Photography by Kerr Melville, Lorn Geddes & Tim Smith.
Words and Team Management by Beth Walker.
Back in November 2023, I’d pitched this trip out to a few friends I hadn’t known long. I knew they’d be down. I was keen to have something to look forward to throughout the winter. I don’t know why I picked Manchester - I’d never been, and it seemed like an exciting city with loads to see.
Fast forward six months, Word had gotten out and the trip grew arms and legs. We had all become tight even prior to setting off. Our group chat had grown from eight to 22 people from all over Scotland. I was so hyped! I’d made such a good bunch of friends. They took all of the stress and hassle away from planning everything.
Beth Walker - boardslide, Lincoln Square. Photo: Kerr.
Ross Zajac kindly offered to drive a packed 16-seat minibus down, he’d also been working away in the background to have some special guests join us down there. Shoutout to everyone’s favourite scientist Lloyd McLeggon! He screamed “TM!” every time I stuck a trick. Over the four days we met with some of the Mashlife crew, Jake Powell, and Adam Kay. I woke up and Lorn had sent me a picture with Harry Lintell in the pub. Jess Russell joined us for two days. Heavy crew, immaculate vibes. This was my first skate trip I’d ever been on therefore it was fascinating for me to see everyone’s existing connections with skaters from all over. Ross is a good skate history teacher.
The spots ticked all the boxes. We located and managed to shoot and film something for everyone, which is something that I really wanted to achieve on this trip. We were drawn back to Gooseside DIY on the last day, where we skated ‘til dark. We’d also skated there the first night without even making time to drop off our bags. The hotel staff rolled their eyes when we all trailed in to check in at midnight, and again, when the same people kept losing their key cards. Everyone was just itching to skate the whole trip. Even when we stopped at service stations, a spot somehow appeared. There were sessions going on all through the night.
Dasha Valentina - frontside noseslide. Photo: Kerr.
Annoyingly, it will be remembered as a trip of injury roulette. Dasha’s poor face! Healing vibes to my friends whose bones were affected. The talented Daisy Buchanan nearly front boarded the dodgiest down rail within an hour of arrival, but the ankle said no. She’ll come back ripping harder though, she always does.
As we drove back in to Glasgow on the Saturday evening, we hear “so, same time next week then?” from the back of us the bus. Rachel Campbell kept us laughing the whole time. I suppose I better start planning another. The crew are all buzzing and left Manchester feeling really content. The trip couldn’t have been more perfectly timed at points, as the girls had their Board to Death episode air on one of the days there. The weather was blue sky. T-shirts.
Oskar Waren & Ross Zajac - double ride-on 5050s. Photo: Kerr.
I can’t get over the solid group of mates that came out of it. I am so glad everyone had a class time. They absolutely killed it, bringing their own style and trick selection to the table. Plus, we had Kerr and Lorn on the cameras! Kerr captures everything. Like I (physically) seriously haven’t seen him without some sort of camera on him. Lorn has made a real good video. I feel such a sense of belonging with these people now; what a way to start the year!
I really want to thank Kerr, Liv, Lorn, Dasha and Ross. They helped make this trip come to life. It was everything skate trips are all about.
Lloyd McLeggon - frontside tailslide, Gooseside. Photo: Lorn.
Kai Shannon - backside heelflip, Gooseside. Photo: Kerr.
"Now I can get a free nose job on the NHS" - Dasha Valentina
Jess Russell - feeble, Gooseside. Photo: Kerr.
Oskar Waren - crooked grind, Gooseside. Photo: Lorn.
Sam Evans - backside boneless, Gooseside. Photo: Kerr.
"Shout out the council officer that fined me £120 for dropping a cigarette butt. I'm no fae here!" - Sean MacDonald
Sean MacDonald - frontside rock n' roll, Gooseside. Photo: Kerr.
Kai Shannon - backside tailslide, Lincoln Square. Photo: Kerr.
Beth Walker - frontside 5050, Gooseside. Photo: Kerr.
"I found the skate scene in Manchester very welcoming. Everyone we met was friendly and killed it every session." Rachel Campbell
Ross Zajac - kicker to smith. Photo: Lorn.
Oskar Waren - kickflip, Gooseside. Photo: Kerr.
Beth Walker - rock fakie, BBC Banks. Photo: Lorn.
Sam Evans - newest deal, Gooseside. Photo: Kerr.
"This was my first proper trip out of Scotland... what a crew! So much stuff went down; I just kept seeing spots everywhere, amongst the crazy buildings. All the locals we met were super friendly". - Kerr Melville
Oskar Waren - crooked grind. Photo: Kerr.
Ross Zajac - crooked grind. Photo: Lorn.
Cameron Donaldson - service station nosemanny. Photo: Kerr.
Injury Roulette - full video, filmed and edited by Lorn Geddes.
"I can't wait for the sequel". - Kerr Melville
Ross Zajac bluntslides, followed by Lorn Geddes in close pursuit. Photo: Kerr.