41:10,985 --> 00:41:13,850
I started skating when I was
about like 10/11 years old

875
00:41:13,885 --> 00:41:15,749
and we used, back then we
had no skate parks where I'm

876
00:41:15,783 --> 00:41:16,888
originally from in Cambridge.

877
00:41:17,233 --> 00:41:20,063
So we used to travel around EastAnglia, London, Essex

878
00:41:20,098 --> 00:41:21,513
and go to the skate parksand I remember

879
00:41:21,548 --> 00:41:23,964
my mum bringing me here when Iwas probably about 13 years old.

880
00:41:23,998 --> 00:41:26,518
Yeah, it was pretty
intimidating when you're a

881
00:41:26,553 --> 00:41:27,795
kid, this place, you know.

882
00:41:35,113 --> 00:41:37,736
My first childhood memory is
my dad throwing me in a fire.

883
00:41:39,220 --> 00:41:41,982
And then at seven years old
my dad is beating my mum up.

884
00:41:42,016 --> 00:41:46,089
I ran in with a kitchen knife tostab my dad to protect my mum.

885
00:41:46,124 --> 00:41:48,609
The police and social worker
turned up at school and says,

886
00:41:48,644 --> 00:41:51,129
we heard what happened last
night. You're coming with us.

887
00:41:51,163 --> 00:41:54,684
That was the 24th of December,
1979

888
00:41:54,719 --> 00:41:55,996
Christmas Eve, I got locked up.

889
00:41:56,203 --> 00:41:59,309
I was brought up to, you know,honestly I was a little racist.

890
00:41:59,344 --> 00:42:02,036
The area I grew up in,
there was no black kids.

891
00:42:02,278 --> 00:42:04,970
I meet my foster parents
and my dad's black.

892
00:42:07,594 --> 00:42:09,527
I used to walk like six
metres behind him because

893
00:42:09,561 --> 00:42:11,149
I was so embarrassed with
the colour of his skin.

894
00:42:11,183 --> 00:42:13,185
35 years later, he's still my dad.

895
00:42:17,776 --> 00:42:21,262
In BMX, I would say 99.9%
of BMX riders went through

896
00:42:21,297 --> 00:42:22,298
tough times.

897
00:42:22,850 --> 00:42:24,783
And same with skateboarders.
Same with people that

898
00:42:24,818 --> 00:42:26,164
came to this skate park.

899
00:42:26,405 --> 00:42:28,338
They all came here because
this was a sanctuary

900
00:42:28,373 --> 00:42:30,030
and so that's what it's about.

901
00:42:30,306 --> 00:42:33,136
It's not about where you
came from. It was about being

902
00:42:33,171 --> 00:42:35,829
in the moment riding that
bowl, riding the skate park.

903
00:42:36,312 --> 00:42:39,384
And that's when you can let it
all go because you're present.

904
00:42:39,418 --> 00:42:40,834
It's our meditation, really.

905
00:42:41,179 --> 00:42:44,665
So many people I was around
had similar backgrounds.

906
00:42:45,114 --> 00:42:49,152
I really did turn all the
negative energy ito into
positivity.

907
00:42:49,187 --> 00:42:52,397
I mean it's an art form when
you're skating or bike riding.

908
00:42:54,468 --> 00:42:55,918
#seratonin#

909
00:42:57,436 --> 00:43:00,301
#swimming around my head#

910
00:43:01,475 --> 00:43:03,270
#seratonin#

911
00:43:05,721 --> 00:43:07,861
#love this pool#

912
00:43:08,793 --> 00:43:11,140
#How am I coping?#

913
00:43:11,865 --> 00:43:15,420
#with the tiles and no water#

914
00:43:16,904 --> 00:43:20,287
Skateboarders are generally,
not the outcast, but maybe

915
00:43:20,321 --> 00:43:27,087
they don't fit in with
the normal kind of sport.

916
00:43:27,466 --> 00:43:29,848
I'd like to say it was weirdos,at first.

917
00:43:30,331 --> 00:43:31,332
It was weirdos.

918
00:43:33,058 --> 00:43:36,027
Skateboarding is seriously
funny. I mean a lot of

919
00:43:36,061 --> 00:43:37,925
is escapism, you know.

920
00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:41,549
Like just that feeling where
you're like, you had all

921
00:43:41,584 --> 00:43:43,344
these things you could do.

922
00:43:43,551 --> 00:43:45,036
I think it can be bad
and it can be good.

923
00:43:45,312 --> 00:43:47,625
So I don't escape completely.
I know it's a joke.

924
00:43:48,833 --> 00:43:50,800
I know it's for the
entertainment to

925
00:43:50,835 --> 00:43:53,596
entertain yourself.
That's part of it too.

926
00:43:55,046 --> 00:43:56,634
It's something where
you do it for yourself.

927
00:43:56,668 --> 00:43:58,636
That's what I love about skating. There's no rules,

928
00:43:58,670 --> 00:44:00,430
nothing you have to achieve.

929
00:44:00,465 --> 00:44:01,639
It's just personal.

930
00:44:05,712 --> 00:44:08,818
Maybe that's why it attracts
people of a certain type,

931
00:44:08,853 --> 00:44:14,686
who don't fit into society's,
you know, view of normality,

932
00:44:15,066 --> 00:44:16,343
whatever that may be.

933
00:44:16,377 --> 00:44:18,138
More entertaining yourself.

934
00:44:18,172 --> 00:44:23,212
Like you do stupid things andyou see like people react like,

935
00:44:23,384 --> 00:44:26,111
Oh this guy is such a
loser. And you're like,

936
00:44:26,146 --> 00:44:29,011
Oh that's great. They think
I'm a loser. It's so rad.

937
00:44:29,770 --> 00:44:32,704
Like, it's great. This
might be British,

938
00:44:32,739 --> 00:44:35,051
I don't know. Or it might just
be childhood, like

939
00:44:35,086 --> 00:44:36,984
weird things I haven't dealt
with.

940
00:44:40,988 --> 00:44:44,474
My name is Brent Lewis and I'm
the CEO of The Far Academy.

941
00:44:46,304 --> 00:44:48,375
We're an alternative educationprovision.

942
00:44:48,409 --> 00:44:51,171
So we work with kids throughoutthe UK. But generally kids

943
00:44:51,205 --> 00:44:54,036
who are not engagedin education or vulnerable kids.

944
00:44:54,381 --> 00:44:57,315
And then we'll use
skateboarding

945
00:44:57,349 --> 00:44:59,593
as the educational tool to get
the qualifications that they
need.

946
00:45:00,180 --> 00:45:02,872
So yeah, the memories here
is incredible and, it's

947
00:45:02,907 --> 00:45:06,911
so raw as well that's what
we like about it.

948
00:45:07,877 --> 00:45:10,500
And the kids generally
will go to timber parks and

949
00:45:10,535 --> 00:45:12,502
those crappy council ones.

950
00:45:12,537 --> 00:45:16,092
This one is... They're blown
away. They completely...

951
00:45:16,127 --> 00:45:19,061
They're out of their comfort
zone and it pushes them.

952
00:45:19,440 --> 00:45:22,340
And I think, well how can Ihit that line? And they're doing

953
00:45:22,374 --> 00:45:24,342
completely different lines whatthey ever thought they could.

954
00:45:24,549 --> 00:45:26,654
So yeah, it's an amazing place to be.

955
00:45:26,896 --> 00:45:30,141
Kids get into skateboarding andBMX when they can't necessarily

956
00:45:30,175 --> 00:45:31,211
get into other things.

957
00:45:31,245 --> 00:45:33,213
And they get led into this
kind of sport

958
00:45:33,247 --> 00:45:35,905
and I think they wouldn't have
any kind of form of

959
00:45:35,940 --> 00:45:38,736
expression without
this park and these sports.

960
00:45:40,841 --> 00:45:43,671
This is what I think is super
important about skateboarding

961
00:45:43,706 --> 00:45:49,091
is it's given an avenue for kidsto find themselves on their own.

