Back in the days before protective padding and fibreglass helmets
were ever dreamt of, the first skateboarding craze took off.
Grazed knees, concussion and splintered bones were just part of
the experience as children and teenagers took to the streets on
their flimsy wooden boards.
It had all started in 1976 when a local charity, the Meanwhile
Gardens Trust, built what was probably Europe's first concrete skatepark.
It was basically a massive hole dug in the ground with concrete
poured into it, but it soon became the focal point of the emerging
UK skateboard scene.
Although it was built for kids from the local area, skateboarders
from all over London soon came to it as somewhere exciting to meet
up and skate. The craze lasted until 1978.
Skateboarding
