CSC Videos - Cardiff Skateboarding Archive

In case you weren’t already aware, skate videos are probably one of the most important aspects of skate culture. These unique cultural resources have been studied and worshipped by skaters since the subculture began, helping to spread knowledge of new tricks, spots, music, and most importantly, fashion trends, among skaters across the world. Whether it was an OG East Coast vid with a thumping hip-hop soundtrack, or balls-to-the-wall bowl skating with a scorching hardcore punk backdrop, pretty much everyone can remember the first skate video they watched that consumed their entire being and drove them to sacrifice their soul to the skate gods.

One of our favourite things about skating is the amount of diversity throughout the history of the subculture, from the early days of pool skating, to the street skateboarding boom in the 90s, the huckfest of the 2000s, or the incredibly diverse ecosystem we say today - skateboarding has something for everyone and all you have to do is look to skating’s rich history to find something that you can personally relate to.

Nerd-out aside, here at Cardiff Skateboard Club we’ve made our fair share of videos so we thought we’d share them with you so you can learn a bit about some of the history of the Cardiff skate scene.

 

WASH3R

The latest instalment in the epic 'Washer' trilogy, WASH3R is probably our boldest cinematic endeavour to date, clocking in at almost 40 minutes in length. The video features a myriad of different skaters and filmers, helping to encapsulate the wonderfully diverse nature of Britain's Wettest City. According to rumours, the video had to be split into four parts to prevent your brain overloading from the sheer wonder of the skating being displayed, so scroll down to check out each section.

Part 1

The video starts with a collaboration between two of Cardiff's greatest minds: Christian Hart and Tony 'Wolf' Williams. 'The Wolf of Queen Street' offers us a somewhat worrying glance into the mind of Spit and Sawdust's scruffy swashbuckler, with an Alan Partridge-esque rave scene, featuring the Wolf himself on the decks, edited alongside Christian's filming. A perfect reminder that skating should never be too serious. Next up, Harry Jones takes us on a tour of the (at the time) newly renovated Central Square, with a stylish night-time edit featuring PJ, Jess Young, Ethan Watkins, and the rest of the boys. Central Square is now one of the most popular spots in Cardiff, despite the glory days of this video - when you could take the wooden tops off the ledges to skate the glorious marble beneath - being long forgotten.

Part 2

Christian kicks off part 2 of WASH3R again with another incredible skit, this time it's an epic ballad dedicated to Beanhead featuring the acting, and skating, talents of Carve Wicked gaffer, Sam Pulley. After this, we venture deeper in Wales with a part from Welsh legend and powerslide connoisseur, Welsh Tommy. Filmed around Swansea, Bridgend, and Port Talbot, the part features everything you want to see from Tommy with plenty of cutty lines, stylish powerslides, and quick-footed madness.

Part 3

Part 3 starts out strong with Reid Allen discussing his self-love routine, before diving into a timeless VX part filmed by the Gaffa himself, Mike Ridout, with hammers provided by Ethan Watkins, PJ, Lloyd Houston, Jimmy Silver, Jake Collins, and more. I still can't get enough of Jim's last Bute line - that's how you do it kids. Next up is another incredible skit, from skit-master Christian Hart, paying homage to legendary Cardiff icon, Happy Days, with skating from Kev Barry and Rhys Whaley. The section's brought to a close with a feel-good edit from the boys' trip to Prague, filled with shenanigans galore and a surprising amount of skating, given that pretty much all we did while we were there was get battered.

Part 4 

The final chapter of the video features a love letter to Cardiff's greatest spot, and scientifically confirmed centre of the universe, Bute Square, with skating from Jess Young, Ben Morris, Ethan Watkins, and Kev Barry. The jungle soundtrack goes hand-in-hand with the dancing nunchuck guy, and if you've ever been to Bute, you'll know that this kind of weirdness is all too familiar. Finally, Harry Deane delivers the final blow with a no-nonsense edit featuring some of the biggest legends Cardiff has to offer. Proof that we do sometimes do proper skating.

Washer II

The second instalment in the Washer series, Washer II, features a variety of different sections filmed by the unholy trinity of Harry Deane, Christian Hart, and Mike Ridout. This time, Harry Deane kicks things off with help from all the boys, featuring a healthy portion of PJ footage - I mean what more could you ever want? - plus everyone else you hope to see in a Cardiff video, including Jess Young, Jake Collins, Lloyd Houston, and Ethan Watkins. Next up, Christian delivers an incredible skit with acting/skating from Mike Ridout, Ethan Watkins, and Lewis Keen. Prepare yourself for a heartwarming tale of failure and friendship from Cardiff's 'Deliverad' riders. Finally, The Gaffer himself, Mike Ridout, has the honour of bringing the video to a close with a bangin' VX section filled with more legends than you can shake a stick at. The Scott Quinnell intro clip and accompanying B-Roll set the tone perfectly, before the boys bring the good vibes and even better skating.

CSC's Downhill Deathrace - Go Skate Day 2018

Here at CSC, we love putting on events to help bring all the skaters in and around, Cardiff together. Whether it's our legendary Christmas parties, Plaza competitions, or Go Skate Day events, we're always trying to come up with new and exciting ways to cause absolute mayhem. In 2018, we decided to take to take a leaf out of GX1000's book and headed straight for the gnarliest hillbomb we could find. Of course we didn't stop there, we brought along a load of different obstacles - and plenty of lager - to help add a little extra flavour to the Penarth bikepath. Check out the video below to witness the carnage.