962
00:45:49,608 --> 00:45:53,026
And for some kids they find
all the things that organised

963
00:45:53,060 --> 00:45:55,373
sports are supposed to design.

964
00:45:56,063 --> 00:45:59,411
They find those things
and find other things on
their own in a better way.

965
00:45:59,446 --> 00:46:04,347
They find how to learn and
fall, stick at something and

966
00:46:04,382 --> 00:46:05,866
be passionate about something.

967
00:46:05,901 --> 00:46:10,077
And in doing so, they learn allthese other skills accidentally.

968
00:46:10,112 --> 00:46:13,184
It's unbelievable how many
skateboarders

969
00:46:13,218 --> 00:46:15,082
turn into and
develop into

970
00:46:15,117 --> 00:46:19,397
pieces of society without
any real schooling.

971
00:46:19,949 --> 00:46:24,643
Skateboarding itself schooled
them, figuring things out on

972
00:46:24,678 --> 00:46:26,611
their own, developing things,designing things, making things,

973
00:46:26,645 --> 00:46:29,614
using their brain in a way
that developing thought

974
00:46:29,648 --> 00:46:30,477
that isn't just taught.

975
00:46:30,960 --> 00:46:36,276
Skateboarding is like pretty oneof the most important athletic

976
00:46:36,310 --> 00:46:37,795
things that develop character.

977
00:46:37,829 --> 00:46:40,418
I think it's different typesof character. There's a freedom

978
00:46:40,452 --> 00:46:41,557
to it, which can be dangerous,

979
00:46:41,971 --> 00:46:45,250
but there's also a very much
self-willed get it done,

980
00:46:45,285 --> 00:46:48,495
figure it out, do it yourself,
which is super important.

981
00:46:48,529 --> 00:46:53,396
And that you can't be taught
that you learn it yourself,

982
00:46:53,431 --> 00:46:55,640
by falling down and getting
hurt and getting back up.

983
00:46:56,054 --> 00:47:00,990
That was like way too long.

984
00:47:01,025 --> 00:47:03,441
Find someone that can say thesame thing better and use that!

985
00:47:20,458 --> 00:47:23,841
The end of the '70s
skating died off and BMX

986
00:47:23,875 --> 00:47:25,601
was massive in Romford.

987
00:47:26,119 --> 00:47:28,224
BMX was immense.

988
00:47:28,259 --> 00:47:30,675
That's when E.T came
out, the film wasn't it?

989
00:47:31,331 --> 00:47:32,539
It just... Boomed!

990
00:47:32,573 --> 00:47:34,852
Like a mushroom.. Unbelievable.

991
00:47:34,886 --> 00:47:37,855
This place was jam packed
with BMX riders, you know?

992
00:47:44,689 --> 00:47:48,727
BMX kind of came into the
scene around '79/ '80,

993
00:47:48,762 --> 00:47:50,108
what I got involved in.

994
00:47:50,971 --> 00:47:55,355
And I would say around 1980 was
when I first had the Grifter,

995
00:47:55,389 --> 00:48:00,084
ready to ride the Mongoose, but
went over there on the Grifter.

996
00:48:00,394 --> 00:48:02,638
Hello, I'm the new
Raleigh Grifter.

997
00:48:03,811 --> 00:48:06,780
I've got a new twist grip
for my three speed gear,

998
00:48:07,954 --> 00:48:09,748
brand new saddle design,

999
00:48:10,853 --> 00:48:12,510
and look at those chunky tyres!

1000
00:48:12,993 --> 00:48:17,480
And I noticed that the
skateboards, you see a few,

1001
00:48:17,515 --> 00:48:18,861
it's still a big scene.

1002
00:48:19,206 --> 00:48:22,692
But it looked overtaken
by with the bikes. It was

1003
00:48:22,727 --> 00:48:23,728
just BMX bikes everywhere.

1004
00:48:24,349 --> 00:48:26,938
In the '80s this place
was dominated by BMX,

1005
00:48:26,973 --> 00:48:28,008
absolutely dominated.

1006
00:48:28,457 --> 00:48:30,804
You see photos from the '80s
and it's like hundreds of
kids sat

1007
00:48:30,838 --> 00:48:32,979
around all the bowls
and you know, definitely

1008
00:48:33,013 --> 00:48:33,841
the boom years for BMX.

1009
00:48:33,876 --> 00:48:35,326
The place was packed.

1010
00:48:35,360 --> 00:48:39,433
There was probably 150 to 200people most weekends, you know.

1011
00:48:39,468 --> 00:48:42,091
I think what really
got me, it was just all

1012
00:48:42,126 --> 00:48:43,265
these amazing colours.

1013
00:48:43,299 --> 00:48:45,198
I can still see it like itwas yesterday, these reds and

1014
00:48:45,232 --> 00:48:48,408
yellows. Yellow tires! I hadnever seen a yellow tyre before.

1015
00:48:48,615 --> 00:48:51,307
That for me was, that was it.

1016
00:48:51,342 --> 00:48:54,793
I was hooked on the scene
and the sport and it

1017
00:48:54,828 --> 00:48:57,417
kinda just snowballed from
there for how I loved it.

1018
00:48:57,451 --> 00:48:59,522
They're like, well,
driving lessons or BMX?

1019
00:48:59,557 --> 00:49:01,386
That's a no brainer isn't?

1020
00:49:01,421 --> 00:49:03,354
Didn't learn how to drivefor another 15 years after that.

1021
00:49:03,388 --> 00:49:05,045
I got a BMX for Christmas.

1022
00:49:05,080 --> 00:49:08,635
It was a Raleigh, beautiful
black and gold Raleigh Ultra
Burner.

1023
00:49:09,256 --> 00:49:11,879
You know, without
realising at the time.

1024
00:49:11,914 --> 00:49:14,399
But was a sort
of a game changer

1025
00:49:14,434 --> 00:49:17,540
in the sense that it probably
dictated everything else that

1026
00:49:17,575 --> 00:49:18,679
I've done ever since, really.

1027
00:49:18,714 --> 00:49:21,406
You just wanted to look thebest, you wanted to be the

1028
00:49:21,441 --> 00:49:22,476
bollocks, you was 14 years old.

1029
00:49:22,718 --> 00:49:26,032
You was riding around with a
£300 bike between your legs

1030
00:49:26,066 --> 00:49:28,862
and dressed like Bjoörn Borgoff of center court, you know.

1031
00:49:28,896 --> 00:49:31,382
How the sport was moved on,
we weren't really that good.

1032
00:49:31,416 --> 00:49:33,004
I think we've just there
at the beginning, we were

1033
00:49:33,039 --> 00:49:35,248
just in a little bubble!

1034
00:49:35,731 --> 00:49:39,631
Yeah, iI think with us lot,
we was more like stunt riders

1035
00:49:39,666 --> 00:49:41,185
really than anything else.

1036
00:49:41,702 --> 00:49:44,188
A Stupple! It's a bit of an
ego trip calling it a Stupple.

1037
00:49:44,222 --> 00:49:45,672
Yeah, I suspose it is really.

1038
00:49:45,706 --> 00:49:47,432
Not really any other
name you can call it.

1039
00:49:47,467 --> 00:49:51,402
Where do you practise
a stunt like that?

1040
00:49:51,436 --> 00:49:53,887
I mostly practise
at Romford Skatepark

1041
00:49:54,681 --> 00:49:57,166
I think now, the riders now,

1042
00:49:57,201 --> 00:49:59,617
have got a lot more finesse in
what they do.

1043
00:50:00,342 --> 00:50:03,276
Putting runs together and
that. What we used to do was

1044
00:50:03,310 --> 00:50:04,863
just go a bit mental really.

1045
00:50:09,627 --> 00:50:14,183
It's a gentle skatepark like youcome here and it's just like all

1046
00:50:14,218 --> 00:50:18,498
'70s transitions, you know. It'sall rollovers and it's all...

