Campaign to transform neglected Manchester skate park in Didsbury into top free facility

Skaters in Manchester currently face a difficult situation with the sport banned in parts of the city centre and some facilities charging for entry.
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Plans have been unveiled to transform a rather sad-looking skate park in a Manchester park into a dream facility for those who enjoy wheeled activities.

Skate enthusiasts Gareth Breeze and Christian D’Andrea hope to turn the rather forlorn collection of ramps and rails on Fog Lane in Didsbury, which they say is underused and unsafe, into somewhere skateboarders and inline skaters will be flocking to practice their hobby.

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They are currently asking the community in Manchester what they would like to see from a free public facility and then plan to start fund-raising once they have designs and quotes.

Gareth said Manchester is currently not the easiest place for people to skate, with bans on the activity in some parts of the city centre, other facilities charging for entry and those which do not require paying sometimes having poor-quality and rather dangerous equipment.

What is the plan for the Fog Lane skate park?

Currently the Fog Lane skate park only has a number of small obstacles in it and the main ramp is metal, which Gareth says would be treacherous in wet weather.

He and his brother-in-law Christian, who are both keen skaters and work at family-run Manchester creative business EBGB Studios, are keen to see it turned into a permanent, accessible and high-quality facility.

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They want to turn the question of what ramps, rails and other obstacles should be in it over to the skating community and then get quotes from builders before running a funding campaign.

Gareth BreezeGareth Breeze
Gareth Breeze

Once the new ramps are in place Gareth and Christian want to collaborate with Manchester artists to fill the new-look space with street art to showcase the city’s wealth of cultural talent.

A website has already been created for the project where people can get involved.

They hope to be guided by the success of DIY skateparks in which groups of skate fans have come together to take over spaces around Manchester for their hobby.

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Gareth said: “The skate park definitely needs a little bit of love. You see skate ramps in parks but often they are made of wood, which corrodes heavily in inclement weather, or metal which you get a bit of moisture on and then put wheels on and it makes you wince a bit because you can just see the fall coming just by looking at it.

“Outdoor skate parks need to be concrete. Concrete is a much smoother riding surface so the likelihood of falling is much less.”

What is it like trying to find places to skate in Manchester?

The poor-quality facilities at places like Fog Lane in public parks are just one of the issues skaters in Manchester face.

Gareth said: “There isn’t a great deal of public-funded or council-funded skating provision in Manchester that’s usable and safe. There are places in the city centre where skating is banned and you can be fined for doing it, and then there are places where you can go and pay to skate so there are accessibility and affordability issues there.

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“One of the consequences of this is DIY skateparks, collaborative spaces where skaters have taken it upon themselves to band together and build what they would like to see. We want to take the energy of that and apply it to something permanent in Manchester.”

Gareth says, given the overall ethos of the sport and the city, it is very important to him and Christian that the Fog Lane facility remains free to use after its upgrade.

The skate park in Fog Lane, DidsburyThe skate park in Fog Lane, Didsbury
The skate park in Fog Lane, Didsbury

He said: “We really could do with a space that’s just dedicated for skaters. We’re in a city that celebrates its counterculture and creativity and it needs to do this for one of the most countercultural and creative sports there is.

“This will never be pay to access. One of the things about skating is that there’s the fairly small expense of buying a skateboard or whatever you want and then you can just go and do it. That’s the way we want to keep it.

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“From the first time I nervously rolled into Bones in Stockport in 1999, to now trying to relearn old tricks, skating has always provided some form of escape and adventure.

“We’re determined to give back to the sport that has given us so much. We know that this campaign to redevelop Fog Lane Skate Park is likely to be a long one, and we’re both in it for the long haul!”