We uploaded Alex Appleby’s new Scottish / Northern UK video ‘Get in the Cardonald‘ today and you may have recognised some tricks in said edit from our Issue 14 Glasgow article. Well the full feature is now online for your viewing pleasure! Read some words by Alex Appleby and Charles Myatt below from a very baltic two days in Glasgow over the Winter period of 2019, productive to say the least!
Introduction: Guy Jones
Words: Alex Appleby + Charles Myatt
Photography: Reece Leung
Videography: Alex Appleby
These photos were taken over 2 days on a wayward trip Reece took in March 2019. The weather was grim for most of it so getting a full article’s worth of photos was pretty good going. As far as I’m aware there hasn’t been a dedicated skate photographer in Glasgow for many years so folk must have had some pent up energy and ideas. The skate scene up here has been continuously under-documented and underrated but is as thriving as they come. Summer evenings down at Transport watching the sun over the Clyde with some cans has got to be one of Europe’s best skate experiences. It’s like Macba but with better craic.
Ross Zajac – Backside Smith Grind, Garscube Road ~ Photo: Reece Leung
Alex Appleby: Fellow Cumbrian Ross battled the harsh March night and this awkward spot while Reece shot the photo across a busy road. I remember the cold being so bitter I felt ill.
Charles Myatt: Ross Zajac’s shadow reveals his true form of Lihko: the exceptionally evil polish demon, the epitome of all human woe.
Alex Appleby: After living here for 2 and a half years I’m still a bit of an outsider but I’ll offer my reflections as best I can while drinking Tennents on the cusp of this apocalypse.
Charles Myatt: As of now I am sitting at my kitchen table writing from the solitude of Covid-19 lockdown. Alex has written this up pretty well so I’m not so sure what I can add… Outside I can see the Glasgow district of Springburn, the people are a greyish blue and keep their distance, not much has changed.
Alex Appleby – Ollie Over To Backside Lipslide, St Georges Cross ~ Photo: Reece Leung
AA: When I first moved to Glasgow I lived round the corner from here and would be taunted by it on a near daily basis. It’s on the roof of a subway station and it was a relief to find that the danger of falling sign was mainly for show.
CM: Alex has never looked so much like the Lizard King. Reece captures this hairy backlip well enough to disguise the presence of an ass crack.
AA: “Its good seeing you Andy ah thought you were deid”. Glasgow is arguably the best place in the world for overhearing a conversation. The local dialect is very much of it’s own and it was refreshing to find that the scallies up here haven’t yet adopted the rudeboy slang.
CM: Somewhere in a courtyard of a tenement a man is boxing a Tesco bag on a washing line.
Saul Crumlish – Pivot Grab In, Patrick quarter ~ Photo: Reece Leung
AA: This is one of the more famous spots in the city and is a classic proving ground for the many transition minded skaters. Its also right next to one of my favourite pubs (Lios Mor) where a pigeon was once spotted hanging from a wire.
CM: Saul has recently been accepted into the photography course at the Glasgow school of Art, which alongside his impressive abilities as a skateboarder limits his job prospects to minus 2.
Saul Crumlish ~ Photo: Reece Leung
AA: Skate wise there’s 3 vortex’s (Kelvingrove park, the Transport museum and The Loading Bay), which after living in Leeds and having people stuck at Hyde Park for decades is a pretty grand situation to be in. There are also amazing street spots all over the city with more popping up all the time though the pavements take a battering from the unpredictable weather.
CM: It feels like Glasgow might be on the verge of becoming a ‘skate friendly’ city; Transport and The Loading Bay being it’s most recent additions. Glasgow is at the early stages of a big push to repopulate the centre of its city with 20,000 people set to move in by 2035. With it, comes parks, spots, new roads and streets. Many conversations have arisen as to how skateboarding may become a part of this. For now, we hope for finer grit ground as we watch cranes swing behind Heras fences.
Tom Shimmin – Frontside Kickflip, Daily Record Building ~ Photo: Reece Leung
AA: A half-knocked down fence and a perfectly placed kicker. Behind where this photo was shot is a double set, which only John Rattray has stepped to over 20 years ago.
