All language subtitles for Rom.Boys.40.Years.of.Rad.2020.WEBRip.x264-ION10

Am I alright to wet
my whistle quicky?

No, no, no...

Wait, wait wait! Come on!

What are we doing?

Put it right by Lance's face.

- Yeah, there we go.
- There we go.

- Can we get a...
- Yeah.

- Rolling...
- Check mate.

- Check please.

Czech Republic.

- Czechoslovakia.
- Czechoslovakia.

How bad does that look?

You got me thinking,
I'm a bit...

Are you allowed to swear in it?

I'm 53 years old.

Old enough to know better.

It's the most unlikely thing
to find

in this suburban
semi-industrial bit of Essex.

I always found it quite
magical, coming over here.

I think about this amazing
kind of lunar landscape.

Like tonight you look
at beautiful blue skies.

The way the shadows kind
of come off everything.

I never ever get bored of
walking through the door.

I actually think about
Dion and Jonesy and Rob

and Graham, and the people thatare sort of there, every Sunday

It is a group of people that
you really associate with Rom.

People come over and
they, they just get on.

Why would you go to Rom?

Which is rough...

Looks a bit tired and you
have to pay to get in.

Well, you've got to go
there for a special reason.

What's special about Rom?

Well, the pool is the thing
above all which is special.

But not only is it a pool,
it's a sort of legit pool.

It's a tough, scary
bastard of a pool.

that you know, makes
you feel a bit afraid

everytime you drop into it.

You go there to immerse
yourself in 40 years of

British skateboard history.

And to sort of be wrappedup in that whole thing

of being back in '78,

and by extension back into the
backyard pools of California.

To step into a landscape...

where you've got this pool,

which has been consciously
designed on the back garden

pool of an American film star

or whatever.

Where kids used to break
in and skate around.

In cultural terms, that's
absolutely extraordinary

when you think about it.

I mean, when did you guysstart doing the whole

kind of breaking in and draining pools?

It's all fake.

That's so fake.

Yes. It's all lies. All myth.

Every time Dion skates the pool

he's in California

and Dion's skated backyard
pools in California

He knows what it means. It'snot just an imagination for him.

He's done it. And
that's what he's doing.

We went out to Palm Springsone year.

and actually got to drain a pool

and skate and do
that whole thing, you know?

And it was just like, I
couldn't sleep that night.

I aimed to do all my life.
it's just, I've done it. What

You know, it's part what,
what it was about for years.

think God, love to do that.
watch it in videos and

But if there's just not
pools like that over here.

There is breaking in.

There was, there was...

But it's still like romanticallyblown out of proportion.

You don't just come here andrip this park.

It's got its own flavour and its own scenario.

You'd put a little...time and energy.

Maybe you two can rip this
park,

but you don't justcome here and start ripping.

Wow! Yeah!

Oh whoa!

You gotta want that rip.

Nothing's free here, you know.

Rough and... Rough and
steep and deep and gnarly.

But it's good.

I tried to find it and I couldn't find it.

I drove past it several times.

There were no signs sayingskate park here.

You know, it's almost as if
it's deliberately hidden away.

As this sort of slightly
kind of secret society...

Or like a golf club that
you don't see the golf club

because it's up the driveway
and behind the trees

and behind the fences.

It's got a little bit
of that character.

It's this sort of extraordinarything when you finally find it.

Adrian Rolt from G force, who
are the people that built Rom,

went out to America, looked
at a load of skate parks.

Saw Skateboard Heaven at SpringValley and some other parks,

came back to Britain

and started building a wholeseries of skate parks,

which effectively they built during 1978.

Rom is one of the last tobe built.

But the very last is one
in Gillingham

called Black Lion Skate Park
right at the end of '78.

They all have this kit of parts,

of a Pool, and a Half Pipe, anda

Snake Run, and some Moguls,
and a Cloverleaf, and so on.

But Rom is the only one that hasthe full set of all those bits.

I was a professional skater

and other professional skaters
came to the Rom

while it was being built,

and they saw the quality
of the construction,

and they warned the owner
that it wasn't good enough.

It wasn't smooth enough.

I mean they had someproblems building Rom.

It was built in one of
the worst summers in
British history with rain.

It finally opened in the August.

It was supposed to have
opened at the beginning of

the six weeks holidays...

But it pissed rain all Spring
so they had a lot of trouble

finishing the concrete.

And it finally opened
in the middle of August.

And it just, I remember
walking in for the first

time and just like, 'Wow'.

We'd never seen a skate
park. There was no such

thing in England, you know.

That we'd had really
any proper experience.

It's just... Died
and gone to heaven!

And I've been in heaven ever
since! On and off, you know.

So then he talked to his
architect and the architect

searched a few resources

in the skateboard
industry and found me.

I had been in California.

I had skated skate parks thereand I might know what the

standards of a skate park were..

What is required?

And so they hired me to
come out here and consult

with this construction crew.

They had made this bowl
and part of the halfpipe.

And it was really rough.

It was uneven surface,
not suitable for the

rest of the skate park.

So, I consulted them
and they insulted me!

It was a rough day
or two there.

They were really hard on me.

Construction crew up against a20 year old kid from California

who is a skateboarder.

They listened to me though
and you can see how the

rest of the park is smooth.

Except for the largeaggregate in the sand,

which makes it a rough surface.

It's a smooth design.

The local papers were full ofthis news about this skateboard

park thats going to be opening.

And so I went over, tookthe tube over and saw

them levelling the land.

Saw them putting down the
steel frame for the concrete.

I actually started skating
it before it opened.

So where the workers would be there laying the concrete and I

would wait until they went home.

And try skating the place.

Sometimes the concrete
was a bit wet, so it

wasn't necessarily good.

There was this mouthy, gobby
little ginger haired guy

that turned out to
be Robbie Hunter.

He said "They're buildinga skate park across the

road from my house".

So I'm like "No they're not!".

"Yes they are,
come and have a look".

So, alright.

So we came down the upperRainham road,

looked over the builders hoarding and sure enough

this place was being built.

The first thing that was built
was the Performance Bowl.

We used to come down here
at night, jump the fence

and skate a bit when
the builders had gone.

We got chased out.

I think they got wise to kids
getting in, they sort of put

security guard here I think.

You couldn't get in
here in the evenings.

I must have been such a
pain in the backside for the

builders and for the owners.

One of the most evident
changes at Rom today

is how much rougher it is today

than when it was back in'78 when it was first built.

The park was so brandnew. The concrete was

a bluey, bluey white.

Yeah, it was all white.
Pure white when I

come over here

You got like a white
residue on your wheels

coz it was so new.

It had only been open
about three months.

But I just remember
it being a bright day.

The Rom skate park was so
clean and the pool

Still looking that crystal white, with a sparkle to it.

It felt like a different
world from like a grey rainy

council estate in Essex.

And I thought, yeah,
this is a life, this is

a place I'd like to be.

And somehow they built this
little corner of California

all grey and rain streaked..

But nevertheless, a little
corner of California

in Hornchurch.

No one knew how to make
a skate park. They just

started pouring concrete.

What they thought America
had poured, you know?

They had no idea of thesethings. It was all experimental.

