|
Daz and JB Rockin' it ol'skool in Calne Bowl We sat at the PC and began working out a new plan. The south west had seen the last of the storm so that looked like the place to head. Everywhere would be wet so we tried to think of something/anything that would be good to ride. We hadn't hit a skate park for a while, not since getting equipped with airliners, it was a wet weekday, the perfect time to hit a skatepark with a Mountainboard, no skaters and probably no anyone. Plus if it was flooded I knew I'd be able to talk JB into hitting it for a Kodak moment... I started off skateboarding and much like Mountainboarding, there are the holy grails; sacred spots that become almost myth and folklore. Places like Cleeve Hill, Bugs boarding and Crooked Mustard. For old skaters its places like Harrow bowls, Livingstone and Romford. These work with varying degrees of success on a Mountainboard but if you've got your tyres pumped up hard enough you'll always leave with a smile. One I'd seen loads in Skate mags was Calne bowl in Wiltshire, proper 70's porncrete. I checked http://www.sk8loc8.com/ for directions, it's a w icked skate spot site the links to google maps, and we set off. As we neared Calne we passed through a town called Wootton Bassett. It wrung bells but I couldn't think why. Then, when we hit the center of the historic market town, it became immediately obvious, it is the town given the honour of welcoming home the ever growing number of British Millitary coffins from Afghanistan. The main street was lined with people waiting to pay their respects to the latest arrivals. It brought home how something so far away was affecting so many people at home. The media circus was in full swing, big and brash with their The bowl is close to the train station, so it's easy to find and close to town. We parked up (next to the bowl) and checked it out. Gutted, it wasn't flooded, John would stay dry. If it's ride-able after the monsoon we'd had the night before I don't think it will ever be too wet to ride. The surface was pretty rough, though it had been patched up and was in better condition that pics we'd seen online. The bowl is 2ft deep at the shallow end and over head height in the deep end. None of it has coping. People always say 70's stuff has tight transitions but that's because it wasn't designed to be hit like a half-pipe, it was meant to be carved and pumped. Dropping in from the deep end with a bit of a push, gave you enough speed to carve around most of the bowl and tech it up a bit on some of the banks. The lack of coping made it real easy to ride and if you've not ridden parks it would be a good place to start. You can get the feel of rock fakies n stuff without hanging up. That's not to say you it's risk free, get the some of transitions at the wrong angle and you will know about it. We rode it til it hurt. Parks usually do get you good, when they get the chance. It's usually towards the end of a run, at low speed, on a transition you weren't really paying attention to. We were still grinning though. We'd had a great session. We'd beaten the weather and we'd shredded somewhere sacred. So do it. There are places like Calne, hidden or forgotten, everywhere. Find them and session some history, it's your duty. Words by DAZ Photos By DAZ and JB Related Shizzle
|
