Down in the backstreets of Grantham, Lincolnshire, is one of those secret spots that you probably won’t find unless you know someone who built it. The Tunnel is an abandoned walkway, nestled underneath a bridge, that has been transformed into an ongoing DIY project by local shredders Ben Footitt & Alex Bexton. All photos: Tom Quigley, 2013, except where noted.
Alex Bexton - F/S Smith Grind.
Ben Footitt - Wallride. Tom Quigley, 2013.
Ben Footitt - B/S Overcrook Stall. Tom Quigley, 2013.
Ben Footitt - Back Tail. Tom Quigley, 2013.
Bexton by Footitt, 2014.
Alex Bexton - Crailslide. Ben Footitt, 2014.
Dean by Bexton, 2014.
UKSA Vans Championships
October 2013, Nottingham.
One of the biggest comps to hit the East Midlands before Flo Skatepark sadly closed its doors.
Top left: Martin “Socks” Maguire drops into his run. Photo: Pierre Melion. Left: Will Golding - F/S double flip. Photo: Lewis Royden. Right: Kris Vile - Melon over the hip. Photos: Tom Quigley
Ross McGouran - Hip to Smith Grind. Photo: Lewis Royden.
Jed Cullen - Frontside Ollie. Photo: Pierre Melion.
Top: Jed Cullen gaps over the hip. Photo: Lewis Royden. Right: Kris Vile & Nick Remon, who took second and first place. Photo: Lewis Royden.
SHOTS
Patrick Sampson - Frontside Ollie, Nottingham. Tom Quigley, 2013.
Luke Elks - B/S Nosegrind, Nottingham. Allan Hickenbottom, 2014.
Lou Charles - Wallride, Northampton. Gab Deacon, 2012. Ben Rowley - Wallie Transfer, Skegness. Rob Salmon, 2013.
Jack Coyle - B/S Crooked Grind, Skegness. Deividas Buivydas, 2012.
Rowan Lane - F/S Tailslide, Nottingham. Tom Quigley, 2013.
Luke Humphries - F/S Bluntslide, Nottingham. Floyd van Dongen, 2014. Ian Rees - No Comply Pole Jam, Nottingham. Tom Quigley, 2014.
Eddie Belvedere - Wallride, Derby. Samuel Mlot, 2012.
Louis Browne - Footplant Fakie, Leicester. Tom Quigley, 2013.
Niall Behan - F/S 5-0, Northampton. Joel Peck, 2008.
Lou Charles - Ollie, Northampton. Gab Deacon, 2012.
Christopher Price - Crooked Grind, Nottingham. Jim Knight, 2014.
Alex Hallford - Nosegrab 270, Clifton. Ben Gore, 2012.
Harry Blackamore - B/S Tailslide, Nottingham. Tom Quigley, 2014.
Craig Smedley - Switch Hardflip, Nottingham. Leo Sharp, c.2000.
Niall Behan - Ollie, Northampton. Joel Peck, 2007. The Northampton pipes. Sam Roberts, 2013.
Maples Street, Nottingham - Charlotte Anderson, 2012.
Andrew Holt - Backside 180, Nottingham. Jim Knight, 2014. Luke Humphries - Hardflip, Nottingham. Neil Turner, 2013.
Alex Hallford - Nosegrab 270, Clifton. Ben Gore, 2012.
Ben Swanson - Noseslide, Nottingham. Patrick Sampson, 2014.
Jez Bayes - Backside Air, Kettering. Jonathan Bradbury, 1985.
Gaz Jenkins - Ollie, Nottingham. Leo Sharp, c. 2000.
Tom Shaw-Weston - F/S Boardslide, Nottingham. Tom Quigley, 2014.
Happy Photos by Nottingham skater/creator Dave Bevan from his travels around the UK.
Going
Nowhere
Alex Hallford - Nosegrab 270, Clifton. Ben Gore, 2012.
FOR OLD TIME’S ACHE Wickies, Kettering. 1978 - 1991 Wicksteed Park is an amusement park, founded by Charles Wicksteed in the early 1900s with the intention of providing a safe open space for families. Various attractions came and went since its opening in 1921, and with the late seventies skateboarding boom came the concrete bowls - an important addition that encouraged skateboarding and forged a local scene throughout the eighties. Levelled in the early nineties due to difference of opinion of the managing director at the time, Wickies remains sadly missed and the stuff of skateboarding history. All photos courtesy of The Wicksteed Trust except where noted.
1978
Harvey Childs by Jess Christie, c.1987.
1978
Jonathan Bradbury by Tony Wright, 1979.
Jez Bayes - Lipslide. Nic Meachem, 1987.
1978
Jonathan Bradbury - F/S Ollie. Nic Meachem, c.1981.
Leigh Cox by Jonathan Bradbury. The Wicksteed Trust is always look ing for photos, documents & mem orabilia that tell the history of the park - get in touch at: charlotte@wickste edpark.co.uk.
National Water Sports Centre - Andy Nelson, 2011. nelsonimages.co.uk.
Alex Hallford by Tom Quigley, 2014. Back Cover: Elliot Maynard - Kickflip, Nottingham. Tom Quigley, 2014.