One of our favourite Sidewalk Surfer covers. Paul Shier with an icy Crooked grind. Photo – Wig Worland
This is a strange week for skateboarding. I would say it’s a strange week for UK skateboarding but I think that the second we call it that it somehow undermines the impact of what goes on here and the global resonance of what is happening. Skateboarding thrives here, scenes are strong country wide and there is a sense of belonging. This didn’t just happen on it’s own, it was built over the course of many years. For the last 20 years Sidewalk magazine has informed and supported skateboarders. Ben Powell and Andy Horsley offered up an inclusive window into a wonderful world and a portal into each others. It meant wherever you were you could be aware of what was going on around the Country and what was going to happen. It filled our calendar and our list of places to visit and kept us all on the same page. Unfortunately it was announced this week that these pages would no longer fall through our letterboxes. This magazine has grown with us, many of us have been lucky enough to appear in it or contribute writing to it. It has been a true representation of what we are all a part of and an introduction to so many amazing skateboarders whose careers it also supported. Here are a few covers from different Slam riders over the years…
L to R Clockwise. Nick Jensen, Rory Milanes, Neil Smith, Danny Brady, Vaughan Baker, Lucien Clarke.
We are saddened that we have leafed through the mag for the last time but happy that we will remain readers. Sidewalk will continue to publish content but it will be solely online. This shift in the cosmos reinforces what we have known for a long time. Many of the things we hold dear, collect, reminisce about and romanticise are fast becoming things of the past. Our Covent Garden store which has served the London skateboarding community for 27 years moves this Thursday and our 16 Neal’s Yard store will be closing it’s doors. The times they are a-changin’ but what is important is that we are all still a part of this change. While we will miss the mag arriving and flailing tricks around in the alley, we will have a new store to localise and a site full of even heavier content to visit. We want to thank Ben and Andy for filling our lives with humour and visual treats for the last 20 years and the many photographers who have left a mark on our brain like Wig Worland, Leo Sharp, Sam Ashley, Oliver Barton, Dom Marley and Chris Johnson. Good luck to all involved with this transition.
Editors note: Although Sidewalk has sadly ceased to be we are beyond stoked to have it’s editor Ben Powell contributing pieces for our blog. Here are some of Ben’s pieces which well illustrate that the spirit which drove the magazine in the first place is still alive and well…
Check out the AUTEURS series Ben began which interviews some of the camera wielding humans who continue to enrich our lives.
Ben Powell Interviews: Mike Manzoori / Long Live Southbank / Elijah Berle / Dan Joyce / Nick Jensen / Tyshawn Jones / Chad Muska / Jagger / Brad Johnson