The fact that you guys got
that stuff built,

and it's still there
is just...

It's incredible.

Rom is the complete collector's
edition of G force skate parks

and has everything in it
that they they ever built.

We're in Romford right?

I feel like I'm in San Diego!

That transition, not
just in sporting terms

but in cultural terms, indesign terms is amazing really.

And so, to see these designscarved out of these holes

in the ground in Essex.

A county I should add,

where Americanism was
really significant.

Because of the American air
bases in East Anglia

to a certain extent, Dagenham
at Fords,

which is an
American intervention.

You see this a lot across
Essex and across East Anglia.

For myself and many, many
other kids of

my generation
growing up in the '80s,

we were just thrill seekers.

We was spoonfed a hell
of a lot of stuff that

come out of the States.

And we just, we just
lapped it up, you know.

We were a dry sponge, we
become a wet sponge and

we just lapped everything up.

I set about every single
day.

Every single free
moment I had practising.

Doing every trick in the book,
You know, reading

every American magazine
I can get my hands on.

So to see this sort of
little pool of California,

this little bit of California onthe edge of Hornchurch in Essex

in 1970s Britain, strikes
all sorts of chords

with me as a historian.

And that's why the more I saw
it, the more I thought about

it, the more I thought...

This is an important place.
This has got to be preserved.

It's special, you know.

You go all over the world,
people know this place.

And to have you on your doorstepis, yeah, it's a privilege.

It was so well organised.

You had to pay on entry,

had a cafe,

had gaming machines.

You had a shop, youknow, it had everything.

And then you walkedinto the skate park

and it was just anoasis of a playground.

For bikes and skateboards

and it's in Romford, seven miles from my house.

Here we go. Here's Rom.

So my memory is shot.

So I actually might've
gotten knockout at Rom.

We heard that they're
starting to have skate

parks around the world.

I was like, I want to go.

And my dad wanted to show
me some more museums, so

we went on a little...

excursion that was awesome.

Trying to find these parks

and skate them.

We fell in love with it.

My son went when he was older
and he was like, I belong here.

I don't want to leave here.

Kind of was saying to me
like, you don't understand.

I was like, Oh, I understand.

We did the same like,

but because of skateboarding
I felt like I belonged

there, but I'm living here.

It's Rom right here.

Hornchurch, Essex.

Simply the biggest and
the best. No question!

Come see for yourself.

So I guess it is
the biggest one.

Safety equipment for hire,

fully marshalled,

first aid room,

pro shop, cafeteria, club room,

amusement machines!

80
Pence for two hours.

80 Pence.

Well there you go.

Well this place was originally
owned by a consortium

of oil wholesalers,

They owned petrol garages, etc.

They decided to build the Rom
skate park in the boom time

when other big companies
were getting involved

like Tate and Lyle.

They thought there was
a fortune to be had.

And I used to come here coz
I used to wholesale skateboards

because my brother builtthe first skate park in London,

which was Skate City.

The word went out, you
can go and tip hardcore

at London Bridge.

So all the lorries in Londoninstead of going out to

Bedfordshire to tip thier loads,

would come into skate
city and tip their load

and get bunged a few quid.

So my brother was earning
thousands of pounds and

made a great big hill.

Then they concreted it
and everyone came down

this hill like

Hit the bottom and
broke their arms.

Couldn't stop!

Oh this is good isnt it! Help!

I used to have a van and go
around the country selling

skateboards to the shops,

and this was one of my calls.

And I got friendly with the owner.

and he said, "Do you
want to take it on?"

I said, "yeah, I'll take it on".

I think the first day I
stood behind that counter,

I took about £1.40.

It was disastrous.

but we carried on, endeavoured ocarry on and it turned out okay.

I used to have two Dobermans,

We used to clear the
skate park at two o'clock.

They'd run round and
get everybody out.

Never bit anyone!

They were just frightened ofthese Dobermans for some reason!

They were always
under my control.

But, that was just the story
that grew and grew, you know?

Lovely when I think about it.

I think I have, yeah.

Big bad John, you know.

Big John got this place in '78,it had been open six months.

It was going bankrupt,
it was going to shut.

He walked in the door, sackedeveryone, took over, got his own

staff and he is still here now.

It's unheard of man.

And he didn't even skateboardbig John. You know what I mean?

Unheard of.

I mean it's been amazing whatthe Greenwood family have done

with that place over the years.

You know, all credit to
them sticking through it

through thick and thin.

John and John, they deserve
medals for that.

It's amazing what
they've done.

I ran the skate park from
1978 until five years ago

when my son took it over.

It's a testament to the
Greenwood family that

have kept it going all
these years, you know.

Its on it's arse at the
moment, as a business,

but they still keep it going.

I think they know how
important it is to people.

To be able to bring my kids
here now and for them to enjoy

the same things that I did,

and see it the same way.

Yeah, that gives you
a really good feeling.

It's not about
making money anymore.

It's about my old man's
legacy for one.

He's done 30 years

working there every day and it'slike be a shame just

to tear the place down.

Like he obviously cared
about it or he wouldnt

have stayed for so long.

John and his dad, they've
done an amazing job

keeping this place going.

Cause there's been hard
times with those guys.

It got to the point threemonths ago when I had

minus £2,000 in my overdraft.

And that was it, game over.

So literally... I'm on the edge.

In English law, historic
buildings can be listed.

That means they're protectedfor historic purposes.

Grade 1 is St Paul's.

You know, you can't even
breathe on that structure,

without filling in a
form in triplicate and

being denied six times.

Grade two is the most common

and it basically means
that whatever is considered

to be of historic value

cannot be altered or knocked
down without approval.

Wow, so Rom can't be bulldozed?

Oh, that's wonderful!

You can't really consider a
building for listing until

it's about 30 years old.

So skate parks for a start,
fit very much within

that 1970's bracket.

Simon Inglis at English
Heritage gave me a call

and said, "We're
thinking of listing a

skate park in England,"

"and we're thinking of
listing Harrow skate park."

"So do you think this is
a good idea and

have we got the
right skate park?"

So I said, "Well, my
short answer is yes and no.

Yes, it's a good idea, but also,you've got the wrong one".

The first skate park that I wentto in my professional capacity

was the Harrow skate park.

A local authority skate park,

from a historical and anwhich to me was very interesting

architectural point of view.

because it had many
of the elements of a

classic 1970s skate park.

But it was clear to me
that there had been

certain changes

certain adaptations,
some of the bits had been

filled in, and so on.

My last trip, I remember
visiting the Harrow

skate park which...

Really, it was reminiscent of
when I started skating.

And there were, you know, a handful of old

'70s parks still around

That was 1980.

And that was my first
experience in skate parks and

really with skateboarding.

And so when I see one of
those spaces, you know, one of

these sort of heritage spaces,

it brings back a lot of memoriesand great feelings, you know.

At that time skate parks
weren't perfect,

but in a way like,

you associated the
imperfections of the skate
park

to part of his character.

And of course talking
to skateboarding people.

The words 'Rom skatepark'
come up repeatedly.

Romford to us, was we
travelled miles to come here.

This is a Mecca for us.

Coaches, buses, trains.

