Words and photos by Dunk
I think it’s fair to say that most riders dream of having their own indoor spot – something where you can shelter from the dark winter nights and ride without developing hypothermia. Well Martyn Tambling and his long suffering trouble and strife Steph have gone and done just that. It’s been a long time coming but the stars aligned and now their dream is happening and in full flow.

They have created a place for the local community to come and use all year round, where people can enjoy riding and generally just have a good time. These two have put in so much time and effort along with friends and family and local business and well-wishers all lending a hand. It’s a real community project and one which they still need your help with.

The kickstarter page has been set up to help raise funds to complete the Junkyard to its highest standard and knowing these two every penny will be put to good use.

We caught up with Martyn to ask him a few questions about the place so read on, get inspired, follow the link and put your hand in your pocket!

It’s probably the same story for every rider really, but ever since I was fifteen or sixteen I always wanted my own skatepark. I’ve always loved building ramps regardless and it just seemed like now was the right time to get it going.

It’s called The Junkyard and it’s in Saltash, Cornwall.

My wife Steph and I have been talking about the idea for a while now but units are so hard to come by in and around Saltash. I’d actually been looking for about three to four years for the right spot but nothing was suitable up until now. Something eventually came up close to home, and at the same time the guys at The Source were removing their ramp and very kindly donated it to us, so everything happened really quickly. Steph and I had already done our business plan and prep work, in fact we had that done a long time ago just in case, so yeah now the ball is rolling pretty fast!

Due to the size of the unit we can’t cater for everyones taste unfortunately. We don’t have the room to put in a bowl, a skate plaza and box. It was either put a load of small ramps in there or one decent bowl so that’s what we went with. Every bit of available space is used in there with a transition in every corner and up every wall

Due to everything happening so quickly we just need a good injection of funding to make the most of the place when we open. We’ve had to do lots of work to make the unit in to a skatepark; knocking walls through, installing toilets and additional access, fixing the roof and fitting out a chill out area for parents – all of which comes at a price. Funding is hard to secure when you don’t have a building, so this is to just help a bit in the sort term. It’s so important to us to make a really good first impression  – to show that everyones support has been put to good use as well as making people want to come back of course.

There’s no way we could be doing this without the heroic effort of our local community and the support we’ve been receiving is overwhelming. For instance the other day a local business man donated £400 out of the blue! As well as financial donations we’ve had donations of building materials, skilled workers fixing, fitting and welding and many other pledges from well wishers, not to mention the bowl itself thank to The Source. All of our friends in the local scene have been unreal too, working so hard to physically put the place together and without them there would be no bowl.

We will be opening early to mid November. All of the information is there on the flyer so please come down to the opening. In the mean time please help us by making a donation on our Kickstarter and keep up to date by liking The Junkyard Facebook page.

Cheers!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1030256333/help-to-finish-junkyard-skatepark?ref=nav_search

Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/skateparkjunkyard?fref=ts

Website: http://www.junkyardskatepark.com/