1047
00:50:18,532 --> 00:50:21,121
I've come here to...
It's relaxing for me.

1048
00:50:21,156 --> 00:50:22,364
Romford's relaxing.

1049
00:50:22,398 --> 00:50:24,193
And even in the '80s and there
was hundreds of kids here.

1050
00:50:24,228 --> 00:50:27,196
You'd start at the top
and they'd be like, you'd

1051
00:50:27,231 --> 00:50:28,266
hear the chant of, you know:

1052
00:50:28,301 --> 00:50:30,061
"Going in!" "Following!"

1053
00:50:33,858 --> 00:50:34,928
"Following him!"

1054
00:50:34,962 --> 00:50:36,481
You know, and they'd be
like, kids dropping in

1055
00:50:36,516 --> 00:50:37,689
one after each other.

1056
00:50:37,724 --> 00:50:39,277
But there was never any,
you know, people wanting to

1057
00:50:39,312 --> 00:50:41,624
fight. And I've never seen
people wanting to fight each

1058
00:50:41,659 --> 00:50:43,074
other at Romford skatepark.

1059
00:50:43,109 --> 00:50:45,076
I've never seen it. And
people get the 'ump, coz

1060
00:50:45,111 --> 00:50:46,526
you might drop into them at
the wrong time.

1061
00:50:46,560 --> 00:50:48,631
But no, I've never really seen
any sort of bad animosity

1062
00:50:48,666 --> 00:50:49,598
at this skatepark.

1063
00:50:50,288 --> 00:50:51,945
It's one of the better places
to come to ride. And that's

1064
00:50:51,979 --> 00:50:53,084
why I bring my kids here now.

1065
00:50:53,119 --> 00:50:55,086
So it's always been a
cool thing, you know.

1066
00:50:55,121 --> 00:50:56,846
You go to other places and
skaters are like

1067
00:50:56,881 --> 00:50:59,159
"This is our place,
skaters only!"

1068
00:50:59,401 --> 00:51:01,368
Rom was never like that.

1069
00:51:01,403 --> 00:51:03,853
You get the occasional
prick will turn up and

1070
00:51:03,888 --> 00:51:04,647
sort of start acting up.

1071
00:51:05,234 --> 00:51:07,754
I've literally thrown people outof here for, you know, bullying

1072
00:51:07,788 --> 00:51:08,651
kids and shouting and screaming.

1073
00:51:08,686 --> 00:51:10,239
So they get shown the door.

1074
00:51:10,274 --> 00:51:12,724
I think when it opened in '78,there might have been a little

1075
00:51:12,759 --> 00:51:13,725
bit of friction

1076
00:51:14,312 --> 00:51:16,866
because they didn't really like the BMX-ers, I don't think,

1077
00:51:16,901 --> 00:51:17,936
to be honest.

1078
00:51:17,971 --> 00:51:19,731
I mean they wouldn't
admit it now, maybe but...

1079
00:51:22,389 --> 00:51:24,495
Yeah, that's me and mates.

1080
00:51:26,013 --> 00:51:27,601
I know exactly how that happened.

1081
00:51:28,292 --> 00:51:29,224
Yeah... Yeah.

1082
00:51:30,328 --> 00:51:32,296
There was this war with
the skateboarders.

1083
00:51:32,330 --> 00:51:36,265
So we've got the BMX guys and
the skateboarders who were

1084
00:51:36,300 --> 00:51:37,887
crashing into each other.

1085
00:51:37,922 --> 00:51:40,545
I remember it so clear, that
it's a couple of my friends

1086
00:51:40,580 --> 00:51:42,823
and one of them had the
front to to do something,

1087
00:51:42,858 --> 00:51:45,240
cause I was only a small
boy at the time.

1088
00:51:45,723 --> 00:51:51,522
I think by memory, that theystarted arguing and I just see

1089
00:51:51,556 --> 00:51:55,767
my friend with helmet just gowhack straight across his head.

1090
00:51:56,561 --> 00:51:58,632
And then it was just a
free for all and everyone

1091
00:51:58,667 --> 00:52:01,152
kicking and punching and...

1092
00:52:01,532 --> 00:52:05,777
You know, and it literally, assoon as it started, it finished,

1093
00:52:05,812 --> 00:52:07,952
it was waiting to happen.

1094
00:52:08,228 --> 00:52:12,301
My friend who threw
the first punch was the

1095
00:52:12,336 --> 00:52:13,544
guy who was going to do it.

1096
00:52:15,201 --> 00:52:17,755
Oh I've got great memories
here. Getting a train up, and

1097
00:52:17,789 --> 00:52:19,136
we all used to ride down here.

1098
00:52:19,550 --> 00:52:20,689
Brilliant place.

1099
00:52:20,723 --> 00:52:22,311
We used to come over here
a lot with Andy Ruffell...

1100
00:52:22,346 --> 00:52:25,142
Andy Ruffell, me, Cav,
Andy, Nikky Matthews...

1101
00:52:25,176 --> 00:52:27,765
My other mate, Rich McLennan
who raced for Ace.

1102
00:52:28,317 --> 00:52:29,629
Summer holidays, we were
always over here.

1103
00:52:29,974 --> 00:52:31,631
If we weren't over here,
we'd be up the Southbank.

1104
00:52:32,804 --> 00:52:35,428
The actual story is, the story
of this Team Ace, how it
started...

1105
00:52:35,773 --> 00:52:36,774
I was the one who started it.

1106
00:52:37,361 --> 00:52:38,085
54 in January.

1107
00:52:39,501 --> 00:52:41,227
I still keep on
it now, I love it.

1108
00:52:42,607 --> 00:52:45,334
I hated it the first time I
came here. I didn't like it

1109
00:52:45,369 --> 00:52:46,680
at all, thought it was crap.

1110
00:52:47,129 --> 00:52:48,130
That would have been '81.

1111
00:52:49,062 --> 00:52:51,685
And then something happeneda whole year later

1112
00:52:51,720 --> 00:52:54,550
I saw a little bit footage ofBob Haro.

1113
00:52:54,585 --> 00:52:57,450
I'd seen something and it
inspired me, and I was

1114
00:52:57,484 --> 00:52:59,003
like, I need to do that.

1115
00:52:59,314 --> 00:53:02,179
And then I was back over
and then I was over forever.

1116
00:53:03,110 --> 00:53:05,561
When Bob Haro was here, I
had to grab him and get him

1117
00:53:05,596 --> 00:53:06,942
behind the counter...

1118
00:53:09,220 --> 00:53:11,291
I've never wanted to do
that to anyone, you know.

1119
00:53:15,537 --> 00:53:18,022
Well I mean, Bob's a legend isn't he? I mean, he's you know.

1120
00:53:19,126 --> 00:53:21,301
I guess he's the
godfather of freestyle.

1121
00:53:23,269 --> 00:53:24,615
Back then, freestyle really

1122
00:53:24,649 --> 00:53:26,824
wasn't a sport yet. Itwas kind of this novelty.

1123
00:53:27,411 --> 00:53:29,585
And so

1124
00:53:29,620 --> 00:53:31,380
when I was invited
over here and did shows

1125
00:53:31,415 --> 00:53:32,416
like at Earl's court or NEC.

1126
00:53:33,727 --> 00:53:37,006
You know, freestyle it
wasn't formalised yet.

1127
00:53:37,041 --> 00:53:39,008
It was just kind of this
halftime entertainment,

1128
00:53:39,043 --> 00:53:40,009
if you will.

1129
00:53:40,044 --> 00:53:43,323
In between motos and
events going on,

1130
00:53:43,358 --> 00:53:44,359
was my performance.

1131
00:53:45,049 --> 00:53:47,258
And at that time everybody
was BMX racing.

1132
00:53:47,293 --> 00:53:49,812
There wasn't kids out here ridiglike today,

1133
00:53:49,847 --> 00:53:51,642
riding on ramps and stuff like .

