Stockwell Skatepark

Stockwell Skatepark (also known as Brixton Bowls or Brixton Beach) is situated on Stockwell Park Walk in South London, England. Unsupervised and free at all hours, the skatepark was built to cater to 1970s skateboarding but has been used since then by skateboarders of every wave ('80s, '90s, '00s) and practitioners of other extreme wheel based sports such as BMX.

It has a roll in leading to a flat area (originally for slalom), a very unusual ramp shaped like (and known as) a sausage, a mellow snake run (taking up nearly half the park), a flat area with a flat bar for grinding, a small bump usually used as a kicker (and referred to as the nipple or the potato), and a mogul known as the sugar bowl. There are also two 4ft. concrete quarter pipes backed against the boundary wall; one has about 2ft. of vert and the other is more conventional. Both were created by a local skateboarder, he also created a 4 foot ramp which has almost no transition and 3 feet of vert.

The skateboarding and BMX scene is very friendly and locals use the park as a place to hang out and socialise as well as ride the ramps.

In September 2005 the park was resurfaced. The new surface has already cracked and become dangerous in certain places. Users of the park were angry with the council for employing inexperienced contractors who had no experience in the skatepark building field. Some of the wooden local-built ramps were then been removed by the council after the fatal injury of a visiting skateboarder. The injury was not incurred on or near the local built ramps but, it is believed, the council felt the need to be extra careful, fearing the possibility of litigation in the eventuality of other injuries.

Following the appalling resurfacing job carried out in 2005, users of the park have successfully campaigned for a further resurfacing. This was carried out between September 2007 and October 2008 (this time with experts involved and a number of local skaters and BMXers helping out). The new surface is accompanied by a number of ramp additions, most notably in the north east corner of the park (previously an empty space).

External links

* [http://www.stockwellskatepark.com Stockwell Skatepark] - the skatepark's homepage
* [http://www.brixtoncycles.co.uk Brixton Cycles] - The local skate and bike shop adjacent to the park
* [http://www.donevideo.co.uk/ Done Video] - A video made by locals
* [http://www.skateboardpark.com/skateboardpark/viewpark.asp?ID=1630 Skateboardpark.com's review]