At Wessex Film and Sound Archive you can see and hear history, from late Victorian times to the present day, through moving images and sound recordings. The Archive contains over 36,000 film and sound recordings relating to Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, including film and tapes of local TV and radio.
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Skateboarding in Portsmouth
Enjoy a nostalgic look back at the 70s with this film made by George Sloane featuring Southsea's newly opened skateboard park
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Overview
We start with a shot of Southsea's Skatepark, located on Clarence Esplanade, before moving inside where we see lots of eager youngsters practising on their skateboards. Almost all are wearing protective headgear and knee pads. The skateboarders ride up and down the many convoluted ramps as well as the large bowl, while being watched over by marshalls.
This film features Southsea's Skate Park in its first year of operation. It was built on an existing roller skating rink which had been operating since the 1930s. At the height of the skateboarding craze in the late 1970s the local authority created a number of pits and runs for the skateboarders to use. Run today by a charity, the Southsea Skatepark Company, the Skate Park is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary.
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