1134
00:53:52,056 --> 00:53:53,471
So it was really novel.

1135
00:53:54,058 --> 00:53:56,854
So it was interesting to
come over here and see the

1136
00:53:56,888 --> 00:53:57,924
enthusiasm and all the kids.

1137
00:53:58,235 --> 00:54:01,583
The first time, you know, seeingsomebody do this on a BMX bike.

1138
00:54:07,761 --> 00:54:10,971
For sure I know and
remember the Rom skatepark.

1139
00:54:11,903 --> 00:54:15,113
And when I went there
though, it was a standard

1140
00:54:15,148 --> 00:54:17,461
classic rainy English day.

1141
00:54:18,013 --> 00:54:19,117
So I didn't really
ride that day.

1142
00:54:19,773 --> 00:54:21,741
But I remember going
there and stuff like that.

1143
00:54:22,086 --> 00:54:24,433
And then throughout the years
and the decades I have always

1144
00:54:24,468 --> 00:54:25,986
remembered the Rom park.

1145
00:54:27,333 --> 00:54:30,646
But you know, I think placeslike Rom you'd see in all the

1146
00:54:30,681 --> 00:54:34,616
BMX magazines, BMX Action Bike,and RAD later on and so on.

1147
00:54:34,823 --> 00:54:37,515
But it was also that kind
of pilgrimage to kind of

1148
00:54:37,550 --> 00:54:39,276
just, you had to go to.

1149
00:54:39,897 --> 00:54:42,002
But when I actually wentthere, because there's this big

1150
00:54:42,037 --> 00:54:44,281
kind of pool and a big bowl,

1151
00:54:44,522 --> 00:54:45,696
it's quite intimidating,
you know.

1152
00:54:47,698 --> 00:54:51,978
BMX was sort of on it's big
wave of popularity in the UK.

1153
00:54:52,012 --> 00:54:53,324
I think every kid had a BMX.

1154
00:54:53,359 --> 00:54:57,466
And I kind of started doingall these tricks, which was new

1155
00:54:57,501 --> 00:54:59,434
to the BMX scene at the time.

1156
00:55:00,124 --> 00:55:02,160
And I guess I just practised
and practised and got

1157
00:55:02,195 --> 00:55:04,266
sponsored basically.

1158
00:55:05,509 --> 00:55:09,616
I was never that kid that
just hung around doing nothing

1159
00:55:09,651 --> 00:55:11,308
because I had BMX
and skateboarding, you know.

1160
00:55:11,549 --> 00:55:13,482
And actually those, both
of those took me all around

1161
00:55:13,517 --> 00:55:17,003
the world and probably
really were the foundations

1162
00:55:17,037 --> 00:55:18,245
for what I still do now.

1163
00:55:19,316 --> 00:55:22,595
Gumball was created really
as a combination of all my

1164
00:55:22,629 --> 00:55:23,803
influences really on life.

1165
00:55:23,837 --> 00:55:27,116
Across kind of the whole actionsports world, art world,

1166
00:55:27,151 --> 00:55:29,256
and cars and music, which is

1167
00:55:29,291 --> 00:55:30,188
quite diverse, but it's

1168
00:55:30,223 --> 00:55:32,121
kind of what'smade me tick over the years.

1169
00:55:32,156 --> 00:55:34,503
Back when I started it,
it was actually just a

1170
00:55:34,538 --> 00:55:35,539
continuation of skateboarding.

1171
00:55:35,884 --> 00:55:40,854
I used to skate in one spot,
we'd skate until we'd had

1172
00:55:40,889 --> 00:55:43,581
enough of it or we got kicked
off and then we'd go somewhere

1173
00:55:43,616 --> 00:55:46,239
else and we do it again and
do it again and do it again.

1174
00:55:46,273 --> 00:55:50,243
And the rally was the same. We'ddrive to one city, we'd party,

1175
00:55:50,277 --> 00:55:52,556
we'd cause a disturbance, andthen we'd drive on the next day.

1176
00:55:52,590 --> 00:55:53,867
And we do it somewhere else.

1177
00:55:53,902 --> 00:55:57,250
When I look back on it, I'dbeen doing that from the age of

1178
00:55:57,284 --> 00:55:59,114
11 and I'm still doing it now.

1179
00:55:59,390 --> 00:56:01,979
But just now there's more
people coming out to see it.

1180
00:56:02,013 --> 00:56:03,877
But it's exactly the same.

1181
00:56:06,190 --> 00:56:09,607
There's this BMX competition
in London, which was a really

1182
00:56:09,642 --> 00:56:12,783
big deal at the time called
the Hole Shot was organised

1183
00:56:13,128 --> 00:56:14,129
by a guy called Andy Ruffell.

1184
00:56:14,509 --> 00:56:16,752
It was a big kind of freestyle
competition

1185
00:56:16,787 --> 00:56:19,306
and that was game
changing because American

1186
00:56:19,341 --> 00:56:20,411
pros came over for it.

1187
00:56:20,446 --> 00:56:23,380
I mean, I saw an American
pro rider get off his

1188
00:56:23,414 --> 00:56:25,830
bike and kinda did about
five minutes of rapping.

1189
00:56:26,279 --> 00:56:29,662
And I think I'd never
seen rap music before.

1190
00:56:30,697 --> 00:56:33,459
I saw skateboarding in a light
that I'd never seen before

1191
00:56:33,493 --> 00:56:37,601
and just watching Gonz, likejust freely kind of glide

1192
00:56:37,635 --> 00:56:41,605
centre in and out of us BMXers.
around this giant sports

1193
00:56:41,639 --> 00:56:44,435
over benches and bikes.
And him just sort of ollying

1194
00:56:44,470 --> 00:56:48,681
And it was incredible, I
mean it was incredible.

1195
00:56:48,715 --> 00:56:52,857
And I guess that was the
most inspiring thing for me

1196
00:56:52,892 --> 00:56:54,203
to get into skateboarding.

1197
00:56:54,238 --> 00:56:57,793
Just seeing this guy just
sort of do stuff that I

1198
00:56:57,828 --> 00:56:58,829
didn't think you could do.

1199
00:57:01,176 --> 00:57:04,938
Andy was more of a racer.
Although I've been here

1200
00:57:04,973 --> 00:57:08,045
when he rode here, it was
more like he was a racer.

1201
00:57:08,079 --> 00:57:11,324
He was one of the real
elites to be honest, he was

1202
00:57:11,358 --> 00:57:12,152
pretty much untouchable.

1203
00:57:12,670 --> 00:57:17,088
It was Andy, Craig Schofield,
Sid Salisbury, Jason Maloney

1204
00:57:17,123 --> 00:57:19,297
and they were all like a
little bit of a clique.

1205
00:57:19,781 --> 00:57:20,851
They stick together.

1206
00:57:22,059 --> 00:57:23,336
Yeah, it was hard
to get in with them.

1207
00:57:23,750 --> 00:57:26,477
I suppose it could have been
a bit a little bit cliquey
then, but you know....

1208
00:57:26,512 --> 00:57:27,720
I wasn't in the clique!

1209
00:57:27,754 --> 00:57:28,893
I was with Billy
on the outskirts.

1210
00:57:29,273 --> 00:57:32,725
Well in bicycle motocross, Iaim to be very good at freestlye

1211
00:57:32,759 --> 00:57:34,036
and very good at racing as well.

1212
00:57:34,071 --> 00:57:34,899
Over the whoops!

1213
00:57:37,177 --> 00:57:39,179
And It's Andy Ruffell
1st for team white.

1214
00:57:39,490 --> 00:57:43,149
And top stunt rider
Andy Ruffell, at just 18

1215
00:57:43,183 --> 00:57:45,565
he's one of the biggest
names in the sport.

1216
00:57:47,809 --> 00:57:50,397
I've actually managed to find
somebody here

1217
00:57:50,432 --> 00:57:53,055
who we haven't all seen
for a very long time.

