Skateboarding in Wakefield - past, present and future?

Did you know that in the 1970s, a few doors up from the Theatre Royal on Westgate, the building once known as the Classic Cinema was also a skatepark visited by the Mayor of Wakefield? Or that during the 1990s, the city was home to one of two famous skateboarding facilities in the country, attracting world-renowned professionals and putting Wakefield into the pages of the national skateboard press? How about that the Old Vicarage on Zetland Street houses a skateboard shop called Division 24 — one of Wakefield’s longest standing independent businesses and supporters of local culture — which celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2025.

As young people continue to be underserved recreationally, skateboarding provides a physical and creative outlet that combines sport and arts and builds communities. Wakefield itself has a rich skateboarding culture which spans generations and attracts continues to attract visitors to the city from far and wide.

In a guest presentation, Wakefield-born writer Farran Golding will discuss the city’s history of skateboarding from the late-1970s to the present day accompanied by photographs which depict the changing landscape of Wakefield and the surrounding area over the decades. He will be joined by a lecturer from Leeds Beckett University, who has worked with the Henry Moore Institute on creating safer and welcoming public spaces through the lens of skateboarding, and a local skateboarder discussing Wakefield’s current skate culture and community.

Guest Speakers

Farran Golding

Farran Golding, 30, is a journalist and skateboarder from Wakefield who covers skateboarding and its overlaps with architecture, sports, fashion and culture for national and global magazines. Recently, he co-authored ‘Now and Then’, a publication documenting the history of skateboarding in the Wakefield area from the late 1970s to 2025.

Farran started skateboarding as a child and became interested in writing through reading skateboarding magazines as a teenager. After passing his A-Levels at Wakefield College he met Ben Powell (another Wakefield resident and then editor of Sidewalk Magazine, the country’s leading national skateboarding publication) who provided an entryway into journalism through a regular news column.

Over the past ten years, Farran has written about skateboarding for the likes of GQ magazine and worked with global sports brands on skateboarding projects, including Nike ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics. He has worked on skateboarding-based community projects in Leeds (supported by Leeds Council) and Nottingham (on a programme funded by the National Lottery Community Fund), and spent the past summer surveying skateboard parks and landmarks all around Yorkshire in a research project for Goldsmiths University and funded by Sport England. Outside of skateboarding, he is a tutor in journalism at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Dr Harry Meadley

Harry Meadley, 37, is a skateboarder, researcher and senior lecturer in fine art at Leeds Beckett University. As a socially-engaged artist, Harry works with galleries, universities, councils and local organisations on projects which include public participation, with the overall aim of uplifting the communities they involve.

He recently completed his PhD, ‘The Art of Skating Institutions’, which included working with Leeds’ Henry Moore Institute, and other cultural landmarks in the city, bridging relationships between local institutions and skateboarders to create safer, inclusive and accessible public areas.

Kelly Devonport

Kelly Devonport, 29, is a skateboarder from Wakefield. As part of Wakefield’s — and the wider world’s — growing women’s skate scene, Kelly will be discussing the local culture and community of skateboarding in Wakefield from a contemporary point of view.

The event:

The event will take place in the Kingswood Suite on the first floor at Wakefield Town Hall, Wood Street, Wakefield, WF1 2HQ, starting promptly at 7.30pm. (Doors open at 7pm and there is a lift.)

The event is free to attend and is open to anyone else interested in the subject matter. Note that you do not need to be a member of the society to attend.

The event will end at approximately 9pm.

A live-stream option will also be available for anyone unable to attend in person. When selecting your tickets, please make sure you select either an 'in person' ticket if you wish to come to the Town Hall, or a 'live stream' ticket if you wish to watch on-line via Zoom. A link to the talk will be emailed to you on the day of the event.

Header photo: Credit Callum Christie.

Photography at this event

Please be aware that we take photographs at our events to help to promote the work of the Society. These photographs might be used in presentations, written reports, on our website and social media channels and in press releases.

If you do not wish to be photographed, please speak to one of the organisers at the event.

Also check out other Arts events in Wakefield, Sports events in Wakefield, Theatre events in Wakefield.