When We Was Rad:
Skateboard History from UK Vintage Magazine

Winstan Whitter Intro


Winstan Whitter Intro Interview 1991Winstan Whitter went on to make the best film on British skateboarding I have ever seen. Here he is in an Intro from 1991. The year highlights one of the most impressive aspects of his work: Rollin Through the Decades gets the spirit of the earlier decades exactly right even though they are before Winstan’s time. It’s a remarkably professional bit of research and film making. There were relatively few people involved in skating in the dark ages and it was a different world from the one in which skateboarding has gone mainstream. Winstan tracked those people down and let them talk. He gave the subject space and he didn’t reinterpret what was said. Very rare.
Anyway, this is what Winstan had to say in 1991:

Years skating: 3 years Where do you live: Hackney Where do you normally skate: South Bank Rate: Hensley, Jason Lee, Curtis and Sam Who do you normally skate with: Sam, and everyone at the South Bank Is it true that there’s an attitude problem at the South Bank: A bit — sometimes people talk about you behind your back. All these rumours get spread around Favourite video: Not the New H Street Video Music: Anything really — the music from skate videos Food: Anything Sponsors: Life Current set-up: Life Ron Allen, Indys and H Street Revolution wheels Tricks you’re working on: 540° tail-grabs, frontside 360° tail-grabs… Favourite trick that you do: 360° Ollie tail grabs Newest trick: 360° One-foots to fakie — I learnt those at Uxbridge Do you skate ramp a lot: I haven’t skated ramp for months, but I just got back into them. I’m going to get into vert this summer as well Raddest thing seen (live): Gonz doing a 180° 50/50 down Shell Centre Travel: I want to go to Münster this summer, quite a lot of us are going Have you ever invented a trick in your head: I made up frontside Ollie shove-its before I’d seen other people doing them If you had to shoot someone, who would it be: I’ll have to pass on that one Favourite sweet: Maltesers If you had your own board, what would it be shaped like: It would have a big nose, a roundish tail, a bit of a pointed nose and pretty straight rails Do you think they’ll ever get rid of the skaters at the South Bank: I don’t think they will. I heard they were going to put the slabs back where they’ve dug them up, because of people walking through with stiletto heels. They’ll leave the bars there though. Worst slam: I’ve never broken anything and I’m quite stoked with that. My worst slam was on a lipslide on a grind bar and I landed on my back with my fingers underneath and bent them right back and sprained them. I tweak my ankles a lot, like on nose-bumps when you go to do it and your foot slips off Are there any places which have gone that you really miss: South Bank! The banks: how good was the hip? And the atmosphere. That’s what I’d like to get back again.

If you haven’t seen the film, please go over to the Rollin Through the Decades official site and take a look. Buy a DVD while you’re there.

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