1218
00:57:53,090 --> 00:57:55,368
Can I introduce you once
again to Andy Ruffell?

1219
00:57:55,402 --> 00:57:56,093
Hi Andy!

1220
00:57:56,956 --> 00:57:57,681
...Hi

1221
00:57:58,544 --> 00:58:00,097
That was very cool, wasn't it?

1222
00:58:00,615 --> 00:58:01,995
I was a skater. I must've been .

1223
00:58:02,720 --> 00:58:04,170
10 years old or 11 years old.

1224
00:58:04,757 --> 00:58:07,863
I actually had my skateboard
stolen at Skate City

1225
00:58:07,898 --> 00:58:10,728
and that's when I got
into getting a BMX bike.

1226
00:58:11,004 --> 00:58:13,800
And then when this place opened,it was great for me because I

1227
00:58:13,835 --> 00:58:14,905
didn't have to go to Skate City.

1228
00:58:14,939 --> 00:58:17,908
I could come up here
and ride a BMX bike.

1229
00:58:19,219 --> 00:58:21,187
The reason Rom was special
for me is, I did a lot

1230
00:58:21,221 --> 00:58:22,740
of things first here.

1231
00:58:25,467 --> 00:58:26,951
I did my first 360.

1232
00:58:27,538 --> 00:58:31,162
I remember some of the worstcrashes I ever had were at Rom.

1233
00:58:32,094 --> 00:58:35,304
The performance bowl, my chainbroke and you know, I fell from

1234
00:58:35,339 --> 00:58:38,687
the top to literally the bottomconcrete and landed on my knees.

1235
00:58:38,722 --> 00:58:40,758
And I still feel that today.

1236
00:58:41,138 --> 00:58:42,898
Because that's what's
important about Rom because

1237
00:58:42,933 --> 00:58:44,037
I think a lot of people,

1238
00:58:44,072 --> 00:58:47,144
me, Craig Schofield, Craig
Campbell, my brother of

1239
00:58:47,178 --> 00:58:48,697
course, Neil Ruffell.

1240
00:58:48,732 --> 00:58:51,355
You know, this was a reallearning ground, I think.

1241
00:58:51,389 --> 00:58:54,013
You know, all those guys and a lot of others really learnt

1242
00:58:54,047 --> 00:58:55,739
their skills right here in this

1243
00:58:55,980 --> 00:58:57,050
and especially me.

1244
00:58:57,395 --> 00:58:59,570
So I remember spending
literally four hours over

1245
00:58:59,605 --> 00:59:01,814
there in that little part
over there, just basically

1246
00:59:01,848 --> 00:59:04,230
trying to pull off front hops.

1247
00:59:04,575 --> 00:59:07,923
And I remember when I pulled
off some front hops in 1978

1248
00:59:07,958 --> 00:59:10,788
the crowd went wild coz
I did some front hops.

1249
00:59:10,823 --> 00:59:13,653
So it was like, you know,
it's kind of wild but it was

1250
00:59:13,688 --> 00:59:15,068
a really good education
for riding a bike.

1251
00:59:17,174 --> 00:59:20,902
Yeah, I think my brother alwayssurprised everybody cause he...

1252
00:59:21,592 --> 00:59:24,284
I mean be honest, I never
saw anyone ride a bike -

1253
00:59:24,319 --> 00:59:26,217
I know this sounds silly
because he's me brother.

1254
00:59:26,252 --> 00:59:28,841
But I never saw anyone
ride a bike like he did.

1255
00:59:29,255 --> 00:59:31,844
You know, and in terms of
getting air, you know, I

1256
00:59:31,878 --> 00:59:32,845
mean I've seen him up here.

1257
00:59:33,052 --> 00:59:35,468
Luckily I was, you
know, retiring.

1258
00:59:36,642 --> 00:59:39,645
Thank God ! Coz Neil
just was just ripping.

1259
00:59:39,679 --> 00:59:43,027
I mean, I've seen him get
10ft out of the performance,
you know, many times.

1260
00:59:43,062 --> 00:59:44,822
So that was cool. I think a
lot of people were surprised.

1261
00:59:44,857 --> 00:59:46,859
They just thought, oh yes,
that's Andy's brother.

1262
00:59:46,893 --> 00:59:49,068
That's why he's got a big name
because he's Andy's Brother.

1263
00:59:49,620 --> 00:59:52,312
He's ten times a betterbike rider than I ever was.

1264
00:59:52,347 --> 00:59:54,591
So I was like, you
know, he deserved it.

1265
00:59:54,625 --> 00:59:57,628
And so, I'm just glad I
retired when he was, you

1266
00:59:57,663 --> 00:59:58,629
know, coming into his peak.

1267
01:00:00,424 --> 01:00:02,391
It's a very special place.

1268
01:00:02,426 --> 01:00:04,428
Very special people that,
you know, still skate

1269
01:00:04,462 --> 01:00:05,429
here after 40 years.

1270
01:00:05,912 --> 01:00:07,224
And it certainly helped
my career big time.

1271
01:00:08,674 --> 01:00:10,365
You know, I basically
learned to ride a bike here.

1272
01:00:11,746 --> 01:00:14,093
That was a really tough pool
and it still is actually.

1273
01:00:14,714 --> 01:00:16,233
Don't believe what theytell you...

1274
01:00:16,474 --> 01:00:18,649
That you do forget how to
ride a bike.

1275
01:00:18,684 --> 01:00:19,650
Let me tell you.

1276
01:00:21,825 --> 01:00:24,034
I'm amazed that Rom is still here.

1277
01:00:24,690 --> 01:00:27,416
I mean it's crazy. I mean
I'm sitting here now and

1278
01:00:27,451 --> 01:00:29,556
I've got so many memories,
personal memories here.

1279
01:00:29,867 --> 01:00:32,836
But the fact that it's here like40 years later, is just crazy.

1280
01:00:37,910 --> 01:00:41,638
It was like roaring, a good150ft up in the air, the flames.

1281
01:00:43,122 --> 01:00:45,089
Still can't quite believe
it's gone, to be honest.

1282
01:00:48,955 --> 01:00:49,680
Nightmare.

1283
01:00:51,371 --> 01:00:54,478
This ramp was built in '99.

1284
01:00:56,135 --> 01:00:59,586
And we just got some
Heritage Lottery Funding.

1285
01:01:00,346 --> 01:01:03,867
Sods law is as we got that
funding to help us clear the

1286
01:01:03,901 --> 01:01:06,214
space and promote the park.
Now this fire has happened.

1287
01:01:07,525 --> 01:01:12,496
Cause we just finished
removing the old mini-ramp
from up the top there.

1288
01:01:13,117 --> 01:01:14,671
That had been there
for 30 odd years.

1289
01:01:15,085 --> 01:01:16,362
So we were just getting ahead.

1290
01:01:16,396 --> 01:01:17,674
We're just stepping
forward, getting to clear

1291
01:01:17,708 --> 01:01:18,709
that space, ready to go.

1292
01:01:18,744 --> 01:01:20,297
And It's just... It's hard.

1293
01:01:25,164 --> 01:01:28,063
This was our only indoor
bit when It's raining, and

1294
01:01:28,098 --> 01:01:29,686
they got nowhere to go.

1295
01:01:29,720 --> 01:01:32,309
Bit of a kick right
in the teeth, really.

1296
01:01:37,832 --> 01:01:39,350
Everything's easy
now, It's there.

1297
01:01:39,661 --> 01:01:41,698
Walk down to your local park,
there's a skatepark there.

1298
01:01:41,905 --> 01:01:45,287
You've got so many free
skate parks that pop up,

1299
01:01:45,322 --> 01:01:46,357
that councils put on.

1300
01:01:46,599 --> 01:01:49,947
So It's hard to get people,
I suppose. To come and ride

1301
01:01:49,982 --> 01:01:51,362
somewhere where they've got
to pay, when they've got

1302
01:01:51,397 --> 01:01:52,778
somewhere free to go to.

