Words, photos and video by Robin Pearson

Tredegar Park in Newport contains one of the gnarliest skatepark pools I’ve ever seen. In fact, the whole park is pretty nuts – there are big quarters and tiny quarters, mostly with pool coping, a doorway to carve over, a jumpbox section, mad angles everywhere… It’s quite niche. This is a real destination park, so if you’re into this kind of terrain then I know you’ll make the trip like Dean Cueson and I did.

The design isn’t your usual concrete park. The main bowl is fairly minimal but houses a few interesting features, such as the pool-style love seat, sharp hips into the tall quarter, the doorway and a strange wiggly bowl corner. Next to this there’s a small and whippy DIY-style section with crazy tight quarters and banks, more for the skaters. Then there’s the huge pool I mentioned earlier and a jumpbox run with rollers and another massive pool coping quarter. It’s pretty intimidating, but if you’re into that kind of thing this place will have you smiling.

It’s easy to find and there’s plenty of parking at the entrance of Tredegar Park. The skatepark itself is just along the path parallel to the main road. It’s a pleasant spot, nice and leafy. Well worth a session if you like the gnarlier, pool-style side of things.