CAPTIONS:
From the days when Foot-plants were Foot-plants: Jeremy Skelton, Kiddy Pool Championships August (80?)

Blue Tile’s mobile full-pipe. Peralta in Putney in the rain, 1978

FLAT BOTTOM Vital part of most purpose built skate structures, but missing from early seventies designs when most half- pipes featured a semi-circular cross section. Amount varies but no less than 14, no more than 18 with 9″.5 to 10 foot transition. 16 works well on a ramp that size. Minis need less, say about 12, or you’ll loose speed. See = RAMPS

FLETCHER-COOK, Graham Veteran London skater. In the seventies he was a presenter on the Saturday morning kid’s TV programme, Our Show, and was responsible for Van’s biggest free plug and much skate mayhem. In 88 he made Ollie the Gap, the first attempt at a British skate video of the eighties.

FLING, Sticker End of competitition crowd pleasing tradition. Vast stocks of stickers, and sometimes product, thrown by the competitors from the top of the ramp. Serious carnage results, especially when professionals, like Dean Bennett, are working the crowd. See = COMPETITIONS

FLORIO, Jason Famed Farnborough local from the seventies/ eighties. Also built his own highly suspect micro concrete bowl in his back garden.

FLOW As in to skate smooth, flowing lines. OR to distribute free stickers, shirts and equipment. Which definition you prefer speaks volumes about you.

FLY-OFF A divisive subject: either an invention of the the devil, or the most fun, depending on your attitude. Small, frequently very dodgy, quarter pipe section ramps. The genuine item should be made of stolen, rotten ply and should disintegrate within half an hour (no problem as it only took five minutes to build). Kept both deck manufacturers and knee specialists busy. See = RAMP

FLYAWAY Stylish fibreglass helmet originally marketed by Kanoa in the late seventies, complete with flashy air-brush graphics. Now available again as a good looking alternative to the ever- popular ProTec.

FLYERWAY Eighties British version of the original Flyaway design from Death Box. A very close copy, but with minor modifications. See = FLYAWAY

FLYING EGG Alley-oop into an Eggplant (hand-plant variation using your leading hand). See = EGGPLANT

FONTAINEBLEU Just south of Paris: the site of a series of late eighties contests strongly linked with the resurgence of skating in Europe.

FOOT PLANT Family of moves with foot planted on the coping or whatever. Frontside, Fakie, Texas, Fast-plant etc.

FOX, Jeremy Boss of Death Box. Freestyle skater from the dark period who went off to California and learnt the art of making and (very much) screening boards. Runs a large and argumentative skateboard team in his spare monents. Probably puts as much into promotions here as everyone else put together. See = DEATH BOX

FREESTYLE Aspect of skating which fell from popularity as vert took over in the late seventies. Now showing signs of a come-back as street-style lures the masses back to the flat. Very international: Don Brown and Shane Rouse are British, Gunter Mokulys is German, Per Welinder Swedish but, but, but: See = MULLEN, R

FRIEDMAN, Glenn E Late seventies, early eighties surfer skater photographer prodigy. His first roll of colour film resulted in a centre spread in the (infamous) Action Now magazine. Now noted rock photographer by appointment to Beastie Boys.

FRIGID AIR Air taking your front foot off and kicking it FORWARD. (Kicking it backwards would be a Judo air)

FULL PIPE As in huge tunnels, eg at Mount Baldy in California and various other drainage projects, silos etc. Rare and splendid. UK examples were the metal ones near Redcar (now gone) and concrete at Telford (never dry). Also concrete skatepark versions at Upland, California or Plymouth, UK (both now gone). Even portable demo ones, eg Blue Tile (UK, 70s). Duane Peters looped one with aid ofa monster run in ramp as part of a touring skate stage show.

FULLY Not a bona fide American skater? Tack this handy word on the end of every sentence and your friends will never suspect. Means anything you wish. See = WEBSTER, Dan

FUN RAMP Usually taken to mean small ramps which are anything but unless you’ve got a degree in advanced snake technique. See = MINI-RAMP

Captions:
Farnborough ramp overview with some ex-local getting in the way
(The ex-local was Danny Webster.)

Don Brown: 89 was the year that he emerged from the shadows and got the coverage he’s deserved for so long

Back after a summer break while the contest season dominated the magazine. Think we’ve got something wrong or missed something out? Write and let us know.

FABRIQUER, John The most powerful mushroom in the world: like an elastic band at full stretch ready to go off at any moment. Rad. San Jose local, skates for Schmitt Stix.

FACTION Definitive early skate band featuring Steve Caballero on bass See =CABALLERO, S

FAKIE To travel backwards. Dead trendy now: want to double your repertoire: do the same moves in reverse? Easier said than done.

FALLBROOK Town in southern California with a phenomenal ramp density. About twenty minutes from Transworld’s office and therefore heavily exposed in print especially Tobin’s ramp. In fact that was just one of many and has now fallen victim to insurance problems.

