Phil House or P.K SK8 History

In 1970 when I was Ten years old, my dad, in an attempt to keep us occupied during the summer holidays, screwed one of my cousin's cast off steerable (!) roller-skates to an old bit of Mantelpiece and thus the "roller-skate board" had (to us then) been invented. I can't remember attempting to stand on it but hours of fun were had sat trundling down the hill outside my cousin's house. The seed had been planted.

Then, about 1976, the sport of Skateboarding started to surface. "Wow, I can do that!" but at the age of nearly 17, going to college and with a job to hold down I was told, by my parents, (and some friends) that "I was too old for that kind of thing!"

My brother was Ten at the time and he wanted a fangled skateboardy thing too. I'll buy him one I thought, I can sneak a go on it now and then. So down to the shop and bought..…. a Flyer! Not much better than the Roller-skate and mantelpiece. One of my brothers friends dad was a surfer and had a "real" skateboard imported from America, you know, plastic deck, trucks and fast JELLY WHEELS. Whoa, I've/We've got to have some of those! So again to the shops and bought some trucks (ACS430's I think) some Red jelly wheels, and grippy tape stuff. A coat of varnish and kick tail added, the Flyer was now the Biz-Niz.

"What do you want for Christmas?" my parents asked. I'd had my eye on a Yellow Pacer Skateboard for a while and at about £20, said this would do just fine. "Not buying you that, you're too old!" came the reply. Sod it then, I'll buy one myself. Down the shop again and bought…….a Fibreflex bowlrider, Gull-Wing trucks and 65mm Green Kryptonic wheels. About £80 I think! Great for bombing Plymouth Hoe, but not really suited to the street and bank skating that me, "Edgie" and co were now doing. Then Plymouth Skatepark opened and we were in heaven! Pipes, Bowls and banks to be ridden all day long.
A progression of wider and wider wooden decks saw, 8inch Westcountry "Jed Deck" with Tracker Mid-Tracks, Black Powerflex 5s-White Yo-Yos etc, to 10inch "Surrey Ripstik" with 8inch Lazers and Bell-Air Wings. The Ripstik deck has since been replaced with a G&S Pine design bowlrider and now this is my current board.

Plymouth Skatepark closed in the early Eighties, and so with cars to buy and a girlfriend (now Wife) my interest in skateboarding waned. I've always kept my Board(s) and they came out now and then for a dust off.

Recently "Edgie" told me about middle-age-shred and introduced me to the M.O.T.H.S. Had a great time in August 2003 at the m-a-s Jam at Bones in Stockport and at Dreamfields in Taunton . I struggled to turn on the banks and ached for days afterwards, but the bug has been re-bitten. Thanks Edgie for "keeping it real!"