News
‘Skater Girlhood’ published in Grey Skate Magazine
‘Skater Girlhood’ – is a collaborative project between academic, skater and mother Esther Sayers and skater and photographer Amanda Fordyce.
“The scene at many skateparks nationally has seen women and girls taking up skateboarding alongside men and boys in ever increasing numbers. They are forming an alternative girlhood, consciously positioning themselves against what they perceive as the mainstream and against conventional forms of femininity in which bruises, scabs and scars would be unwelcome.”
Click on the link here to read Esther’s article, accompanied by photography from Hackney Bumps and other locations, captured by Amanda over a year-long period.
‘Skater Girlhood’ was originally published in Grey vol. 05 issue 12, released December 2021.
City Mill Skate Dots and Lockdown – Short Film
As some of you may have noticed, we’ve been a little quiet here at CMS lately – but that’s mainly due to us being busy behind the scenes on a number of plans that should hopefully come to fruition soon!
We’ve also been busy working with the fantastically talented Tom Lock @locktomlock and Rich Maskey @richmaskey to produce a short film called ‘City Mill Skate Dots and Lockdown’.
Our new film tells the recent story of our project – and the best laid plans, the crises, and the quick thinking that resulted in us overhauling our entire programme in order to find meaningful ways to still connect with a wide range of skaters in a world turned completely upside down.
To explore the ideas in the film a little further, we also sat down with Henry Kingsford from the ever-superb Grey Skate Mag @greyskatemag to chat about the impact of lockdown on skateboarding communities of all kinds – and how our project has hopefully helped to provide a useful and inspiring creative outlet for many people whose lives inside and outside of skateboarding have been profoundly affected by the Covid pandemic.
Click on the link here to read our interview and watch ‘City Mill Skate Dots and Lockdown’ here.
Esther Sayers in discussion with Josh Sutton for Slam City Skates.
Esther from the City Mill Skate team was recently interviewed by Josh Sutton for the Slam City Skates blog.
In the course of their discussion, Esther and Josh share many insightful thoughts on the rewards that skateboarding brings to older skaters, and the reactions that their decision to take up skateboarding has elicited from friends and family.
Read on for some inspiration on how to use skateboarding to escape the confines of adulthood!
Hackney Bumps featured in Grey Skate Magazine
Our friends over at the nearby Hackney Bumps project have an excellent feature in Grey Skate Magazine, documenting all their hard work over the course of the past year to renovate and transform a long-overlooked skatepark into a vibrant new facility.
Click on the link below to read the feature that includes interviews and archival photos – and tells the story of how the Hackney Bumps project has grown from a grass-roots idea into an initiative that has brought the entire local community together.
https://www.greyskatemag.com/post/the-bumps-a-grassroots-community-project/
Press Coverage
Right from the very start of City Mill Skate, we have been really aware of the need to construct our proposal from the ground upward, to empower local users and use their insight as a core part of the project.
Through the conversations that have emerged, we are discovering how this aspect is not just valuable locally, but resonates nationally and internationally. Our work with City Mill Skate to date has been shared via the following skate outlets, for which we are very grateful.
Iain Borden Blogpost
Iain Borden, Professor of Architecture & Urban Culture at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, is one of the world’s leading academics of skateboarding.
Click on the link here to read Iain’s thoughts on the successful start of the City Mill Skate initiative around the development of the UCL East campus.