Skatepark in South East London

Though I agree that skating is more valued now by the SB authorities. It's true that we in some senses saved the riverside from being a completely scary underworld place back in the 80s - it's really nice to hear someone else say that cos I feel like I'm going mad sometimes when i go down there, and remember how desolate and unwelcoming it used to be. Winstan tried to show this in the Rollin through the Decades film ... have you seen it?

No, I should check it out though.

I only arrived in London in 1997. Around that time it was a bit of a clash. Southbank, Shell Centre and the big six would draw tons of skaters on a sunday afternoon. The fun police would go on a rampage and they started calling in the actual police to try and move us. Anti skate measures got slapped al over the place. At the same time skating was on a massive upswing and it wasn't unusual to turn up to find Mike Manzari or Pete Hellicar out for a session. Suddenly there was that middle class tipping point, we weren't just a part of the Southbank, we were an attraction.

It's tapered off again, but it'll be back soon, the click clack of wheels on flagstones will always haunt the southbank. More ears perk up these days, heads turn hoping for a glimpse of something a bit magical. Skating has withstood the test of time. You can't take that away.