 |
A History of
Victorian Skateboarding
from Clay Wheels to the Pro Era |
| Introduction |
|
Prior to the glossy skate magazines and mega pro tours of the late
80’s, Victoria had a rich skateboarding history, featuring some of
Australia’s best skaters, amazing underground locations, and more than a
few myths and fabrications.
In the decade spanning the mid 70’s to the mid 80’s, skating’s
popularity ebbed and flowed, from widespread craze to virtual
extinction. A handful of the most dedicated skaters kept riding
throughout, despite zero sponsorship, the lack of much in the way of
suitable terrain and a non existent competition scene.
The details have been largely forgotten over the years, lost to time
and the lack of virtually any documentation, other than a few news
articles and the skater’s own personal photo albums. It was always my
opinion that the tiny skate scene of the time was actually quite
important, so I always tried to snag the best photos to record the skate
spots and riders. Initially, at least, I pretty much ended up with an
album full of me, partly from ego, but mostly because everyone generally
got to keep the pics of themselves.
The cost of a camera, film and processing was far more likely to be
blown on the latest trucks and wheels from the States, so there was
never a huge amount of skate photography going on. I’ve been lucky to
have had access to tons of skater’s personal albums, and they now make
up the vast bulk of the photos on this website. More material is still
flowing in at a solid rate, so if you’re able to contribute any images
from the period, there’ll be a proportionally lower amount of shots of
me!
I’m definitely on the lookout for more or better pics of the lesser
known spots like Taxi Bowl, Spillway, Hawthorn pipes, Geelong pipe or
Lexton Road. Drop me an
email if you’ve got anything of interest or
suggestions on how to make this website better.
~ Noel Forsyth, Melbourne, Australia
2007 ~
Some notes on the pics:
I would like to acknowledge the photographers out there who have done a
great job in providing a record of these times. If you haven't been
mentioned in the credits, thanks anyway!Some notes on
Some notes on the website:
I am much obliged to my brother Tony, for putting the site together long
distance from emailed notes and pics.
The skate stuff:
is divided roughly chronologically so if you want to skip a bit here's
the links:
Other stuff:
Quite a few people have asked me when I'd be adding more text and pics
to my website, particularly some great shots I'd collected which don't
strictly fit the subject matter or format of the Vic Skate History site.
I therefore decided to drop in some of these related topics, such as
shots I'd gathered in the U.S. and various interstate Aussie road trips,
first generation snow boarding from the early 80's and so on. Since
these are essentially just personal travelogue shots, you'll have to
forgive the massive number of pics of yours truly! During the early
80's in particular, skating was sometimes a solo mission, and most of my
mates had dropped out of skating altogether, or moved on to surfing and
other pursuits. Anyway, these "mini subjects" may be of interest to
some of the Sydney, NSW and Adelaide guys, if only as a record of the
terrain that's generally now long gone....
(Click the skateboard pic at bottom to return to this
menu page)
If not, old skaters and
interested parties. . . . enjoy
Part 1. The “Craze” (and
aftermath) – 1974-76
Home |