FARNBOROUGH One of the original British spots: this Surrey town has had a half-pipe of some type in the shopping centre for ten years at least. Farnborough contests were the stuff of British summers. That ramp was the training ground of most of our southern talent. Now eclipsed by bigger designs like Bracknell.

FAST PLANT Foot-plant variation with the emphasis on boosting up into an air from your back foot. Grab, Mute, Slob, Indy, whatever as long as you go high.

FELLOWS, Brent Schmitt amateur. Gets in here because he looks like Mr Magoo.

FFEJ Handplants, Dad. See =HEDGES, Jeff

FIBREFLEX Seventies classic decks. Resilient, pumpable thin fibreglass and wood laminates. Great for the cruising, carving, slalom period, they fell from favour as the wide all maple decks swept all before them. See =G & S

FIFTY FIFTY 50/50 Travelling along the coping with both trucks grinding. Also freestyle move. Also Sims two toned wheels from a while back.

FINGERBOARD Rare originals were hand-made skater’s equivalents of worry beads, not at all the same as the mass produced gizmos which became one of the symbols of the late eighties craze.

FINGER-FLIP Grab the nose and spin it right round through 360 along its length. A basic building block trick: eg Finglerflip Lein to Tail, Varial etc

FIREBALLS Rave from the grave. Completely spherical wheels from the time before rounded profiles. Didn’t work.

FIVE FORTY 540 Australian skate magazine, rated here — but we’re biased.

FLASH Dubious British protective equipment from the seventies including glitter effect helmets. Mine cracked when I stood on it.

Other occurrences are Wayne Ryder’s bike-less window to window transfer, Mad John’s amazing run wearing a foam mattress as a poncho and still negotiating the obstacles (he scored 10,000 but failed to qualify) and Ross Marshall’s ramp to car-roof Abubaccas.

An exceptionally, ridiculously dodgy cut is made then, after a short free-for-all practice, each rider in the cut takes a second run. High revert wall-rides are made by Angry, Zach and Slade, Nutter from Nottingham uses a ramp against the side of the car to pull airs, footplants and disasters on the roof. He also gets into and out of a Miami hopper. Graham Marfleet nosepicks the tombstone ramp and Angry 360s the quad ramp and manual rolls the car bonnet. Most of the Jive Five make the cut and destroy with Abubaccas on the car bonnet from the flat ground.

By this point people are becoming aware of the dubious judging and all attempts at seriousness collapse and a stupid trick contest develops: Nutter attempts a Vander-roll, Angry does a Neville flip off a fly-off ramp and Slade plays with a toy lorry. No-one worries about the results as everyone in the final cut has long since laid claim to the prizes. Then a large portion of the crowd attack Jay the commentator: first they wrap him in Mad John’s mattress/poncho, and then a great many people jump on him. He still has the microphone, which is quite amusing: his cries of “I can’t breathe “, “Get off me head “, and “You’ve broken my leg “ are broadcast over the PA until the mike is unplugged and he is dumped in a skip.

The car is next. But the attack is rapidly abandonned as petrol spills from the tank. Local kids, knowing no fear, use makeshift crow bars to remove parts of the car for reasons known only to themselves.

The sun descends and we plan the journey home. On the way back the road is mostly downhill and the people at the side of the road don’t seem to stare. We arrive at the train station and even though the train is even more packed than when we came, we get no hassle from the guard. A good day out — grumbles are heard, but most are quiet and reflective. The day seems to have been an overall success, despite the judging.
Other occurrences are Wayne Ryder’s bike-less window to window transfer, Mad John’s amazing run wearing a foam mattress as a poncho and still negotiating the obstacles (he scored 10,000 but failed to qualify) and Ross Marshall’s ramp to car-roof Abubaccas.

An exceptionally, ridiculously dodgy cut is made then, after a short free-for-all practice, each rider in the cut takes a second run. High revert wall-rides are made by Angry, Zach and Slade, Nutter from Nottingham uses a ramp against the side of the car to pull airs, footplants and disasters on the roof. He also gets into and out of a Miami hopper. Graham Marfleet nosepicks the tombstone ramp and Angry 360s the quad ramp and manual rolls the car bonnet. Most of the Jive Five make the cut and destroy with Abubaccas on the car bonnet from the flat ground.

By this point people are becoming aware of the dubious judging and all attempts at seriousness collapse and a stupid trick contest develops: Nutter attempts a Vander-roll, Angry does a Neville flip off a fly-off ramp and Slade plays with a toy lorry. No-one worries about the results as everyone in the final cut has long since laid claim to the prizes. Then a large portion of the crowd attack Jay the commentator: first they wrap him in Mad John’s mattress/poncho, and then a great many people jump on him. He still has the microphone, which is quite amusing: his cries of “I can’t breathe “, “Get off me head “, and “You’ve broken my leg “ are broadcast over the PA until the mike is unplugged and he is dumped in a skip.