1303
01:01:52,812 --> 01:01:55,988
And it needs kids to get
here. You know, it's kind of

1304
01:01:56,022 --> 01:01:57,023
getting forgotten about a bit.

1305
01:01:57,230 --> 01:02:01,441
Rom had a more of a captiveaudience because there just

1306
01:02:01,476 --> 01:02:02,960
weren't as many places to skate.

1307
01:02:03,650 --> 01:02:05,722
Whereas now there's parks
popping up all over the place.

1308
01:02:05,756 --> 01:02:09,346
It's difficult for somewhere
like Rom to survive.

1309
01:02:13,350 --> 01:02:17,147
But looking into the future youthink, is there a future for any

1310
01:02:17,181 --> 01:02:19,943
commercial, outdoor skate park?

1311
01:02:19,977 --> 01:02:22,773
Everything else that's
commercial is indoor because

1312
01:02:22,808 --> 01:02:25,742
you've got to maximise
your income all year round.

1313
01:02:26,881 --> 01:02:29,021
There's so many free
parks around the country

1314
01:02:29,055 --> 01:02:30,436
spreading it so thin.

1315
01:02:30,470 --> 01:02:33,957
I think we're probably one
of, if not the only privately

1316
01:02:33,991 --> 01:02:35,406
run skate park in England.

1317
01:02:36,200 --> 01:02:37,961
People come here
and they love it.

1318
01:02:37,995 --> 01:02:41,343
Riding around this park
on anything wheeled is

1319
01:02:41,378 --> 01:02:43,656
a great... It's fun.

1320
01:02:43,690 --> 01:02:46,797
If we don't get some help here,we'd might be in trouble and

1321
01:02:46,832 --> 01:02:49,869
the place could go in completedisrepair, to be quite honest.

1322
01:02:52,976 --> 01:02:56,980
It must be protected. It must
be saved. It is of absolute

1323
01:02:57,014 --> 01:02:59,051
vital national importance.

1324
01:02:59,085 --> 01:03:01,812
And to give hope to
those kids that otherwise

1325
01:03:01,847 --> 01:03:03,020
without it don't have hope.

1326
01:03:03,055 --> 01:03:05,022
They don't have a place,
they can't express themselves

1327
01:03:05,057 --> 01:03:06,403
and they go the wrong way.

1328
01:03:08,854 --> 01:03:10,234
The way things are
going, you know.

1329
01:03:10,269 --> 01:03:11,995
Rent goes up, rates go up.

1330
01:03:12,858 --> 01:03:14,031
Insurance goes up.

1331
01:03:14,066 --> 01:03:16,620
It's the overheads
that are quite large.

1332
01:03:19,002 --> 01:03:20,520
It's getting worse and worse.

1333
01:03:22,005 --> 01:03:25,111
The takings are going down.
The expenses are going up.

1334
01:03:33,948 --> 01:03:36,674
Like when we used to have
crowds of kids queuing up.

1335
01:03:36,709 --> 01:03:37,710
No one was here last Saturday.

1336
01:03:37,744 --> 01:03:38,504
No one.

1337
01:03:38,538 --> 01:03:39,539
Not one.

1338
01:03:54,554 --> 01:03:58,731
We are building a wall
for an artwork project

1339
01:03:58,765 --> 01:04:01,492
by the London police,
Amsterdam based art group.

1340
01:04:02,286 --> 01:04:05,496
To promote the skate
park and get some more

1341
01:04:05,531 --> 01:04:06,497
people in here, hopefully.

1342
01:04:07,567 --> 01:04:10,674
The London Police are a
group of street artists.

1343
01:04:10,985 --> 01:04:15,541
Two of them mainly based inAmsterdam, from Essex, and they

1344
01:04:15,575 --> 01:04:16,680
do murals around the world.

1345
01:04:26,000 --> 01:04:28,278
You know, It's going tobe cool. Whatever they do,

1346
01:04:28,312 --> 01:04:29,624
they've never done a bad piece.

1347
01:04:39,358 --> 01:04:41,291
Who are we? We're
The London place.

1348
01:04:41,325 --> 01:04:43,051
The Essex Police are called
the Essex Police where the

1349
01:04:43,086 --> 01:04:44,259
London Police are calledthe Metropolitan Police.

1350
01:04:44,294 --> 01:04:45,882
So that was up for grabs,

1351
01:04:45,916 --> 01:04:48,091
you know, that was out
there. So we had that.

1352
01:04:48,298 --> 01:04:51,473
You've always said too, everyoneknows the word London and

1353
01:04:51,508 --> 01:04:53,993
the word police and you putthem together and it's kind

1354
01:04:54,028 --> 01:04:56,271
of instantly recognisableall around the world.

1355
01:04:56,306 --> 01:04:59,896
I mean they know the word 'The'as well. I mean, there's three

1356
01:04:59,930 --> 01:05:02,346
words right now that everyonein the world can understand.

1357
01:05:02,760 --> 01:05:06,005
And it does stand out when you
see it on the lineup of stuff.

1358
01:05:06,661 --> 01:05:09,215
You do look at it, It'sa stand out. It's a funname.

1359
01:05:09,250 --> 01:05:11,079
We still like it.
It's stupid. Let's face it.

1360
01:05:11,114 --> 01:05:14,289
But I think you said as well
that the idea of policing

1361
01:05:14,324 --> 01:05:16,153
the streets with good art,

1362
01:05:16,188 --> 01:05:19,087
Making... Looking
after the streets.

1363
01:05:19,122 --> 01:05:21,710
That obviously came after wegot the name, It's not like,

1364
01:05:21,745 --> 01:05:22,746
you know, we've got that first,

1365
01:05:23,367 --> 01:05:26,336
But our connection with Rom,we were both, we when were

1366
01:05:26,370 --> 01:05:27,613
younger, rubbish skateboarders,

1367
01:05:27,647 --> 01:05:29,097
but very enthusiastic.

1368
01:05:29,132 --> 01:05:30,788
Yeah, I thought you were a
bit more rubbish than I was.

1369
01:05:30,823 --> 01:05:33,757
We always came to Rom. I
came here countless times.

1370
01:05:33,791 --> 01:05:35,724
I know you did and I didn't
know you at the time,

1371
01:05:35,759 --> 01:05:38,348
But I knew you being a
couple of years older...

1372
01:05:38,382 --> 01:05:40,833
Yeah I was trying to avoid youwhen you were in the performancebowl.

1373
01:05:40,867 --> 01:05:42,939
I was well over there likewith the other ramps and stuff.

1374
01:05:43,180 --> 01:05:46,735
Finally we actually met
at some point, had to be
friends

1375
01:05:46,770 --> 01:05:47,978
and I realised
you're quite a good guy.

1376
01:05:48,875 --> 01:05:51,154
You feel like, you're doing
something for a place that

1377
01:05:51,188 --> 01:05:56,297
really gave something to
you in your early years.

1378
01:05:56,849 --> 01:06:01,129
It's giving back. It's
being part of a inspiring

1379
01:06:01,164 --> 01:06:05,030
journey to try and get this
place full of life again.

1380
01:06:05,823 --> 01:06:09,758
As we all understand these
days, council's provide nice
ramp

1381
01:06:09,793 --> 01:06:12,313
and skate park facilities
for free and in local parks.

1382
01:06:12,692 --> 01:06:14,694
And over the last 10/20
years that's really...

1383
01:06:15,454 --> 01:06:17,628
They've come in abundance
really for young skaters.

1384
01:06:17,663 --> 01:06:21,356
So to pay to come into
a park, you know, it's

1385
01:06:21,391 --> 01:06:23,427
made it harder for this
place to attract people.

1386
01:06:24,118 --> 01:06:27,914
But just the facilities here
and the heritage of it, is

1387
01:06:27,949 --> 01:06:29,916
something really special.

