Here's one for your sk8 history column by ADRIAN MUINDY

There are some dodgy looking photos to acompony this story (mostly taken in the mid slam or slammed position) and when I've finished unpacking my house I let you all laugh over them, but like Alan (see photo and story somewhere on this site) my history started mid 85ish.

I won't go into it much as Alan (Az, Ivanhoe or The Big Yin you choose) has covered most of it, so read his first, but I will mention a few of my moments.

I started off on BMX's when I was around 9 but as soon as I started High School, Alan who had been a friend from Primary School was talking about this skating thing and I should have a go, as him and some friends often skated after school around Lymm (our home village). I did try but on a really cheap Allsports £30 setup, (it had plastic truck savers for god's sake) I had bought thinking it to be adequate, but as I started to enjoy it more so some proper gear was needed.

My first real set up was a Santa Cruz Jason Jessie neptune model and it took me ages to choose because I couldn't decide if I wanted the Corey O'Brian flaming skull deck instead but seeing as Mum had stumped up the cash for something she wasn't really too happy about me doing, I decided to go for the 'pleasing on the eye' scenario, and my skating history was born.

We, namely Loz (Alans brother with the still to this day mint Roscopp ugly face deck), Kev (woooooooman or jennifer and the owner of the worlds most sketchy ramp), Gareth (Gaz), Lee (Marsh or The Alien), Lee (Divvy and the inventor of all our nicknames), David (Dava or The Boy David), Richard (Kinny), Dan (Beado), Chris (Trixy) and me (heada, saida, breada, sheda and many other words that rhymed with head that you could put an 'a' on the end of) had a real blast.

The time before Kev's ramp we had mostly skated street until we realised that Lee's (Divvy) Dad had power tools and we could build our own flyoffs. Many where made and stashed around our village so wherever we decided to sk8 we wouldn't be too far from one of our creations. Building sites became a great place to collect scaffolding and large yellow plastic pipes(courtesy of British Gas leaving them lying around) to make stuff to grind and all in our little tribe were happy and some of us getting quite good as well.

Sadly time goes on, universitys took all our money and the different locations of further education seperated us and our interests changes until one night last year.

Alan who still lives not too far from me, approached me in the local boozer one night and begane to get down on one knee, a pint of Stella in one hand the other becond me closer, he said " Me and Marsh have got some new decks and I have got a spare one I bought over the Net, we were thinking if you'd like to come and have a skate with us tomorrow" This day had been talked about for ages but nothing ever got done but those words lit a fire in my ass and I decided now was as good a time as any!!!!!!!!!

The lady in my life didn't seem too concerned as although a skateboard has wheels it doesn't have an engine ( I'm mad about modifying road cars and I take my little beast Drag racing whenever I can and you have to remember two weeks before I met the Mrs I had had a bit of an accident on my motorbike so she wasn't too chuffed with my power hungy attitude) but hey, no engine means I can't kill myself (little does she know) so the thumbs up was given and a Sunday skate session was a date.

It was probably the best skate session I'd ever had, obviously after I'd finished coughing my lungs up from smoking too many cigs for these past few years and I must have shed a good stone in sweat.

So massive thanks to Alan and Marsh for getting me back into the scene and hopefully we'll be seeing you all soon at some event or other but please be warned to watch out for the pilotless skateboard hurtling across the floor and be careful not to tread on the fat bloke lying on the ground groaning and holding his wrist and I apologise now for any shins my board may hit and I promise to try and stay on it next time!!!!