[Closed] bbc 4 storyville united skates

Watched and enjoyed, real shame that the rinks are closing as everyone seemed to be so positive and just there to enjoy themselves.

Been at one in Glasgow a few times, never did it as a child, was pretty shit at ice skating, but roller skating is brilliant, and pretty easy to get decent at it!. I'll give that a watch, thanks.

I'll watch that, used to love skating in my youth. They dont seem to make them in my size now tho.
Plus why do roller rinks always go anticlockwise? I hate that, turn much faster to the right.

I stumbled on that last night and I don’t watch much tv. Great show.

Sad to see these places going in the way they do. A real spirit and force for good squeezed out by councils and corporate great.

I used to love skating as a kid. Playing street hockey, roller discos, just bombing about. I remember when fashion brand Kickers opened a largish shop near me in Kentish Town and the staff used to whizz around on skates to serve you😎

Brilliant!

Thanks very much for the heads up. That's my viewing sorted for this evening. One thing I've really missed during lockdown is visits to our brilliant local rink (in Bury, Lancs) with my girls. I hope it survives. Can't wait to get back there.

edit i used to love roller skating as a child. would love to try it again at 45 lol

Pfft! Whippersnapper. I'm 50 and I rediscovered skating a few years back after not doing it since I was a yoot. I've been taking my daughters. We had a massive rink in Warrington where I grew up, which we went to every week, and we also played street hockey in the car parks around town

As I've been taking the girls quite a bit, and really enjoying it, I treated myself to a new set of Bauers (Bauer Nexus, conversion by Oli's Skate Shop, Playmaker plates, ACS-651 hangers, Sims Street Snakes and the obligatory Rocers laces). A bit indulgent but hey, look how much we spend on our bikes.

At the start of lockdown I was getting out and skating the empty carparks in the sun, which was good fun. I really don't care how daft I look.

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Even had time to fit colour co-ordinated bushings 😀

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I did a bit of skating but always preferred Inline, mainly because we owned an inline mag and I could get them free.

Cheers for the headsup on this, I watched this doc on detroit skaters via the narrators music output. I'd love to have a go but I think I'm too old to learn how to skate now.

why do roller rinks always go anticlockwise?

Only in the northern hemisphere, south of the equator they go the other way.

Brilliant film.

Would have been interesting to know how many rinks that had been re-zoned had actually been demolished and the commercial units the city wanted to replace them with built, and how many had just sat there essentially derelict because the commercial developments didn't actually happen.

Would love to get back into skating but not having any kids and not living near Miami Beach I think I’d just look like a dick.
Mind you....maybe it’s time to embrace that look.

@choppersquad. When everything is up and running again, give your nearest rink a try. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Our local rink is absolutely rammed with teenagers at the weekend when I take my girls. But a few of us of 'a certain age' started going on midweek evenings. There are virtually no kids there at all. In fact, it's not busy at all, which is brilliant. There was a load of old school skaters about our age, though. Some of who are pretty bloody good.

My favourite is a bloke who goes every week who's 85. He happily skates around with his earphones in, listening to classical music. I hope I'm still doing that in the unlikely event of me reaching 85.

At the end of the day, a couple of hours skating is a proper workout and beats going to the gym. There's a bar there too, so you can have a beer afterwards. It's a bloody great midweek evening, particularly in the winter 😀

If you're ever in our neck of the woods, you're welcome to come along with us

Thanks for sharing this. I've been waiting for an opportunity to watch this. I love skating. I took it up 3 years ago. We go to Rollerstop in Glasgow. Even joined in a virtual roller disco on zoom at the start of lockdown. We make a point of taking our skates with us when we go away just in case there is a chance to do some skating. There are some great rinks all over the country. Rock'n'roller in Cumbernauld is out of this world. Amazing rink.

We had a massive rink in Warrington where I grew up

I didn't know you were a Warrington lad Binners. The Empire Skate Building, used to love it myself. Best name for a roller rink too. 👍

@tthew - I'm from Risley (not the remand centre) originally. We used to go to the Empire Skate Building every Friday, religiously. I used to have Bauer Turbo's with Tracker full-tracks and Santa Cruz OJ's.

Do you remember the figure of 8 speedskating? We'd do that every week. It was like rollerball. Lunacy! There's no way on earth they'd get away with that kind of shizzle nowadays. The compound fractures that must have been treated in Warrington general due to that madness?!

Plus why do roller rinks always go anticlockwise?

Because most people are right handed/right footed. I find it easier to corner fast by putting right leg over left.

Will have to watch this as I skated everywhere when I was a teenager. Binners photos of Bauers brought it all back. I live rurally now though so no pavements and crappy roads so no chance of getting more skates and realising I am not as good as I was.

Great documentary. Always good watching people doing what they love.

Used to skate a lot as a teenager at rollerworld in Derby. Went back with kids a few years ago with kids. Really got back into it and surprised at the number of old people like me still skating.

Sadly my bauer turbo 33's couldn't cope and had to retired. A pair of bauer vapour ice skates have been converted as replacements. For those that remember them bel air hockey are no longer available.

I want in.

Have taken the kids ice skating a few times pre-lock down and surprised just how much I enjoyed just gliding about. Like skateboarding on a polished gym floor.
In a perfect world I'd own a giant warehouse with a floor like polished glass, but until then the local roller rink with the kids might be a good shout.

For those that remember them bel air hockey are no longer available.

That's what I wanted on mine when I ordered my Bauers but found out they are sadly no more. You can still get them occasionally on eBay, but they're pricey. I'm happy with the Street Snakes at the moment but think I'll go for something harder/slidier next

Only ever tried roller skating once as a kid, my sister was really into it and got me to try her boots on. Went about 3 meters tried to turn and went down like a sack of shit. Ended up in A&E with a suspected broken arm but just ended up badly bruising it.

Never tried skating again.

Is there a rollerskate equivalent to this place?

I ice skated as a kid in Glasgow - Saturday afternoons at Crossmyloof, I only need to hear Donna Summer's Love's Unkind and it brings it all back. The local boating lake used to freeze over in winter and we'd have these mad, 20-aside ice hockey matches on a circular lake with 2 islands in the middle! I played about with inline speed skating about 12 years ago - even went to Switzerland and participated in a 111km road race. About 1,000 participants, big pace lines where you'd be steaming along on the flat at 40kph. The first downhill section was carnage - over 60kph and a corner at the bottom - I'd only practised on the flat!

I watched it last night and it was both brilliant and depressing in equal measure.

Its a sort of microcosm of modern society that something that has obviously been of such huge cultural significance is bulldozed to make way for some big retail barn or anonymous identikit flats.

On a positive note, Boris jut specifically referred to skating rinks opening up again this morning, so I can get my skates on again 😀

I watched it last night and it was both brilliant and depressing in equal measure.

More depressing than anything as just another insight into the racism in the US, along with loss of community stuff for the pursuit of more money.

Would have preferred more skating, more stuff about the skates etc,. without the depressing storyline.

At the start of lockdown I was getting out and skating the empty carparks in the sun, which was good fun. I really don’t care how daft I look.

I'm back on a skateboard for the first time in 25 years with the same attitude. Scared shirtless I'm going to die but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying myself.

Roller derby got me into skating about 10 years ago, till i found skating waaaay more enjoyable than the standing around waiting to be hit that Derby became (plus, Derbydrama! ugh!). The Missus is another old Empire Skate stalwart. Her Bauer Turbos came out when she started derby, but soon had the be upgraded.

Try to get to Wigan for adult night and at Bury as much as we can