The car is next. But the attack is rapidly abandonned as petrol spills from the tank. Local kids, knowing no fear, use makeshift crow bars to remove parts of the car for reasons known only to themselves.

The sun descends and we plan the journey home. On the way back the road is mostly downhill and the people at the side of the road don’t seem to stare. We arrive at the train station and even though the train is even more packed than when we came, we get no hassle from the guard. A good day out — grumbles are heard, but most are quiet and reflective. The day seems to have been an overall success, despite the judging.

Captions:
That’s Jay’s leg. He’s in there, along with other unmentionable things

No! No! It’s all a mistake. They’re only pretending. Sorry. Not allowed. No

Something stirred within the souls of these kids

Captions:
That’s Jay’s leg. He’s in there, along with other unmentionable things

No! No! It’s all a mistake. They’re only pretending. Sorry. Not allowed. No

Something stirred within the souls of these kids

Captions:
Zach travelled far that day, to learn the meaning of fear
Remember kids: ride safe, like Mad John
From ramp to car to Bom Drop, Angry Brown

Home Made Jam

Accapella 12” Bombay Re-mix
by DAVID SLADE

The road is long, and the climb is uphill: all roads lead to the same place if you know where you’re going. There are five of us and we’ve been journeying on separate paths since early morning, all taking the same jibes, comments and stares from a multitude of people. The same reactions from day to day recur during this morning’s journey from the same basic sort of people who collectively share the same views and thoughts where we’re concerned. But it’s early morning and we’re tired. Perhaps we’ll see the world in a different light as the sun rises higher.

Higher up the road the venue is getting closer and the train guard hassle begins to fade along with the staring people, as the concrete passes underneath. A brief stop for directions confirms our optimism: we know where this road leads and what lies at the end of it. The sun is rising higher, there’s no sign of rain and we are fast approaching the venue.

The venue is a comprehensive school yard in Wath-upon-Dearne: the yard is teeming with two and four wheeled life — faces we know along with some more unfamiliar. Amongst the bulk of the crowd that we accept as our own kind are young kids: their bikes resemble ours and from a distance add to the crowd, making it bulkier, but closer observation reveals obvious design flaws, imitations and blatant duplication of well established parts — bike grommets. Iron Horse Mudcrunchers and 16” Falcon bikes.

Bikes carving mandatory lines on the walls of the area greatly out-number skateboards although there is no conflict between the two. There are several different sized fly-off ramps located about the area: some positioned near a family saloon car which was bought for the occasion by the organisers, Chris Hardy and Shaun Allinson. The car was not taxed, but did contain petrol — as we later found out. The sale price was £10 and that included a tow to the event.

It’s clear from the start that this is going to be much more than just of anarchic bloody malarky: the turn-out is clearly the largest to date for such an event, which is surprising considering the extreme lack of publicity. Here is evidence that independent events are no longer the future — they are here now and staying firmly as the scene shifts from one generation to the next.

The entrants include people who have journeyed from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales as well as a healthy London presence. Add to this a host of locals and the omnipresent Cow Zine mob and the arena becomes a chaotic and dangerous place to be. Many a harsh slam is absorbed, with near misses occurring by the second.

Besides the car, other elements of the street course include a transitioned ramp of between four and five feet high with a set back, step-up tombstone platform. There is also a small quad ramp and a wooden slide crate with a strip of plastic down one side for fast peg grinds.

The event begins as a jam but Chris and Shaun soon realise they have a great deal of support in sponsorship, not least from Vision Street Wear, but also from a number of indy T shirt and Zine producers who have taken cash out of their own pockets and shirts of their own backs to support the cause. There are far more prizes than they expected and so, in the tradition of these events, they organise an impromptu contest to distribute the abundance.

The result is surprisingly successful oganisation: the area is cleared quite quickly and individual runs are taken — all of which is aided by a large and powerful PA. In between runs BMX racer Clive Gosling risks major property loss by giving in to numerous ‘Give us a go on yer BMX Mister’ grommets. When his run comes, his race bias shows as he attacks th fly-off ramps with heavily styled jumps, can-can look-backs, no handers, lookdowns and so on. Along with the rest of the Jive Five his street negotiation is no different from his freestyle counterparts — his bike just has fewer tubes.

The idea of the individual runs is to determine a top ten who will compete for the prizes. This is eventually done — but the results reveal some exceptionally dodgy judging: the scores range from 43 points to 100,000 points with the occasional zero. To say the judging is biased is an extreme understatement.

Some interesting things happen during the individual runs: both travelling Zach and Angry Brown jump the car length-ways and survive. The infamous Jay of Zenith zine is on the microphone, livening up the slower moments with extreme abuse of whoever is riding at the time. He ranges from personal comments about clothing to insulting the rider’s grandmother and other forms of ridicule “He’s a Souf Bank local, Gor’ blimey, knock it on the ed guvnor “ and “Cow, you know I’m only joking when I say you’re riding well “ along with a much repeated “Clap, you twats. “ He would pay later.

Where are they now: David Slade