However we could get
here, we'd get here.

So the key thing was to

find examples of skate
park that were both

interesting and well designed
and that had survived.

And this was the
most important thing,

that had survived intact.

And the Rom skatepark
immediately came to the

top of of that list.

And the skate park of
course, is not a park in

the conventional sense,

but it's not a building
in the conventional sense.

It's a bit of concrete
that follows the contours

of the designer's pattern.

So in that sense, it is
truly a designed landscape,

but it's built out of concrete.

The people in charge of
designation of listing at

English heritage

haven't really come across
anything like this before.

You skate a park like this,
and it's not just about

skating individual features.

It's skating between them
and skating from one end to

the other and then moving
from one to the other.

And you just build this
experience and

probably every time you come here trying to mix up the order

and you mix up the
direction you go in

and you just, you know, if
you have a whole different

experience every time.

And you know, it's
just... it's just amazing.

It's not a cathedral,
it's not a monastery.

It's not a great house.

It's about fun. It's
about recreation.

So when I thought about
listing a skate park,

I knew that I would be
testing the boundaries.

Heritage is not about history.

It's about what we consider tobe important about our history.

Clearly what we value about
our heritage now in the

beginning of the 21st century

is different to what
people valued

in the fifties or the sixties orthe seventies and so on.

It moves on as we move on.

So coming here today was
kind of reminder,

a throwback to when I was
younger and more energetic.

Kind of gave me that
thrill of when I first

started skating parks,

back in... Way back when.

And so when I proposed the
skate park for listing,

just thinking this is going
to test the boundaries,

but at the same time feeling,
no, this is important.

This is a sport that was
established in the '70s,

and has taken root in this
country.

At the same time, I thought
this is going to be a battle.

One is fighting battles the
whole time, uphill battles

to preserve buildings

and I'll be honest, we
lose more than we win.

People see dollar signs,
probably flattening it

and turning into housing
or something like that.

and so there's always this
sort of struggle to keep skate

parks sort of alive really.

At the same time we found that,of course, there were people

working now for English Heritage

who had skateboarded
in their youth.

And instead of looking at
this proposal and saying

"Come on guys, we can't do
this, there's going to be all

sorts of opposition to this".

They were saying
"Yeah, we get this."

And that's the bottom
line really that BMX and

skateboarding and all these
places and going to Rom,

it was about having
fun, you know.

We were enjoying it.

It's an amazing life to
to be able to do that.

To come here and have the
Mogul Bowls and have all

the different concrete waves

and meet with these other
different skaters and be

influenced and inspired by

the latest tricks, things
that were going on.

The films that were coming out.

I mean Rom skatepark
really was a place where

dreams were made of

if you were that age
and into skating.

There are certain type
of people, they are.

The Romblians I'll call them.

Skate park communities
overall, is they're

largely without class,

largely without racism,

bigotry and so forth.

There's not a lot of
that inside a skate park.

Because we tend to find that
our priorities are different.

The priorities tend to be,

people are much more
interested in keeping their

bones inside of their skin,

and their teeth inside of theirmouth. Rather than leaving

them on the bottom of the ramp.

They like rough surface.

That's all I can say.

You know, this
place is a predator.

The Skate park is your predator.

And you're the pray, man,

and some days it'll
let you get away of it.

Other days it will chew
you up and spit you out.

And you've got to
be scared of it.

If you come here and you're notscared of it, you're an idiot.

Because you're
going to get hurt.

'Rom Rash'

I don't know what it was like
back in the day.

It must've been a lot
smoother back then.

If you go down at Rom,
you stay down down.

Soon as you look out the
door, there's a pool.

Jesus Christ, look
at that, you know.

You know, you go in and you
think, right i'm just going to

go in there easy today cause I
know it took a lot of victims.

They always do, pools.

You lose yourself.
It's like a madness.

You just go in there and
just fighting these walls.

And just think,
oh i'll have you.

In your head, you just feel
I had to do that to you.

You know, it was like it
gets personal when you're

in these pools, you know.

Just want to rip them up a bit
and get your 'Ugh' out of you.

People always go in
thinking they'll rip the
shit out of them, you know.

It basically it backfires on
them, somewhere along the line.

In the pool, I broke my wristwhen I was about twelve in '87.

Compound breaks -
Bones sticking out.

Face first into the ramp,

his teeth literally
popped up on the deck.

No 'Hampsteads'eleven years later.

Knocked myself out,
knocked my teeth out.

I've had nine knee surgeries.

Broke my hand, broke
my elbow and foot.

I've got severe
arthritis in both knees.

Heart! On many occasions.

It doesn't stop me riding
unless I ride three or

four times a week and then
I'm hobbling everywhere.

If you come to a place
like this and you get on

a bike or a skateboard,
you've got one in the post.

If you're scared of it,
that's when it's gonna happen

and you shouldn't be here.

You gotta have a bit of a
kamikaze way about you and

in you, to want to do it and
not be scared of slamming.

When you relax it don't
happen as much you know.

And even if it does...

Tough shit.

Brush yourself off, try again.

If I've been hurt and I can't
skate for a couple of weeks,

It's so frustrating.

My wife will tell me, "For fucksake. Go and skate. Go to Rom".

When I left school, worked at
Halfords, nicked a few stereos.

I want to work in a skate park.

It's not a proper job.

What's a proper job?

Like what? Grow up and
be an adult. Fuck that.

I didn't want to grow up.
I wanted to be Peter Pan,

and this was Never Never Land.

And still is.

There was a family vibe to
it. Endless days of skating

and it didn't cost...

All it cost you as a pot
noodle and a couple of Cherry

Cokes really wasn't it?

So there was that little bit
of one-upmanship, you know.

Who could do the best
trick with the best poise,

elegance and dexterity?

Dressed in the best
clothing, you know, with

The best floppy-ist fringed
hair cut you could have

got at the time as well.

Romford has been my local,
yeah, for 35 years, like

my entire adult life.

You know, and all my teenage
years.

Romford was the place that I
always wanted to come to

no matter what.

I don't know what it
is about Romford.

It's just, I
don't know.

Like you know, I'll have my
ashes scattered here probably.

It's one of those places. It's
just part of who I am really.

I couldn't drive past
here and not come in.

I don't think my
car would let me.

I would have to go
the long way round.

I'd be fighting
the steering wheel!

I love the place.

I don't know what I would have
done if it wasn't for Rom.

I really don't.

Lot of the people I work
with and associated with,

were up to no good
lot of the time.

I think I would have found
myself dragged into that.

It's kept me on the
straight and narrow really.

It really did, you know.

I've the best and the worst
days of my life over here.

We were pretty poor.

I remember coming over
here in my P.E shorts and

Georgie Best's football boots.

But, yeah... Rom!

This is home.

It's not like, Oh,
this is my second home.

This is my first home
and has been forever.

You build up a family.
There's a community.

I lost my mom young...

And remember the day I lost
her, the first thing I'd done,

two hours after her dying in
the hospital, was come here.

And everyone's like,
why is he here?

Where else could you go?

I didn't want to be at home
with my family. I wanted
to be here with my family.

Because people just kind
of let you get on with it.

He asked me, he said,
"You got any photographs

and things like that?"