1388
01:06:29,951 --> 01:06:32,574
So by coming and injecting
some life into it,

1389
01:06:32,609 --> 01:06:34,024
through doing artwork,

1390
01:06:34,059 --> 01:06:37,890
Hopefully that will be thefirst step to now revampingthis place,

1391
01:06:37,924 --> 01:06:40,237
rejuvenating thatsame vibe that we felt as kids.

1392
01:06:41,445 --> 01:06:45,380
And hopefully with good people
involved, it's going to turn

1393
01:06:45,415 --> 01:06:46,416
into something special here.

1394
01:06:47,244 --> 01:06:50,178
Yeah, I think, if you had toldus 20/30 years ago that

1395
01:06:50,213 --> 01:06:53,802
we'd get the chance to be here and to do this... I mean fantastic.

1396
01:06:53,837 --> 01:06:57,013
By a little bit of artwork,
it can really affect change,

1397
01:06:57,047 --> 01:06:58,842
albeit a little small mural.

1398
01:06:59,601 --> 01:07:02,397
But I think it feeds off
the energy and creates

1399
01:07:02,432 --> 01:07:04,054
kind of a momentum.

1400
01:07:04,089 --> 01:07:06,298
I can imagine this
place being full of art.

1401
01:07:08,438 --> 01:07:11,234
But we've been doing this for
20 years as well, so we have

1402
01:07:11,268 --> 01:07:14,202
a certain way we do things and
we just employed that same

1403
01:07:14,237 --> 01:07:15,238
method in this project too.

1404
01:07:15,652 --> 01:07:19,518
Turn up, get the basics
in and then work out how

1405
01:07:19,552 --> 01:07:21,554
it's going to go and let
it breathe, let it flow.

1406
01:07:21,934 --> 01:07:24,523
And we're hoping that everyone'sgoing to appreciate the piece

1407
01:07:24,557 --> 01:07:28,078
we've done, which does haveskateboard influence in it.

1408
01:07:28,285 --> 01:07:30,287
It does have influence
of the actual place here.

1409
01:07:30,805 --> 01:07:33,256
It's made especially so thatfrom the other side of the

1410
01:07:33,290 --> 01:07:35,706
skate park, you can still sensea little bit what's going on,

1411
01:07:35,913 --> 01:07:39,538
As opposed to having to be
next to it like you would in
an art gallery or something.

1412
01:07:39,917 --> 01:07:43,887
That's quite a big part
of it, that this is such
a nice vast open park.

1413
01:07:43,921 --> 01:07:46,269
So it needed to be over there.

1414
01:07:46,303 --> 01:07:48,443
'Oh, I can see what it is, but
let me go over there and then

1415
01:07:48,478 --> 01:07:50,342
check out the finer details'.

1416
01:07:51,550 --> 01:07:54,311
Yeah, it's the basic nature
of how things work in life.

1417
01:07:54,346 --> 01:07:57,487
You know, you sow a seed
and plant grows, and from

1418
01:07:57,521 --> 01:08:00,145
the plant comes flowers,
and from the flowers comes

1419
01:08:00,179 --> 01:08:01,456
the joy of seeing it and...

1420
01:08:01,491 --> 01:08:02,975
Blah, blah, blah.

1421
01:08:03,009 --> 01:08:06,254
So hopefully this is a
seed and hopefully they'll

1422
01:08:06,289 --> 01:08:07,945
be flowers at some point
for people to enjoy.

1423
01:08:13,296 --> 01:08:15,712
Ladies and gentlemen, it gives
me great pleasure to open the

1424
01:08:15,746 --> 01:08:20,406
Rom skatepark 40 exhibition,

1425
01:08:20,441 --> 01:08:24,445
and I formally declare
the exhibition open!

1426
01:09:25,299 --> 01:09:32,168
Rom today, is the biggest,
largest, best, skate park in

1427
01:09:32,202 --> 01:09:35,378
the world to have any kind
of historic preservation.

1428
01:09:35,585 --> 01:09:39,244
Great, I just never realised
that you could even do
that with a skate park.

1429
01:09:40,037 --> 01:09:44,180
And indeed you could well
claim for Rom, it's the only

1430
01:09:44,214 --> 01:09:47,321
proper skate park in the world
to be historically listed.

1431
01:09:47,528 --> 01:09:50,979
Something with a big range
of facilities with a pool

1432
01:09:51,014 --> 01:09:53,913
and a bowl and a Cloverleaf,
and a half pipe and so on.

1433
01:09:55,605 --> 01:09:58,780
The beauty of skateboarding
is that it's art.

1434
01:09:58,815 --> 01:09:59,816
It keeps moving forward.

1435
01:10:00,610 --> 01:10:01,783
You don't have the NBA,

1436
01:10:01,818 --> 01:10:03,129
where a basketball player

1437
01:10:03,164 --> 01:10:04,855
can walk in before a game,

1438
01:10:04,890 --> 01:10:05,925
and tear the hoops down and

1439
01:10:05,960 --> 01:10:06,926
put three hoops at three

1440
01:10:06,961 --> 01:10:07,962
feet high and say,

1441
01:10:08,342 --> 01:10:10,033
this is what the game is today.

1442
01:10:10,067 --> 01:10:11,414
And that's what skateboarding
does

1443
01:10:11,448 --> 01:10:12,725
all the time.

1444
01:10:12,760 --> 01:10:17,799
It is also the prototype for
every single skate park

1445
01:10:17,834 --> 01:10:18,835
in Britain today.

1446
01:10:20,077 --> 01:10:22,804
And something that these
guys that rode 40 years

1447
01:10:22,839 --> 01:10:25,738
ago is keeping them
riding means it's right.

1448
01:10:25,945 --> 01:10:30,398
This is old school. This
is what it used to be like.

1449
01:10:30,433 --> 01:10:32,158
Now it's not.

1450
01:10:32,504 --> 01:10:36,542
It just feels like part of
the old skating, I'd say

1451
01:10:36,577 --> 01:10:37,578
it's about the closest thing.

1452
01:10:37,957 --> 01:10:39,062
Point is there's weather.

1453
01:10:39,096 --> 01:10:40,028
Point is when it's pissing down

1454
01:10:40,063 --> 01:10:40,960
we have a skid contest.

1455
01:10:40,995 --> 01:10:42,824
It's England, man.

1456
01:10:42,859 --> 01:10:43,860
It ain't California,

1457
01:10:44,067 --> 01:10:48,451
So it's an incredibly valuable
piece of architecture.

1458
01:10:48,865 --> 01:10:51,177
Both as a bit of skateboard architecture from the '70s

1459
01:10:51,212 --> 01:10:54,284
and for it's influence into
the future.

1460
01:10:54,871 --> 01:10:57,770
It is what it is for a reason.
You know it's history.

1461
01:10:57,805 --> 01:10:59,427
Don't, just stop that man.

1462
01:10:59,462 --> 01:11:01,740
That's the point. It looks
old. It's England,

1463
01:11:01,774 --> 01:11:02,775
shit's old.

1464
01:11:03,086 --> 01:11:06,054
And I really hope this place
stays, cause I hear rumours

1465
01:11:06,089 --> 01:11:08,919
that it's in trouble at the
moment and this is one of

1466
01:11:08,954 --> 01:11:11,819
the most iconic skate parks
there is on the planet.

1467
01:11:12,302 --> 01:11:15,340
It's almost, kind of our
duty to kinda keep them alive

1468
01:11:15,374 --> 01:11:17,342
really and certainly because
it's more than skateboarding.

1469
01:11:17,376 --> 01:11:18,688
It's more than BMXing.

1470
01:11:18,722 --> 01:11:21,587
It's actually developed...
It's shaped my whole life.

1471
01:11:21,622 --> 01:11:23,762
It shapes what my family do,
it shapes what my friends do.

1472
01:11:23,796 --> 01:11:26,282
and that's across all industriesand everything you know.

