Introduction by Tom Lock
Inbreed filmed and edited by Greg King
Let’s start this off with a short history quiz: Which of these facts from 1997 are true?
• Princess Diana mysteriously died in a car crash.
• Hong Kong was handed over from the United Kingdom to the People’s Republic
of China.
• Geneticists reported Norfolk to have the highest rate of inbreeding in the U.K.
If you’ve read this far, you’re probably thinking I’m a right rummen (a Norfolk term for
funny and odd country folk). Being the Norfolk boy I am at heart, I wouldn’t blame you
for having that opinion. On the whole, I like to think most Norfolk folk don’t take
themselves too seriously (at least the ones worth knowing, anyway). I am quite
accustomed to making jokes about myself being inbred—perhaps because of the long
history of farming in East Anglia, or the slow, relaxing dialect of Norfolkites, which can
give the appearance of being a bit duzzy. Whatever the reason, there’s actually no
escaping the fact that we all have inbred genes within our DNA.
You might be thinking, What has all of this got to do with skateboarding in 2024? In
1997, Greg King started filming a Norfolk scene video with his friends that became aptly
titled Inbreed. My introductory ramble is an attempt to give some sort of context to a
video that everyone in the East Anglian skate scene would never forget.
After many years of being badgered by friends, Greg decided to re-release Inbreed with
a screening event at Drugstore in Norwich. Sam Avery (owner of Drugstore) and Tim
Wilds (formerly known as Little Tim) helped to organise the screening. (For those of you
who don’t know, Drugstore is based in a medieval church, which also hosts a skatepark,
providing much-needed refuge for the winter months in Norwich). The night brought
together skaters from all over East Anglia, some of whom hadn’t seen each other in
over 20 years. In addition, Jonathan Jones put together Inbreed 2.4, a celebratory
homies edit featuring many of the original Inbreeds skating in recent years. The
gathering helped raise money for the upkeep of Drugstore and sparked many a happy,
reminiscent smile. It was also a chance to remember some of the skaters from the
Norfolk scene who are no longer with us.
Over the last few years, Danny Jackson has been producing Norwich-based scene
videos that capture a similar sentiment to what came across in Inbreed. These films
show that Norfolk breeds (no pun intended) a creative approach to skateboarding. With
the likes of Jasper Pegg and many of his friends, Danny’s films demonstrate how it’s
possible to make the most of what’s around you. The edits capture how old and hard
the city is to skate—that you have to dig deep to find spots, and you have to take the
rough with the smooth.
In the same way that Danny has been connecting skaters in the recent Norwich scene,
Greg brought Norfolk skaters together in the late ’90s. He had a way of nurturing and
pushing us while giving many of us our first opportunity to have something to aim for.
Notably, Chewy Cannon had his first full section in Inbreed and blew everyone’s minds.
The whole scene was speechless as he transformed from a cheeky-faced lad into an
East Coast powerhouse. Greg travelled to the States with Simon Holbrook and filmed
him in the iconic schoolyards of L.A. At that time, no one expected to see backside
nosegrinds across plastic picnic benches in a Norfolk scene video. Even the edit of
Inbreed was ahead of the curve. Neil Crowe’s entire section was shot in slow motion,
which suitably enhanced the casual precision of his tricks and created a perfect segue
out of the rapid-paced slam section.
Inbreed was filmed at a time when a new generation of skaters in Norfolk were coming
into their own. The Gremlins section, in particular, captures this exciting energy, with
cameos from the younger skaters who would go on to keep the scene thriving into the
early noughties.
A significant event that influenced many of us to push ourselves more than we thought
possible was brought about by a local policeman named Roger Smalley. He set up
ramps for his sons and all his friends to use in the gym of a suburban high school every
Saturday. Skaters would travel from all over East Anglia to skate the smoothest wooden
surface you could ever imagine. All of a sudden, the young skate rats of Norfolk had
real-life heroes to look up to. We got to skate with people like James Fuller, Steve
Clarke, Frank Stephens, Mat Fowler, and Nik Taylor, to name a few. The energy and
direction these older skaters brought to the scene is something money could never buy.
Nik Taylor deservedly has the last section in Inbreed. Nik had a big influence on many
of us, and you’ll see from his section that he clearly left his mark through his skating in
Norfolk.
Stepping back into 1998 (when Inbreed was originally released) has brought up a lot of
reflections about what was going on for many of us at that time. Growing up in Norfolk,
some of us were struck by the fear that there might not be many options or paths to
follow in life. The county is off the beaten track—the arse of England, as some may call
it. (This is a rather unfair summation, because jokes aside, many Norfolk skate folk have
carved out great lives for themselves there). But as young people finding our feet, the
fear of what the future might hold, combined with the usual teenage angst, felt like a real threat for a lot of us.
For me and many others, Inbreed symbolises a pivotal moment in our lives. It reminds
us of how lucky we were to have skateboarding and our friends at the time we did. Grab
a cup of tea and sit back to enjoy this look into a scene that you probably didn’t know
about.
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