I said "Yeah some old photos".

I thought it was going to be abirthday surprise or something.

He's come in one day with
this big tattoo on his leg

So I was flabbergasted
when I saw it.

I thought it was... Weird.

And strange to have it done.

But love and affection to him.
He bares his soul, doesn't he.

It's love and affection.

You can be you and
you're accepted for it,

which is the beautiful
subculture of BMX,

skateboarding, skating whatever.

You kind of, it's
come one come all.

There's less judgemental
people at a skate park

than there is in a church.

It teaches kids
everything in life.

It teaches them, if you want
something, you have to

work towards a goal.

It embeds a life philosophy in
children that you can't buy.

The era that grew up in
skateparks have that thing

about their skatepark.

And it's... You can't shake it.

Guys I know from Rom,
I've known my whole life.

Me and my wife been together
eight, nine years now.

We actually met through this.Wemet through her daughter,

her youngest daughter,Charlotte came over here,

started skating with us.

It's actually how I met her!

Rom was a real mixture ofdifferent types of people.

But they were pretty...
I'd say peaceful if

you, like, you know.

Pretty rad as well.

Some guys there that
could just skate.

Yeah my first time I
come down Rom...

And there was a guy in
the tiniest velvet shorts.

Skating the pool
and that was it.

Ragging around the
pool, front-side grinds.

No one else there man.

Beautiful.

Absolutely amazing.

It must have been Graham.

It's the only thing I can say,it's got to have been Graham.

Graham's unique, he's
got his own style.

He's got a very surfy style
skater, which I like.

You know, that kind of
old school skating

is hard to replicate unless
it comes naturally.

It took me a little while to getused to his sarcasm, I think.

But everyone knows about
that. His little rants,

you know what I mean?

The main thing I know aboutDion is that he's always at Rom.

I don't think I've ever been
at Rom when Dion isn't there.

He's in there, I mean,
he's already defining

so many things, you know, causeyou know, he had a bad accident.

I fell off a scaffold, broke
my ankle, knee and hip.

I was off work about 18 months.

I was registered disabledfor a while.

They told me I'd probably never
going to walk without stick.

And say, probably in 10 years
you're probably be in a chair.

17 years later, I'm
still going strong,

so I proved them wrong.

He's grinding
that pool and that.

It's actually unbelievable.

You know, that is a
story on it's own.

You know, some people
call it like a midlife

crisis don't they?

You know what I mean?

You're either... Some people
are unfaithful aren't they?

You know with me, I think itwas back to the boys with toys.

You know, I've been a father,
I'm been working for all these
years,

putting on weight.

I was in a sales job,

and, you know, growing
a family and that.

I never really had much of an
outlet after that, hobby wise.

Once I had given up the
pubs and the clubs, and
the raving and all that.

It you know what I mean.

I had a lump in the
side of my face here.

I went up there to the hospitaland they told me, yeah, you

have got Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma,

which is like a really bad one.

Obviously. I was quite upset
when I was told that but,

mainly thought of my
kids to be honest,

You know you do, don't you,
when you hear bad news.

Got fixed after that time and
just ended up with a big

'Mars Bar' down the
back of my face.

And I thought, you know, I've
got to try and live again.

Yeah, when growing up
and everything and I was

an angry kid, you know.

All the boys I rode with back
in the day, you know, I'd

be like throwing my bike...

F you, F this, F
that and everything.

So angry at the world.

I'd been adopted, I'd
been nurtured, I'd been

given love and affection.

But I still had
this rage inside me.

We were just running around
lawless,

but we wasn't
horrible little fuckers at

the same times, you know.

We'd grown up in a
Thatcherite Britain

and what Thatcher taught us was
you be the best you can be...

But use everyone beneath
you as a stepladder.

I had sort of associated
skateboarding with being very

noisy and to certain extent
sort of quite them and us.

I was nice and I was
white and I was polite.

I was described as like thetriple threat.

Hold my hands up. I was
a bloody good shoplifter

when I was a kid.

And that's how I earned
extra pocket money.

People wouldn't even
turn their heads and

look at ya, you know so.

Well... Yeah.

There is very much a sort of
sense that they come from a

subculture of which you as a
passer-by can't really enter.

I'm a 58 year old,
born again skater.

There's a whole fraternity out
there of people of varying

ages. It's okay to skate.

And that's what I really
like about this place.

It's a big mix of people.
It's a very large college

if you like, of individuals.

Very eclectic group.

Oh, like a family community
of like Rom and all the

locals who come here.

More than friends, really.

You get people from all
backgrounds and walks

of life who do it.

Right now I'm in media, so I
do a lot of video production,

events and we also have
film studios in Las Vegas.

So I'm a contracts manager
now, and I'll deal with

scaffolders all day.

A lot of them are like cavemen.
They've got no understanding

or appreciation for
anything like that.

I'm a carer. I do one to
one care for disabled and

mentally handicapped people.

I'm a senior examiner for
the Civil Aviation Authority.

So I'm flying the
Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Full time occupation,
nine to five Mac engineer.

Nonetheless, there's this
idea that what you do outside

of your job

is compensation for the things
that you put up with

within your job.

Where I give so much of myselfto my job and the people I've

worked for, and support I give.

There has got to be a
point where I've got

to become myself again.

I thought it would be nice
to just dabble and have

a skate now and again,

but it's not like that. It getsunder your skin before you know

it, you're hooked ain't you?

You know, I'm over here mostdays. I can't help it, you know.

I'll pull up on a job andopen my boot up and my

skateboard's always there

You know, I take it wherever
I go.

"What the bloody hells that?"

It's a skateboard!

"Oh! What are you going to get
for Christmas? An Action Man?"

[Look out all these
fantastic uniforms specially

designed for Action Man].

Really taking the piss, you know!

I'm like whatever... I
don't even try and defend it

anymore. It's just like...

The chap from English Heritage,one of their buildings inspectors.

And I just noticed there was a Rom skatepark sticker

on his guitar case.

And he said, "Oh yeah,
it's great, isn't it?"

And this is the guy whospends hours looking around

archaeological sites and lookingold cathedrals and things.

It is mainstream.

And that's certainly, I think
that's certainly

the case with
skateboarding

and the whole
kind of creativity of it.

You know, people make films,
they do photography,

they do tattoos, they make
boards,

they run board
companies.

You know, often alongside
their kind of regular jobs.

So it's not just skateboardingitself, it's the creative stuff

that goes with skateboardingas well that attracts people.

You know, someone
like Monkeyglove Matt.

No idea what he does for his
day job,

but he takes really great
pictures and

a lot of them at Rom.

So for him, part of presumably
the attraction of skateboarding

is not just the skateboarding
itself, but the photography
around it.

What I really enjoy about it isthat it's capturing that moment.

I almost want to look throughlens. I kind of want toget in there

and I have been hit
a couple of times,

which strangely enough,
in a weird way I enjoy.

So there's also a bit of a
sadomasochistic element to it.

But I guess it's part of,
for me,

it's the skater getting
that trick, landing that

trick and being able to just
capture that moment for them,

is something that I
just really enjoy.

Skateboarding now, it's got
quite a strong identity.