1473
01:11:38,777 --> 01:11:44,955
Rom should be updated, kept,added to, but the direction we've gone is...

1474
01:11:45,749 --> 01:11:48,373
Why don't we we tear that down or redesign it for the Olympic course?

1475
01:11:48,407 --> 01:11:50,789
What's the Olympic course?
What's the Olympic course?

1476
01:11:51,445 --> 01:11:52,377
Nonsense.

1477
01:11:52,687 --> 01:11:54,482
The Olympic course is going
to be obsolete before the

1478
01:11:54,517 --> 01:11:55,380
Olympics get there

1479
01:11:55,414 --> 01:11:56,415
because skateboarding is art.

1480
01:11:58,969 --> 01:12:02,594
I don't know of any other
skate park in the world

1481
01:12:02,628 --> 01:12:06,391
that is as complete and as
varied,

1482
01:12:06,425 --> 01:12:11,154
and substantial as Rom and stillenjoys this historic listing.

1483
01:12:11,775 --> 01:12:14,951
The local authority, government,havering, whoever it is needs

1484
01:12:14,985 --> 01:12:18,334
to realise what they have andthe architectural and cultural

1485
01:12:18,368 --> 01:12:19,369
importance of this place.

1486
01:12:19,404 --> 01:12:21,578
There is no other, you
will never get another

1487
01:12:21,613 --> 01:12:23,408
if it goes, it's gone.

1488
01:12:56,441 --> 01:12:58,753
Well, there's a group of
us that have got together

1489
01:12:58,788 --> 01:13:00,548
and we're putting in
everything we can afford.

1490
01:13:00,583 --> 01:13:02,654
Different people from
different walks of life.

1491
01:13:02,688 --> 01:13:07,659
We've got lawyers and ex bank
managers, to lorry drivers
to plumbers, to mechanics.

1492
01:13:07,900 --> 01:13:11,421
That are all chipping in to
basically pay the basic needs

1493
01:13:11,456 --> 01:13:13,596
so that the park doesn't
fall into the wrong hands.

1494
01:13:18,152 --> 01:13:19,395
We've been here 40 years.

1495
01:13:38,621 --> 01:13:43,591
Yeah, people say to me, you
know, you're in your fifties,

1496
01:13:43,626 --> 01:13:48,251
you skateboard.
You're some kind of freak.

1497
01:13:48,285 --> 01:13:50,529
And you know, they look at you
very, very, very strangely.

1498
01:13:52,531 --> 01:13:55,085
Like where does that
come from and why? And...

1499
01:14:01,264 --> 01:14:03,473
And I think it's just
because skateboarding for

1500
01:14:03,508 --> 01:14:05,682
whatever reason, has been
associated with kids.

1501
01:14:05,717 --> 01:14:09,652
People still just think
of it as a kid's activity.

1502
01:14:11,654 --> 01:14:13,656
I had eggs for breakfast.

1503
01:14:14,864 --> 01:14:16,555
Actually, i had eggs
on toast for breakfast.

1504
01:14:18,143 --> 01:14:19,593
Shit, now I'm all thirsty.

1505
01:14:20,801 --> 01:14:22,734
The question that you asked
me like two and a half hours

1506
01:14:22,768 --> 01:14:24,874
ago was what year was this?

1507
01:14:24,908 --> 01:14:26,496
It was '78 - '80!

1508
01:14:30,017 --> 01:14:31,156
Sorry!

1509
01:14:33,365 --> 01:14:34,400
What was the question?

1510
01:14:36,541 --> 01:14:40,061
I really like rolling thunder
and they had a party out

1511
01:14:40,096 --> 01:14:41,511
there that I really remember.

1512
01:14:42,408 --> 01:14:46,965
Roger Daltrey was partying up
in the high room and that was

1513
01:14:46,999 --> 01:14:49,623
just such a rocking session.

1514
01:14:50,555 --> 01:14:52,315
I mean how much can I tell?

1515
01:14:54,317 --> 01:14:58,286
You know, I created the
world freestyle... Awards

1516
01:14:58,321 --> 01:15:00,910
freestyle... Say that again!

1517
01:15:02,912 --> 01:15:05,501
I got told by pretty
much everybody,

1518
01:15:05,535 --> 01:15:06,847
get a proper job !

1519
01:15:07,882 --> 01:15:10,126
I didn't work for 20 years
for as I'm concerned,

1520
01:15:10,160 --> 01:15:12,404
I was a professional BMX rider.uknow, who had the last laugh?

1521
01:15:16,995 --> 01:15:18,203
Nice tits.

1522
01:15:18,548 --> 01:15:19,860
I'll tell you what,
I'm filling out.

1523
01:15:21,931 --> 01:15:25,521
Occasionally I go to
Meanwhile gardens,

1524
01:15:25,555 --> 01:15:27,557
and do my stuff late at night.

1525
01:15:27,592 --> 01:15:32,389
And sometimes fall off and
think, you know, if someone
could see me now! You Know?

1526
01:15:32,976 --> 01:15:35,841
What am I doing? But I
love it. So it's great.

1527
01:15:38,395 --> 01:15:40,984
Everyone's going to
think 'Who's that twat?'.

1528
01:15:42,641 --> 01:15:44,712
I don't know. But I think
that... To be honest, they'll

1529
01:15:44,747 --> 01:15:46,783
think that anyway, regardless
of with the glasses on or off.

1530
01:15:48,509 --> 01:15:51,132
A little hedgehog came
out of the bushes and

1531
01:15:51,167 --> 01:15:53,825
it looked up at me.

1532
01:15:53,859 --> 01:16:01,073
It shared my emotional state,
you know, and understood that
I was having a rough day.

1533
01:16:03,455 --> 01:16:05,630
It seems like I was going
down this hill forever.

1534
01:16:06,078 --> 01:16:08,702
Forever and ever - A bit
like I go on anyway! But...

1535
01:16:11,877 --> 01:16:14,846
Oh, I'm just sitting here
looking at myself by myself.

1536
01:16:20,541 --> 01:16:25,581
This is not what I do. Oh, therewas me when I was little....

1537
01:16:27,341 --> 01:16:29,412
Oh it's me when I
was little again.

1538
01:16:30,102 --> 01:16:33,174
Oh it's was just about me.
Oh, I love looking at me.

1539
01:16:35,107 --> 01:16:36,695
Something like that!

1540
01:16:37,938 --> 01:16:40,078
Oh, I'm not that dude.

1541
01:16:41,666 --> 01:16:44,185
He just can't talk. He's a drip

1542
01:16:44,220 --> 01:16:46,187
It's why I keep trying to
talk over him because he's

1543
01:16:46,222 --> 01:16:48,189
too quiet. You probably won't
even hear him in the film.

1544
01:17:13,490 --> 01:17:15,700
I've still got to
work on it obviously.

1545
01:17:15,734 --> 01:17:16,632
That middle bit...

1546
01:17:16,666 --> 01:17:18,944
My name is Andrew Markou

1547
01:17:19,773 --> 01:17:21,775
My mates called me Popadopoulos.

1548
01:17:22,879 --> 01:17:27,573
I've been skating since
2003 and this was the
first place I came to.

1549
01:17:29,265 --> 01:17:33,062
That was '79 and came
back to Rom in '97 when
I started skating again.

1550
01:17:34,166 --> 01:17:35,581
and I've been coming ever since,more or less.

1551
01:17:36,582 --> 01:17:37,756
One thing, I will say...

1552
01:17:46,938 --> 01:17:50,148
Get here before it was
open, bashing around in
the car park out there.

1553
01:17:50,182 --> 01:17:53,738
Knocking on the door,
waiting for John to
come out and let us in.

1554
01:17:53,772 --> 01:17:56,775
We used in climb over here afterthe builders had gone home.

1555
01:17:57,707 --> 01:18:00,917
Lay sheets of ply out
to get through the sea
of mud and just skate.

1556
01:18:41,751 --> 01:18:44,789
...Zinger!