Shred for Palestine Charity Jam

Back in 2018, our good friend and switch boardslide enthusiast, Reid Allen, held a fundraising jam at Spit and Sawdust in aid of SkatePal. The jam was aimed at raising money so that Reid could travel to Palestine and help out with the ongoing work of SkatePal to improve the lives of Palestinian children through skateboarding. The jam featured a number of different events including a Best Trick competition over Spit and Sawdust's sofa, and the 'Road gap' challenge, as well as performances from local bands. The event was a huge success with Reid raising enough money to volunteer in Palestine, where he helped teach kids to skate and made a photo-zine, Yallah, documenting his time there. Massive thank you to everyone who came down, as well as all the sponsors who kindly donated prizes. Check out the video below to see top-tier stunts from Kev Barry, Sean Barnes, a young(er) Gabe Gorman, and many more.

Breconise

Breconise is a short edit filmed during an outing to one of the many reservoirs around Brecon. Inspired by Jim Craven's series of rural edits, such as Land and Island, the boys headed out into the depths of Wales on a scouting mission, hoping to uncover some skateable spots hidden amidst the Welsh countryside. Much to their surprise, the first place they stopped happened to hide a natural quarterpipe in need of some TLC. The next time they visited the spot, armed with brushes, hammers, and a variety of other tools, they set to work smoothing out a section of the transition in the hopes of making it skateable. Check out the full video filmed by Leo Comanescu to see what went down, with skating from Lloyd Houston, Jess Young, James Carter, and Dan Bunn. You better Breconise.

Washer

The first instalment of the Washer series, this video captures the essence of Cardiff Skateboard Club with skateboarding, skits, and silliness aplenty. Harry Deane kicks things off with a bangin' section filled with all the usual legends, including Jake Collins, Jess Young, Ethan Watkins, and more. Next, we take a trip down memory lane with some archival footage from the center of the universe, Bute Square, with hammers supplied by Gibbsy, Matt Davies, Josh Perrett, and Chris Jones - some of the best to ever do it in our wonderful city. After some top-notch Spit and Sawdust #marketing, Christian Hart has the honour of bringing the video to a close with a 'trendy-as-you-like' Lewis Keen, AKA Problems, part featuring quick feet and quirky spots. At the end of the video, we surprised Chris with the reveal of his CSC pro-model board - with artwork by our very own Lloyd Houston - to celebrate his contributions to skateboarding over the years. Who wants to see us bring these back?

Festive Bake

A tasty little Christmas offering from us to you (although admittedly there's nothing really Christmas-y about it), Festive Bake features a load of lesser seen Cardiff spots which don't see much action these days. Filmed by Harry Deane and Harry Jones, the video features plenty of familiar faces including Billy Trick, Jake Collins, Lewis Keen, and Jess Young. Special mention to Jake Tucker's massive ollie outside 2 Kingsway, anyone else got the plums to step to that?

CSC v3.0

Billy Trick starts this edit out strong with an extremely powerful no-comply over the Alexandra Gardens road gap - and in the wet, no less - and he keeps this momentum going throughout the video as he lays down hammer upon hammer; his wallride down the NCP hubba is still ludicrous to this day. Alongside Billy, the video features bangers from all the boys, including Lewis Keen, Mike Ridout, Sean Barnes, and Mike Hellier. Get stuck in.

City Surf Converse Core Store Challenge 2016

Back before CSC was a shop, in the OG City Surf days, the boys took part in the Grey Skate Mag x Converse Cons Core Store Challenge, competing head to head with other fine establishments from across the country to make the best video possible in just one week. The boys got down to business and hit the streets hard, stacking hammer after hammer for Harry Deane's watchful lens before The Huge shut it down with a hectic hardflip ender. Featured legends include Billy Trick, James Carter, Jess Young, Lewis Keen, Sean Barnes, and Josh Underwood.

NOW: That's What I Call Skateboarding

A video of truly epic proportions, 'NOW: That's What I Call Skateboarding' is Christian Hart's magnum opus, filled with musical madness, scooter shenanigans, monstrous mongo pushing, and countless hilarious skits. The video features a massive variety of legends including Dylan Hughes, Caradog Emanuel, Nicky Howells, Steve King, Ben Grove, Korahn Gayle, Chris Jones, Dan Wileman, Jess Young, Mike Hellier, Josh Perrett, and many, many more. With the skaters reenacting the iconic music videos for the songs they skated to, including 'Jump' by Kriss Kross, 'Nothing Compares 2 U' by Sinead O'Connor, and 'On a Ragga Tip' by SL2, this video will definitely bring a smile to your face on more than one occasion. Give it a watch for a glimpse into some of the recent history of the Cardiff skate scene, and a slightly disturbing insight into the inner workings of Christian's chaotic mind.

Now In A Minute

This OG video from Nick Richards is another one from the depths of the City Surf vaults. Released way back in 2012, the video features all your favourite Cardiff legends in the prime of their youth, like Jack and Ed Carter, Kev Barry, Mike Hellier, and Josh Underwood. If you're looking for spot inspiration then this edit is a must-watch. The boys scour every inch of Cardiff in search of hidden gems, most of which have since been lost to the annals of time (RIP Maindy pyramid) but you'll still find some inspiring nuggets that are still around today.