It didn't then, you brought
Dunlop green flash or baseball

boots from Woolworths.

That's what you skated in
you because we could only

dream of Vans, you know.

That skate world is sort
of, really kind of dictated

whole sneaker culture

and streetwear, street
fashion, from sneakers to

graffiti, and to a certain
extent, even a lot of music,

has been influenced by that
kind of freedom of expression

that skateboarding is.

It's a massive thing, isn't
it? There's a music culture,

there's a fashion, there's
a language, there's lots of

aspects to skateboarding.

Well, this weekend we have
the unique experience of the

20th anniversary of the first
piece that was done here at

the Lakeside hall of fame,

also known as the concrete gallery.

The first piece was done
in August, 1999 by myself.

Been heavily involved in the
English graffiti scene since
1983.

Been a massive collector of
anything 1980s from clothing

to BMX bikes to music.

I get involved. I like
to get involved. Yeah.

I'm all or nothing. I'm
all or nothing. Yeah.

There's a strong bond betweenart and music.

It's like a stick of rock. It
runs straight through
the middle.

You know, Ted Nugent,
Led Zepplin and it
was like

Blondie and Devo and it
was like wow. And it was

like, this is our thing.

Skateboarding said this was
our thing and skate parks, all

it did was blast that music.

I think it's a really great
match with skateboarding, art,

street art, skateboarding,

and the whole ethos of
skateboarding. The do it

yourself thing,

graphics on the bottom
of boards.

I think it's a really nice thingthat works together. You know,

I think skateboarding really
is like a school of hard knocks

and you've got to try, try, try.

You keep getting battered
into the ground until

you get it right.

And that is a perfect
preparation for doing

a piece like this.

You know, there was always
a real divide of being

outside and inside

and the barrier of the fence.

I guess the fence is a real,
not so much an inspiration,

but it's a really big bit of
Rom, you know, that divide

from being outside to inside.

And then getting in and havingall this geometry to kind of

discover to be able to carveyour own lines for it, you know.

Freestyle it, free flow aroundthis structure. You know,

that's what really inspiredthe piece.

I have always been an
artist, always painted as

a kid like every kid does.

It wasn't until I started
skating I became aware of

graffiti and street art.

And that kind of

alternative art scene with like graphics for skateboards and stuff like that.

Yeah, I think they're
completely linked.

I started skating when I was
about like 10/11 years old

and we used, back then we
had no skate parks where I'm

originally from in Cambridge.

So we used to travel around EastAnglia, London, Essex

and go to the skate parksand I remember

my mum bringing me here when Iwas probably about 13 years old.

Yeah, it was pretty
intimidating when you're a

kid, this place, you know.

My first childhood memory is
my dad throwing me in a fire.

And then at seven years old
my dad is beating my mum up.

I ran in with a kitchen knife tostab my dad to protect my mum.

The police and social worker
turned up at school and says,

we heard what happened last
night. You're coming with us.

That was the 24th of December,
1979

Christmas Eve, I got locked up.

I was brought up to, you know,honestly I was a little racist.

The area I grew up in,
there was no black kids.

I meet my foster parents
and my dad's black.

I used to walk like six
metres behind him because

I was so embarrassed with
the colour of his skin.

35 years later, he's still my dad.

In BMX, I would say 99.9%
of BMX riders went through

tough times.

And same with skateboarders.
Same with people that

came to this skate park.

They all came here because
this was a sanctuary

and so that's what it's about.

It's not about where you
came from. It was about being

in the moment riding that
bowl, riding the skate park.

And that's when you can let it
all go because you're present.

It's our meditation, really.

So many people I was around
had similar backgrounds.

I really did turn all the
negative energy ito into
positivity.

I mean it's an art form when
you're skating or bike riding.

#seratonin#

#swimming around my head#

#seratonin#

#love this pool#

#How am I coping?#

#with the tiles and no water#

Skateboarders are generally,
not the outcast, but maybe

they don't fit in with
the normal kind of sport.

I'd like to say it was weirdos,at first.

It was weirdos.

Skateboarding is seriously
funny. I mean a lot of

is escapism, you know.

Like just that feeling where
you're like, you had all

these things you could do.

I think it can be bad
and it can be good.

So I don't escape completely.
I know it's a joke.

I know it's for the
entertainment to

entertain yourself.
That's part of it too.

It's something where
you do it for yourself.

That's what I love about skating. There's no rules,

nothing you have to achieve.

It's just personal.

Maybe that's why it attracts
people of a certain type,

who don't fit into society's,
you know, view of normality,

whatever that may be.

More entertaining yourself.

Like you do stupid things andyou see like people react like,

Oh this guy is such a
loser. And you're like,

Oh that's great. They think
I'm a loser. It's so rad.

Like, it's great. This
might be British,

I don't know. Or it might just
be childhood, like

weird things I haven't dealt
with.

My name is Brent Lewis and I'm
the CEO of The Far Academy.

We're an alternative educationprovision.

So we work with kids throughoutthe UK. But generally kids

who are not engagedin education or vulnerable kids.

And then we'll use
skateboarding

as the educational tool to get
the qualifications that they
need.

So yeah, the memories here
is incredible and, it's

so raw as well that's what
we like about it.

And the kids generally
will go to timber parks and

those crappy council ones.

This one is... They're blown
away. They completely...

They're out of their comfort
zone and it pushes them.

And I think, well how can Ihit that line? And they're doing

completely different lines whatthey ever thought they could.

So yeah, it's an amazing place to be.

Kids get into skateboarding andBMX when they can't necessarily

get into other things.

And they get led into this
kind of sport

and I think they wouldn't have
any kind of form of

expression without
this park and these sports.

This is what I think is super
important about skateboarding

is it's given an avenue for kidsto find themselves on their own.

And for some kids they find
all the things that organised

sports are supposed to design.

They find those things
and find other things on
their own in a better way.

They find how to learn and
fall, stick at something and

be passionate about something.

And in doing so, they learn allthese other skills accidentally.

It's unbelievable how many
skateboarders

turn into and
develop into

pieces of society without
any real schooling.

Skateboarding itself schooled
them, figuring things out on

their own, developing things,designing things, making things,

using their brain in a way
that developing thought

that isn't just taught.

Skateboarding is like pretty oneof the most important athletic

things that develop character.

I think it's different typesof character. There's a freedom

to it, which can be dangerous,

but there's also a very much
self-willed get it done,

figure it out, do it yourself,
which is super important.

And that you can't be taught
that you learn it yourself,

by falling down and getting
hurt and getting back up.

That was like way too long.

Find someone that can say thesame thing better and use that!

The end of the '70s
skating died off and BMX

was massive in Romford.

BMX was immense.

That's when E.T came
out, the film wasn't it?

It just... Boomed!

Like a mushroom.. Unbelievable.

This place was jam packed
with BMX riders, you know?

BMX kind of came into the
scene around '79/ '80,

what I got involved in.

And I would say around 1980 was
when I first had the Grifter,

ready to ride the Mongoose, but
went over there on the Grifter.

Hello, I'm the new
Raleigh Grifter.

I've got a new twist grip
for my three speed gear,

brand new saddle design,

and look at those chunky tyres!