CM: Tom Shimmin carves through the city much like the mechanically driven Motorway in the background. Meanwhile a ghost of a scotch pie walks to work to write an unreliable and inaccurate scare story.
Charles Myatt ~ Photo: Reece Leung
AA: Some of the nation’s most notorious housing estates sit side by side with beautiful countryside. Sometimes it feels like a big city in the middle of nowhere. I did a work placement in what is classed as the most deprived area in the British isles yet despite all it’s problems the only time I saw anything getting smacked was an old man banging on a bus to get it to stop for me.
CM: It is a basic survival technique of the people of Glasgow to have amazing character, its No 1 in the rankings of ‘made the most of’ places.
Aaron Wilmot – Backside Noseblunt, Arches DIY ~ Photo: Reece Leung
AA: The Arches is amazing DIY and is the brainchild of Charlie Myatt along with the help of countless others. I remember the run up just before the quarter was piss wet but didn’t stop Aaron rattling off a number of tricks including this one.
CM: The amazing Arches DIY is the frontline of our war with the children of Possil. Arron Wilmot pops into a backside noseblunt, brews a cup of tea and re-news his subscription to ‘Time Magazine’ as we ponder the meaning of horology, then probably grabs back in.
Saul Crumlish – Backside Noseblunt, Arches DIY ~ Photo: Reece Leung
AA: These contrasts are also a good metaphor for the people who live here. You’ll tend to find folk full of kindness, mentalness, toughness and amazing warmth in fairly equal measure along with unparalleled humour. Most people don’t take themselves too seriously and appreciate a laugh and a drink whenever they can get it. In the words of the late great Glaswegian folk singer Hamish Imlach “When I die, I want everything to be knackered.”
CM: Perhaps my favourite thing about Glasgow is the fact that you cannae escape yourself. Someone’s gonna tell you that new fleece you found in a charity shop looks like a bus seat, that your feet are shaped like boats, they’re gonna cut your bananas up inside their skin so it falls out sliced in pieces when ye peel it. It’s great, you get to know yourself and hopefully have a good laugh at your own expense.
In the eternal words of Hamish imlach ‘Oh Mary, you’re wan in a million’
(Mary): “Oh ho, so’s yer chances’
Charles Myatt – Wavey 50-50, Bath Street banks ~ Photo: Reece Leung
AA: This used to be one of the most skated spots in the city until these daft bits of metal appeared on them. It took a skater as madly adaptable as Charlie to finally conquer the full wave even if it did take 3 trips.
CM:
“Conquering the wave” – Alex Appleby
“madly adaptable” – Alex Appleby
Tom Shimmin – Ollie To Backside Wallride, Bath Street banks ~ Photo: Reece Leung
AA: These photos were taken over 2 days on a wayward trip Reece took in March 2019. The weather was grim for most of it so getting a full article’s worth of photos was pretty good going. As far as I’m aware there hasn’t been a dedicated skate photographer in Glasgow for many years so folk must have had some pent up energy and ideas. The skate scene up here has been continuously under-documented and underrated but is as thriving as they come. Summer evenings down at Transport watching the sun over the Clyde with some cans has got to be one of the Europe’s best skate experiences. It’s like MACBA but with better craic.
CM: There’s a spot in Kirkintilloch we call Cackba.
Scott ‘Dunder’ Anderson – Frontside 270 Switch Pivot To Fakie, Kinning Park banks ~ Photo: Reece Leung
AA: These banks are an amazing oddity located South of the river Clyde and are skated much less than they should be. This was the last photo Reece shot on the trip and everyone was probably glad to get back inside Dunsac’s dog is also called Charlie which fills me with resentment as whenever I am in their company Charlie (dog) gets all the attention “aw yer so cute Charlie” (dog), “you’re such a lovely boy Charlie!” (dog) Yuck. There’s nothing left to do but go to the Barras to buy a micro pig and name it Scott ‘Dunder’ Anderson.
CM: Horology is the study and measurement of time.
Scott ‘Dunder’ Anderson ~ Photo: Reece Leung
Get in the Cardonald – Filmed and Edited by: Alex Appleby
Filmed + Edited by: Alex Appleby
