Spot Checks

SPOT CHECK: Euxton Skatepark

Words by Joe Parry
Photos by Adam Lievesley
Riders: Joe Parry, Sam Fenn

Euxton Skatepark is located in the red-rose county of Lancashire up in the North-West of England. Often mispronounced and said as “Euston” sounds, the right way would be think to drop the “E-U” and simply say it Xton.

The skatepark has actually been around for some time, opening back in May 2013 however looks pretty new as a result of the continual support of the local Parish Council. The skatepark offers a safe haven for the local community and has been acknowledged as one of the best additions to the village by both the council and residents.

Built by Bendcrete, the skatepark itself is around 5000 square feet and the design is split out into 2 main sections: the street section and the bowl section. Having two distinct areas works well during the busier times but they can be linked together during quieter times.

The Street Section

This is built up of various obstacles, from your commonly seen flat banks, quarters, rails, stairs and ledges mixed in with some quirkier features like the fire hydrant and a brick effect tight wedge. Starting at the entrance to the park you have the raised flat banks with a tight hip centre piece topped with curved ledge. The banks flow down into the park level which split out into the ledge, rail, and flat bank options, that waterfall into the varied height (3-5ft) quarter pipe wall which separates the street section and the bowl. To the right of the quarters there is also a 3ft roll in to ease people in or offer as a hip out of the bowl.

The Bowl

The bowl design in some ways is a little different from your average bowl. This section spans approximately 2/5 of the skatepark’s footprint and is a rounded rectangle shape with a tight vert pocket to the top end, which can be used as a G’d out berm or to get tight pockets. The depth of the bowl itself varies from approx 5ft to 6.5ft and all be it a small in area has plenty of lines to found using the varied size quarters, deck roller and a hipped spine which can be made into a bigger hip.

On a quiet session the bowl can be linked back and forth using 2 wide deck volcanos into the street section. The smaller of the 2 has a 5ft lip to 3ft lander and the big centrepiece volcano has a 6.5ft lip into a 5ft lander. Some also choose to use the different quarters as hips in and out of the bowl linking up a variety of lines.

In summary, the park can be whatever you want it to be and caters for a variety of styles, from your street riders to your park riders out to your bowl riders.

Joe Parry linking the bowl into the street section!

After the great success of the park over the past number of years the Parish Council installed floodlighting in 2019 which has extended the use of the park over the winter months. The lights are on till 10pm year round and can be turned on once dark via a switch at the top of the street section. It is to be noted the lights are on a timer and periodically shut down after 1 hour, unless the switch is pressed again to stop the waste of electricity, in the efforts to be as green as possible. So if the lights start shutting down, don’t think the sessions over!

As far as amenities go, I think that’s pretty well covered, with a Tesco Extra (including Petrol Station) which can been seen from the park and a number of shops, takeaways and a deli (plus a barber and a tanning studio if your really need it) about 600 yards down the road.

Travelling to the skatepark couldn’t be easier, with Euxton train station just past the shops and the park is located between both the M6 and M61 motorways with plenty of parking parallel to the park (van trips!)

Lastly, I would like to say a big thanks to Euxton Parish Council for the continual support to keep the facility always at its best!

Hope to see more people down for a session – follow @euxtonskatepark on Instagram.