And I noticed that the
skateboards, you see a few,

it's still a big scene.

But it looked overtaken
by with the bikes. It was

just BMX bikes everywhere.

In the '80s this place
was dominated by BMX,

absolutely dominated.

You see photos from the '80s
and it's like hundreds of
kids sat

around all the bowls
and you know, definitely

the boom years for BMX.

The place was packed.

There was probably 150 to 200people most weekends, you know.

I think what really
got me, it was just all

these amazing colours.

I can still see it like itwas yesterday, these reds and

yellows. Yellow tires! I hadnever seen a yellow tyre before.

That for me was, that was it.

I was hooked on the scene
and the sport and it

kinda just snowballed from
there for how I loved it.

They're like, well,
driving lessons or BMX?

That's a no brainer isn't?

Didn't learn how to drivefor another 15 years after that.

I got a BMX for Christmas.

It was a Raleigh, beautiful
black and gold Raleigh Ultra
Burner.

You know, without
realising at the time.

But was a sort
of a game changer

in the sense that it probably
dictated everything else that

I've done ever since, really.

You just wanted to look thebest, you wanted to be the

bollocks, you was 14 years old.

You was riding around with a
£300 bike between your legs

and dressed like Bjoörn Borgoff of center court, you know.

How the sport was moved on,
we weren't really that good.

I think we've just there
at the beginning, we were

just in a little bubble!

Yeah, iI think with us lot,
we was more like stunt riders

really than anything else.

A Stupple! It's a bit of an
ego trip calling it a Stupple.

Yeah, I suspose it is really.

Not really any other
name you can call it.

Where do you practise
a stunt like that?

I mostly practise
at Romford Skatepark

I think now, the riders now,

have got a lot more finesse in
what they do.

Putting runs together and
that. What we used to do was

just go a bit mental really.

It's a gentle skatepark like youcome here and it's just like all

'70s transitions, you know. It'sall rollovers and it's all...

I've come here to...
It's relaxing for me.

Romford's relaxing.

And even in the '80s and there
was hundreds of kids here.

You'd start at the top
and they'd be like, you'd

hear the chant of, you know:

"Going in!" "Following!"

"Following him!"

You know, and they'd be
like, kids dropping in

one after each other.

But there was never any,
you know, people wanting to

fight. And I've never seen
people wanting to fight each

other at Romford skatepark.

I've never seen it. And
people get the 'ump, coz

you might drop into them at
the wrong time.

But no, I've never really seen
any sort of bad animosity

at this skatepark.

It's one of the better places
to come to ride. And that's

why I bring my kids here now.

So it's always been a
cool thing, you know.

You go to other places and
skaters are like

"This is our place,
skaters only!"

Rom was never like that.

You get the occasional
prick will turn up and

sort of start acting up.

I've literally thrown people outof here for, you know, bullying

kids and shouting and screaming.

So they get shown the door.

I think when it opened in '78,there might have been a little

bit of friction

because they didn't really like the BMX-ers, I don't think,

to be honest.

I mean they wouldn't
admit it now, maybe but...

Yeah, that's me and mates.

I know exactly how that happened.

Yeah... Yeah.

There was this war with
the skateboarders.

So we've got the BMX guys and
the skateboarders who were

crashing into each other.

I remember it so clear, that
it's a couple of my friends

and one of them had the
front to to do something,

cause I was only a small
boy at the time.

I think by memory, that theystarted arguing and I just see

my friend with helmet just gowhack straight across his head.

And then it was just a
free for all and everyone

kicking and punching and...

You know, and it literally, assoon as it started, it finished,

it was waiting to happen.

My friend who threw
the first punch was the

guy who was going to do it.

Oh I've got great memories
here. Getting a train up, and

we all used to ride down here.

Brilliant place.

We used to come over here
a lot with Andy Ruffell...

Andy Ruffell, me, Cav,
Andy, Nikky Matthews...

My other mate, Rich McLennan
who raced for Ace.

Summer holidays, we were
always over here.

If we weren't over here,
we'd be up the Southbank.

The actual story is, the story
of this Team Ace, how it
started...

I was the one who started it.

54 in January.

I still keep on
it now, I love it.

I hated it the first time I
came here. I didn't like it

at all, thought it was crap.

That would have been '81.

And then something happeneda whole year later

I saw a little bit footage ofBob Haro.

I'd seen something and it
inspired me, and I was

like, I need to do that.

And then I was back over
and then I was over forever.

When Bob Haro was here, I
had to grab him and get him

behind the counter...

I've never wanted to do
that to anyone, you know.

Well I mean, Bob's a legend isn't he? I mean, he's you know.

I guess he's the
godfather of freestyle.

Back then, freestyle really

wasn't a sport yet. Itwas kind of this novelty.

And so

when I was invited
over here and did shows

like at Earl's court or NEC.

You know, freestyle it
wasn't formalised yet.

It was just kind of this
halftime entertainment,

if you will.

In between motos and
events going on,

was my performance.

And at that time everybody
was BMX racing.

There wasn't kids out here ridiglike today,

riding on ramps and stuff like .

So it was really novel.

So it was interesting to
come over here and see the

enthusiasm and all the kids.

The first time, you know, seeingsomebody do this on a BMX bike.

For sure I know and
remember the Rom skatepark.

And when I went there
though, it was a standard

classic rainy English day.

So I didn't really
ride that day.

But I remember going
there and stuff like that.

And then throughout the years
and the decades I have always

remembered the Rom park.

But you know, I think placeslike Rom you'd see in all the

BMX magazines, BMX Action Bike,and RAD later on and so on.

But it was also that kind
of pilgrimage to kind of

just, you had to go to.

But when I actually wentthere, because there's this big

kind of pool and a big bowl,

it's quite intimidating,
you know.

BMX was sort of on it's big
wave of popularity in the UK.

I think every kid had a BMX.

And I kind of started doingall these tricks, which was new

to the BMX scene at the time.

And I guess I just practised
and practised and got

sponsored basically.

I was never that kid that
just hung around doing nothing

because I had BMX
and skateboarding, you know.

And actually those, both
of those took me all around

the world and probably
really were the foundations

for what I still do now.

Gumball was created really
as a combination of all my

influences really on life.

Across kind of the whole actionsports world, art world,

and cars and music, which is

quite diverse, but it's

kind of what'smade me tick over the years.

Back when I started it,
it was actually just a

continuation of skateboarding.

I used to skate in one spot,
we'd skate until we'd had

enough of it or we got kicked
off and then we'd go somewhere

else and we do it again and
do it again and do it again.

And the rally was the same. We'ddrive to one city, we'd party,

we'd cause a disturbance, andthen we'd drive on the next day.

And we do it somewhere else.

When I look back on it, I'dbeen doing that from the age of

11 and I'm still doing it now.

But just now there's more
people coming out to see it.

But it's exactly the same.

There's this BMX competition
in London, which was a really

big deal at the time called
the Hole Shot was organised

by a guy called Andy Ruffell.

It was a big kind of freestyle
competition

and that was game
changing because American

pros came over for it.

I mean, I saw an American
pro rider get off his

bike and kinda did about
five minutes of rapping.

