The campaign for a Skatepark in Aberdare started many moons ago, in various guises and with a whole host of different people involved. People came and people went, but skateboarding, BMX & blading always remained somewhere in Aberdare and the scene was always strong. PIC: Aberdare Library (before fence)

No real movement was made regarding the park for over 10 years. We got organised (Cynon Soul Mk1), meetings were held, jams were organised, we rammed it down peoples throats but still no park

. Then in 2003, a dedicated team of Detatched Youth Workers led by the amazing Julia Rees, and members of staff at Aberdare Library, led by the equally amazing Ceri Roberts, got together and decided to do something about the hoards of skaters, rollerbladers and BMXers frequenting the space outside the Library.

Now, usually reading a line like the one above would normally translate as "skate stoppers" and "ASBO's" - but not this time. Posters appeared in the windows of the Library, ASKING skaters, bladers and bikers if they would like to be involved in creating a magazine - the idea was simple - these kids spend so much time outside the Library, why not invite them in and make resources available for them to be creative. N3B was born. (Not a Bad Bunch of Boys)

Over the coming months weekly workshops took place at the Library and N3B produced their first ever CD ROM dedicated to the wheeled sports they loved. N3B's profile didn't take long to go through the roof and soon they were the toast of RCT Detatched Youth - it was, indeed, a success story. Several prestigious awards were won, and some of the original kids involved are now working towards becoming Youth Workers themselves. The Library could have easily kicked us off the steps, got us arrested or hoped we would go away. They took the other route and suddenly, everyone could see what could be achieved once barriers were broken down and people worked together.

The "Official Launch" of that first N3B CD Rom was where it all changed for Aberdare. N3B had organised the launch to coincide with World Book Day 2004 (shrewd move huh) and were allowed to use the immediate space outside the Library for whatever they wanted. Large TV screens were erected in the Library windows to show the CD Rom, several bands were able to play live from the foyer, ramps and rails were all over the flatground and around 450 people turned up. They even organised a buffet!!

THEN IT HAPPENED: In amoungst all the chaos of mosh pits on the steps, drunk people watching the CD Rom and a million ankle biters zipping up and down the flatground between bemused mums & dads, CLLR PAULINE JARMAN arrived and she had an announcement to make...

"We have secured, via Capital Funding, £250.000 for the provision of Skateparks within RCT"

HOLY CONCRETE BATMAN!! (not literally)

And with that, all the previous campaigns, all the previous effort, all the previous strain, suddenly became worth every second. From the very beginning, Detatched Youth had been moulding N3B to become more effective than they had even realised. And they did it well.

Suddenly, Aberdare had a responsible, mature, hard working group of youngsters, who had worked succesfully with Library Services and Youth Services over a considerable amount of time, had won awards, and had now put on the first successful major Skateboarding / BMX / In-line event Aberdare had ever seen, and they did it on World Book Day, outside the Library - Genius.

Needless to say, there weren't many people within RCT that still thought all this "Sk8" stuff was just a fad, the evidence was now right in front of them.

Over the next year or so, N3B organised trips to other Skateparks, continued with the workshops, and eventually released a paper magazine, which again, was a great success.

During this time, Aberdare secured the "lions share" of the £250.000 that was made available. We had convinced RCT that Aberdare had the greater need, had worked harder and wanted it more than anywhere else. They saw what a "gang" of possible ASBO Candidates had done for themselves, for the Library, for the Public and for RCT and came around to our way of thinking. We also submitted far more completed Questionnaires than the other areas that were earmarked for Skateparks. All in all, a lot of hard work had been done, a hell of a lot of commitment was shown, and we point blank deserved the best possible skatepark available.

The older members of the scene used their years of experience of riding skateparks to give a balanced and realistic view with regards the materials to be used to build the park, with concrete eventually winning on the back of "10 year maintainence Cost" comparisons against wood and metal (we would NEVER, EVER, EVER agree to a metal park, EVER). Although concrete is expensive initially, it lasts much longer than wood or metal and once it's down, it needs very little maintainence.

