062: Alan Rushbrooke/Notts Landing

Alan at Livingstone, embellished by some classic Wig lighting.

‘Please get more skateboarders onto the show’ is definitely one of the most common bits of feedback I get here at Looking Sideways Towers. Which is why it was such a pleasure to welcome Nottingham’s finest, Mr Alan Rushbrooke, onto the show for episode 062.

A pristine Sidewalk cover, circa 1997. Photo: Wig

Alan, who I’ve been friends with for a while now, is one of the key figures of 90s with a career that perfectly mirrors the path of UK skateboarding during that critical time. He honed his talent as part of the Notts scene, rising to prominence as the wider UK skate community stepped out of the shadow of the Cali-centric US skate industry and proudly embraced its own unique identity.

The type of backside air earned from a lifetime of skating at Broadmarsh Banks. Photo: Wig

He was there during the heyday of Radlands, was a fixture in RAD and Sidewalks for years, was part of the seminal Unabomber team, and put something back into the scene by running ran Cide skate shop in Waterloo.

Perspective-altering ollie, somewhere in London. Photo: Wig

Naturally, our conversation covered all this and more. As is always the case whenever I see Al, we also ended up geeking out on music and taking a proper old trip down memory lane as Al dished up his unique perspective at a critical time for the UK skate scene.

If you enjoyed my conversations with Don Brown and Peter Hellicar, you’re going to love this one with one of the scene’s stalwarts and a proper flag waver for UK skate culture.

Big up to Al for coming on the show, and for Wig for letting me use these classic pics. Enjoy!