And I think I'd never
seen rap music before.

I saw skateboarding in a light
that I'd never seen before

and just watching Gonz, likejust freely kind of glide

centre in and out of us BMXers.
around this giant sports

over benches and bikes.
And him just sort of ollying

And it was incredible, I
mean it was incredible.

And I guess that was the
most inspiring thing for me

to get into skateboarding.

Just seeing this guy just
sort of do stuff that I

didn't think you could do.

Andy was more of a racer.
Although I've been here

when he rode here, it was
more like he was a racer.

He was one of the real
elites to be honest, he was

pretty much untouchable.

It was Andy, Craig Schofield,
Sid Salisbury, Jason Maloney

and they were all like a
little bit of a clique.

They stick together.

Yeah, it was hard
to get in with them.

I suppose it could have been
a bit a little bit cliquey
then, but you know....

I wasn't in the clique!

I was with Billy
on the outskirts.

Well in bicycle motocross, Iaim to be very good at freestlye

and very good at racing as well.

Over the whoops!

And It's Andy Ruffell
1st for team white.

And top stunt rider
Andy Ruffell, at just 18

he's one of the biggest
names in the sport.

I've actually managed to find
somebody here

who we haven't all seen
for a very long time.

Can I introduce you once
again to Andy Ruffell?

Hi Andy!

...Hi

That was very cool, wasn't it?

I was a skater. I must've been .

10 years old or 11 years old.

I actually had my skateboard
stolen at Skate City

and that's when I got
into getting a BMX bike.

And then when this place opened,it was great for me because I

didn't have to go to Skate City.

I could come up here
and ride a BMX bike.

The reason Rom was special
for me is, I did a lot

of things first here.

I did my first 360.

I remember some of the worstcrashes I ever had were at Rom.

The performance bowl, my chainbroke and you know, I fell from

the top to literally the bottomconcrete and landed on my knees.

And I still feel that today.

Because that's what's
important about Rom because

I think a lot of people,

me, Craig Schofield, Craig
Campbell, my brother of

course, Neil Ruffell.

You know, this was a reallearning ground, I think.

You know, all those guys and a lot of others really learnt

their skills right here in this

and especially me.

So I remember spending
literally four hours over

there in that little part
over there, just basically

trying to pull off front hops.

And I remember when I pulled
off some front hops in 1978

the crowd went wild coz
I did some front hops.

So it was like, you know,
it's kind of wild but it was

a really good education
for riding a bike.

Yeah, I think my brother alwayssurprised everybody cause he...

I mean be honest, I never
saw anyone ride a bike -

I know this sounds silly
because he's me brother.

But I never saw anyone
ride a bike like he did.

You know, and in terms of
getting air, you know, I

mean I've seen him up here.

Luckily I was, you
know, retiring.

Thank God ! Coz Neil
just was just ripping.

I mean, I've seen him get
10ft out of the performance,
you know, many times.

So that was cool. I think a
lot of people were surprised.

They just thought, oh yes,
that's Andy's brother.

That's why he's got a big name
because he's Andy's Brother.

He's ten times a betterbike rider than I ever was.

So I was like, you
know, he deserved it.

And so, I'm just glad I
retired when he was, you

know, coming into his peak.

It's a very special place.

Very special people that,
you know, still skate

here after 40 years.

And it certainly helped
my career big time.

You know, I basically
learned to ride a bike here.

That was a really tough pool
and it still is actually.

Don't believe what theytell you...

That you do forget how to
ride a bike.

Let me tell you.

I'm amazed that Rom is still here.

I mean it's crazy. I mean
I'm sitting here now and

I've got so many memories,
personal memories here.

But the fact that it's here like40 years later, is just crazy.

It was like roaring, a good150ft up in the air, the flames.

Still can't quite believe
it's gone, to be honest.

Nightmare.

This ramp was built in '99.

And we just got some
Heritage Lottery Funding.

Sods law is as we got that
funding to help us clear the

space and promote the park.
Now this fire has happened.

Cause we just finished
removing the old mini-ramp
from up the top there.

That had been there
for 30 odd years.

So we were just getting ahead.

We're just stepping
forward, getting to clear

that space, ready to go.

And It's just... It's hard.

This was our only indoor
bit when It's raining, and

they got nowhere to go.

Bit of a kick right
in the teeth, really.

Everything's easy
now, It's there.

Walk down to your local park,
there's a skatepark there.

You've got so many free
skate parks that pop up,

that councils put on.

So It's hard to get people,
I suppose. To come and ride

somewhere where they've got
to pay, when they've got

somewhere free to go to.

And it needs kids to get
here. You know, it's kind of

getting forgotten about a bit.

Rom had a more of a captiveaudience because there just

weren't as many places to skate.

Whereas now there's parks
popping up all over the place.

It's difficult for somewhere
like Rom to survive.

But looking into the future youthink, is there a future for any

commercial, outdoor skate park?

Everything else that's
commercial is indoor because

you've got to maximise
your income all year round.

There's so many free
parks around the country

spreading it so thin.

I think we're probably one
of, if not the only privately

run skate park in England.

People come here
and they love it.

Riding around this park
on anything wheeled is

a great... It's fun.

If we don't get some help here,we'd might be in trouble and

the place could go in completedisrepair, to be quite honest.

It must be protected. It must
be saved. It is of absolute

vital national importance.

And to give hope to
those kids that otherwise

without it don't have hope.

They don't have a place,
they can't express themselves

and they go the wrong way.

The way things are
going, you know.

Rent goes up, rates go up.

Insurance goes up.

It's the overheads
that are quite large.

It's getting worse and worse.

The takings are going down.
The expenses are going up.

Like when we used to have
crowds of kids queuing up.

No one was here last Saturday.

No one.

Not one.

We are building a wall
for an artwork project

by the London police,
Amsterdam based art group.

To promote the skate
park and get some more

people in here, hopefully.

The London Police are a
group of street artists.

Two of them mainly based inAmsterdam, from Essex, and they

do murals around the world.

You know, It's going tobe cool. Whatever they do,

they've never done a bad piece.

Who are we? We're
The London place.

The Essex Police are called
the Essex Police where the

London Police are calledthe Metropolitan Police.

So that was up for grabs,

you know, that was out
there. So we had that.

You've always said too, everyoneknows the word London and

the word police and you putthem together and it's kind

of instantly recognisableall around the world.

I mean they know the word 'The'as well. I mean, there's three

words right now that everyonein the world can understand.

And it does stand out when you
see it on the lineup of stuff.

You do look at it, It'sa stand out. It's a funname.

We still like it.
It's stupid. Let's face it.

But I think you said as well
that the idea of policing

the streets with good art,

Making... Looking
after the streets.

That obviously came after wegot the name, It's not like,

you know, we've got that first,

But our connection with Rom,we were both, we when were

younger, rubbish skateboarders,

but very enthusiastic.

Yeah, I thought you were a
bit more rubbish than I was.

We always came to Rom. I
came here countless times.

I know you did and I didn't
know you at the time,

But I knew you being a
couple of years older...

Yeah I was trying to avoid youwhen you were in the performancebowl.

I was well over there likewith the other ramps and stuff.