We then hooked up with Gareth Evans, former owner of Porth & Cardiff Indoor Skateparks, and builder of Cardigan's new concrete skatepark. Gareth was brilliant, immediately working out the size the park would be (30m x 20m) for the money available and giving general advice on things you wouldn't normally think about (the park slopes gradually from the bowls to the entrance, this allows rain to drain away from the park quickly, yet you cannot notice you are actually skating uphill when pushing towards the corner quarter / flatbank - that was just one suggestion).

At this stage I must also mention the involvement of John White, a Library employee who happens to be a photographer and absolute demon on Photoshop. My first encounter with John was at the CD Rom launch where, unbeknown to me, he had taken what I now consider to be, the best photograph I have ever had taken. We quickly forged an amazing friendship and it was clear to see from the beginning that this dude had N3B's back - 100%.

John spent many hours creating 3D Park Layouts (something RCT were not able to do), then discussing them with N3B, until finally we sat in Tesco's Cafe with Gareth Evans looking at several park designs. Once again, Gareth opened our eyes to unseen benefits and pitfalls with the designs. That day we discussed flow, features, construction methods and everything you could possibly imagine when discussing a concrete skatepark. Without Gareths genuine openess regarding his own hard-earned experience, skills and knowledge, I sincerely think the park would not be as good as it is. Not many professionals would divulge their trade "secrets" when discussing a job before any tender had been awarded, even less if the particular "job" could affect his own business directly, and even more less if he had recently lost not one, but two indoor skateparks, effectively cutting off his income.

Gareth is a dying breed - the breed of the genuine "Good Man".

Not only that, on quite a few occasions he travelled over 200 miles from a park he was constucting in Cornwall up to RCT offices in Treforest to clue up the RCT engineers on skatepark construction (again, giving his trade away free - most people have to pay to go on courses to learn what he teaches - its called consultancy, and it's worth £££'s). Once done, he would drive 200 miles back to Cornwall. To my knowledge, Gareth wasn't paid a penny for his efforts or his petrol.

Around December 2005, everything went very quiet, nothing seemed to be happening with Aberdare Skatepark and no-one in RCT would answer any questions. Beddau & Gelligaled had recently had their metal "satellite" parks installed, but nothing was happening with Aberdare. I still don't know why. I do, however, know that during this time, Gareth had been mysteriously shunned by RCT and his involvement in the development of the park ended there. What happened between Gareth and RCT remains a total mystery to me. Without Gareth, the park wouldn't be like it is. Shake his hand and buy him a pint when you see him. Thanks Gareth.

Rant over, back to Aberdare History X. We eventually agreed on several versions of a basic design consisting of clover bowl, curved steps and a mini ramp. John and I presented these to a packed out N3B meeting and the response was excellent. Everyone gave input, and everyone listened to all reasoning.

The final design that N3B handed in to RCT that evening is the park you are skating now.

For too long, Councils have been notorius at getting things badly badly wrong. No matter what it is, for some reason, once the council is involved, it never really turns out as expected or do what it's supposed to do. Not this time Sunshine.

There certainly were a few occasions where our concerns over methods being employed regarding the park got a little heated, but ultimately, RHONDDA CYNON TAFF CC listened to what we had to say every single step of the way and acted on it with 100% commitment. I certainly felt that I was sometimes educating these engineers, they had never undertaken something like this before, and as such, you could see they were genuinely taking it all in. It could have been all too easy for them to think they could design it without knowing what its for or how it actually has to be built. I've been to parks where it is abundantly clear that the goons that built "that thing on paper" had no idea what it was they were building. RCT were the exact opposite, they sought the knowledge required, talked to the people who'd use it, learnt from the bottom up, and did a damn good job.

Today, at the Ynys, sits a concrete skatepark, a real CONCRETE SKATEPARK. A design, that one year on, is still far from stale. The possible lines in the park have barely been scratched. Every day, locals and visitors alike discover new lines, new tricks, new feelings, new friends and new experiences....

...and that, my friends, is what a good skatepark is all about.