Finally we actually met
at some point, had to be
friends

and I realised
you're quite a good guy.

You feel like, you're doing
something for a place that

really gave something to
you in your early years.

It's giving back. It's
being part of a inspiring

journey to try and get this
place full of life again.

As we all understand these
days, council's provide nice
ramp

and skate park facilities
for free and in local parks.

And over the last 10/20
years that's really...

They've come in abundance
really for young skaters.

So to pay to come into
a park, you know, it's

made it harder for this
place to attract people.

But just the facilities here
and the heritage of it, is

something really special.

So by coming and injecting
some life into it,

through doing artwork,

Hopefully that will be thefirst step to now revampingthis place,

rejuvenating thatsame vibe that we felt as kids.

And hopefully with good people
involved, it's going to turn

into something special here.

Yeah, I think, if you had toldus 20/30 years ago that

we'd get the chance to be here and to do this... I mean fantastic.

By a little bit of artwork,
it can really affect change,

albeit a little small mural.

But I think it feeds off
the energy and creates

kind of a momentum.

I can imagine this
place being full of art.

But we've been doing this for
20 years as well, so we have

a certain way we do things and
we just employed that same

method in this project too.

Turn up, get the basics
in and then work out how

it's going to go and let
it breathe, let it flow.

And we're hoping that everyone'sgoing to appreciate the piece

we've done, which does haveskateboard influence in it.

It does have influence
of the actual place here.

It's made especially so thatfrom the other side of the

skate park, you can still sensea little bit what's going on,

As opposed to having to be
next to it like you would in
an art gallery or something.

That's quite a big part
of it, that this is such
a nice vast open park.

So it needed to be over there.

'Oh, I can see what it is, but
let me go over there and then

check out the finer details'.

Yeah, it's the basic nature
of how things work in life.

You know, you sow a seed
and plant grows, and from

the plant comes flowers,
and from the flowers comes

the joy of seeing it and...

Blah, blah, blah.

So hopefully this is a
seed and hopefully they'll

be flowers at some point
for people to enjoy.

Ladies and gentlemen, it gives
me great pleasure to open the

Rom skatepark 40 exhibition,

and I formally declare
the exhibition open!

Rom today, is the biggest,
largest, best, skate park in

the world to have any kind
of historic preservation.

Great, I just never realised
that you could even do
that with a skate park.

And indeed you could well
claim for Rom, it's the only

proper skate park in the world
to be historically listed.

Something with a big range
of facilities with a pool

and a bowl and a Cloverleaf,
and a half pipe and so on.

The beauty of skateboarding
is that it's art.

It keeps moving forward.

You don't have the NBA,

where a basketball player

can walk in before a game,

and tear the hoops down and

put three hoops at three

feet high and say,

this is what the game is today.

And that's what skateboarding
does

all the time.

It is also the prototype for
every single skate park

in Britain today.

And something that these
guys that rode 40 years

ago is keeping them
riding means it's right.

This is old school. This
is what it used to be like.

Now it's not.

It just feels like part of
the old skating, I'd say

it's about the closest thing.

Point is there's weather.

Point is when it's pissing down

we have a skid contest.

It's England, man.

It ain't California,

So it's an incredibly valuable
piece of architecture.

Both as a bit of skateboard architecture from the '70s

and for it's influence into
the future.

It is what it is for a reason.
You know it's history.

Don't, just stop that man.

That's the point. It looks
old. It's England,

shit's old.

And I really hope this place
stays, cause I hear rumours

that it's in trouble at the
moment and this is one of

the most iconic skate parks
there is on the planet.

It's almost, kind of our
duty to kinda keep them alive

really and certainly because
it's more than skateboarding.

It's more than BMXing.

It's actually developed...
It's shaped my whole life.

It shapes what my family do,
it shapes what my friends do.

and that's across all industriesand everything you know.

Rom should be updated, kept,added to, but the direction we've gone is...

Why don't we we tear that down or redesign it for the Olympic course?

What's the Olympic course?
What's the Olympic course?

Nonsense.

The Olympic course is going
to be obsolete before the

Olympics get there

because skateboarding is art.

I don't know of any other
skate park in the world

that is as complete and as
varied,

and substantial as Rom and stillenjoys this historic listing.

The local authority, government,havering, whoever it is needs

to realise what they have andthe architectural and cultural

importance of this place.

There is no other, you
will never get another

if it goes, it's gone.

Well, there's a group of
us that have got together

and we're putting in
everything we can afford.

Different people from
different walks of life.

We've got lawyers and ex bank
managers, to lorry drivers
to plumbers, to mechanics.

That are all chipping in to
basically pay the basic needs

so that the park doesn't
fall into the wrong hands.

We've been here 40 years.

Yeah, people say to me, you
know, you're in your fifties,

you skateboard.
You're some kind of freak.

And you know, they look at you
very, very, very strangely.

Like where does that
come from and why? And...

And I think it's just
because skateboarding for

whatever reason, has been
associated with kids.

People still just think
of it as a kid's activity.

I had eggs for breakfast.

Actually, i had eggs
on toast for breakfast.

Shit, now I'm all thirsty.

The question that you asked
me like two and a half hours

ago was what year was this?

It was '78 - '80!

Sorry!

What was the question?

I really like rolling thunder
and they had a party out

there that I really remember.

Roger Daltrey was partying up
in the high room and that was

just such a rocking session.

I mean how much can I tell?

You know, I created the
world freestyle... Awards

freestyle... Say that again!

I got told by pretty
much everybody,

get a proper job !

I didn't work for 20 years
for as I'm concerned,

I was a professional BMX rider.uknow, who had the last laugh?

Nice tits.

I'll tell you what,
I'm filling out.

Occasionally I go to
Meanwhile gardens,

and do my stuff late at night.

And sometimes fall off and
think, you know, if someone
could see me now! You Know?

What am I doing? But I
love it. So it's great.

Everyone's going to
think 'Who's that twat?'.

I don't know. But I think
that... To be honest, they'll

think that anyway, regardless
of with the glasses on or off.

A little hedgehog came
out of the bushes and

it looked up at me.

It shared my emotional state,
you know, and understood that
I was having a rough day.

It seems like I was going
down this hill forever.

Forever and ever - A bit
like I go on anyway! But...

Oh, I'm just sitting here
looking at myself by myself.

This is not what I do. Oh, therewas me when I was little....

Oh it's me when I
was little again.

Oh it's was just about me.
Oh, I love looking at me.

Something like that!

Oh, I'm not that dude.

He just can't talk. He's a drip

It's why I keep trying to
talk over him because he's

too quiet. You probably won't
even hear him in the film.

I've still got to
work on it obviously.

That middle bit...

My name is Andrew Markou

My mates called me Popadopoulos.

I've been skating since
2003 and this was the
first place I came to.

That was '79 and came
back to Rom in '97 when
I started skating again.

and I've been coming ever since,more or less.

One thing, I will say...

Get here before it was
open, bashing around in
the car park out there.

Knocking on the door,
waiting for John to
come out and let us in.

We used in climb over here afterthe builders had gone home.

Lay sheets of ply out
to get through the sea
of mud and just skate.

...Zinger!