Source Park Intro Image
12 Feb 2016

Rebirth in The UK BMX Capital

The Full Story Of the Source Park

source Sourcepark Logo 2

By James Cox

Marc and Rich Moore, brothers and co-owners of SourceBMX have never been strangers to big plans and interesting projects, but their most recent brainchild, a huge underground skatepark in a disused Victorian ice rink situated underneath the promenade on Hastings seafront certainly takes the top spot on their extensive list of ambitious ideas.

Until now, despite Hastings (the birthplace  of the world famous Backyard Jams) being nationally recognized as somewhat of a hub of UK BMX, being home to three large distros and a generous handful renowned professional riders, this small coastal town with a disproportionally large BMX legacy has never had an indoor facility that’s able to be ridden by everyone since the Source small indoor bowl setup was dismantled and delivered to Martyn Tambling in Cornwall, where it was rebuilt into his indoor park, The Junkyard. 4Down and Seventies both had/have units for their team riders, private sessions, and events... but these were unable to be predominantly used as public spaces for anyone and everyone to ride. Marc and Rich decided that a public indoor skatepark in Hastings was long overdue, and approached Hastings Council in the middle of 2013 with the idea of converting the old Turkish baths under Hastings seafront into what would be the worlds largest underground skatepark (according to the BBC anyway) and the new location for their shop and offices. After nearly a year of meetings and planning, work began in September 2014

Source  Park  Uk  Bmx  Wr4

In the beginning...

The building itself was first opened in 1876 as a Turkish bath, which contained hot sea-water baths and smoking room. Since then the building had been used as an ice rink and a cinema - and even the home of a concrete bowl for a few months in the 70’s, until its closure in the mid 1990’s when the doors were sealed shut and this huge space lay forgotten about and unused, laying dormant right under the feet of the residents of Hastings and the thousands of visiting BMXers in town for the Backyard Jams.

Source  Park  Uk  Bmx  Wr13

Due to the age and condition of the space, this was never going to be as easy as knocking up a few ramps, installing a vending machine and opening up shop. There was no power, adequate ventilation or plumbing. The building was actually designed to flood, as a stream runs down from the cliffs above, fills to a certain level underneath the floor before being pumped out to sea.

The scene down there resembled the setting of a horror movie. Walking around was a treacherous affair – holes in the rotten floor exposed nothing but a long fall into the darkness underneath the building, which no doubt finishes with plummeting into the sea below. On one walkthrough, Marc actually fell through the floor in one of the corridors, fortunately extending his arms in time to save himself from disappearing off the face of the Earth altogether. There was evidence that since its closure, the would-be skatepark had also been a premier location for the injecting of heroin, historically one of the town’s favourite pass-times.

The place was filthy, sodden and dangerous…so really not all that different from most indoor skateparks.

Source  Park  Uk  Bmx  Img 8462

The 70's skatepark that lay hidden underneath the Hastings seafront for all those years...

Source  Park  Uk  Bmx  Img 6335

The original pool had been filled in and converted to a roller rink.

Source  Park  Uk  Bmx  Dsc 7742
Source  Park  Uk  Bmx  Dsc 7802

After almost a year of renovation by the council and ear bendings from health & safety officials, it was time to start populating the two skatepark areas with ramps. Rather than using conventional ramp building methods, the entire skatepark in the main room has been CNC cut off-site, then lowered through a hatch in the roof piece by piece. Aside from this being very beneficial to filling an underground space full of large pieces of wood, according to the CNC guys at 9C, this technique means that you can build pretty much any ramp you can dream up without the constraints that you might face using more traditional techniques.

stuart king backyard jam smtbog 1994 PD

Stuart King, Backyard Jam, Hastings '94. If you look closely you can see Dave Parrick starting to film for the Empire DVD. - Photo by Percy Dean

"...this huge space lay forgotten about and unused, laying dormant right under the feet of the residents of Hastings and the thousands of visiting BMXers in town for the Backyard Jams."

- James Cox

The actual setup of the park consists of the large park room on one side of the shop and a smaller street plaza on the other, connected to the main building via an outdoor courtyard that will apparently house some wooden trails-inspired jumps when warmer weather arrives. The plaza contains all the rails and ledges that you’d expect , plus a large kicked back curved wallride. There’s a foam pit sat at the back of the room which will no doubt be the home of gumshield wearing types that don’t see the point of grinding flat bars…but should help to bridge the culture gap between pseudo street riders and wannabe X Games gold medalists. Personally, my favourite thing about the foam pit is the run-up, which is a roll-in that sends you through a covered tunnel before shooting out of the other end. This ingenious tunnel system also ensures that the foam pit area doesn’t take up too much real estate in the modestly sized plaza room. 

Source  Park  Uk  Bmx  Dsc 7585
Source  Park  Uk  Bmx  Img 0947

Early stages of the main pool conversion.

The main ramp room is absolutely slammed full of ramps of every description. Two large bowls dominate one half of the room, with the other half containing some unique grinds and wallrides. Although at the time of writing this (less than 48 hours from opening day) the main room is still frantically being worked on, this room seems to have something for everyone. A café and arcade are situated above on a balcony that surrounds the entire park, providing a 360 degree view for parents, girlfriends and lazy filmers. I can personally recommend the Fast & Furious arcade game. I haven’t eaten lunch today because I spent all my money losing races instead. Marc also tells me that they have purchased a grabber game, the likes of which are usually found at seaside arcades. However, instead of going for stuffed animals and plastic jewelry, in this machine you will be fishing for BMX parts instead.

Source  Park  Uk  Bmx  Img 2090

The all new Plaza.

Sat right between the two ramp rooms is the freshly stocked all-new Source BMX & Skate Shop, which is larger than the old shop- rammed with product and now also offering hire bikes of various levels for use in the skateparks which I thought was a nice nice touch. It’s crazy to see the size of this operation when you remember that this shop had its humble beginnings in a tiny shop space in the nearby retirement town of Bexhill-On-Sea in 2003.

The Source Park and shop opens its doors to the public on Saturday the 13th February and from that point onwards, the park, shop and café will be open from ten am until ten pm every day of the week. As you might imagine, there is a crazy amount of demand to ride this place so pre-booking is advised. Visit sourcebmx.com for more info. 

Source  Park  Uk  Bmx  Img 1289

​The main ramp room is absolutely slammed full of ramps of every description. Two large bowls dominate one half of the room, with the other half containing some unique grinds and wallrides.

Source  Park  Uk  Bmx  Dsc 7727

BMX Built! S&M Bikes legend 'The Fids' keeping it tight.

Thanks to our Official DIG Partners: Source Bmx

Previous

Ten Things You Didn't Know About Nearly 4K

One of our favourite new videos this year!

Next

Dan Lacey: Who I Ride With

The Importance Of A Tight-Knit Crew On The Road

Related Content

4down1up team lacey grab
Play Button

4Down 1Up - On The Couch With #TeamLacey

Dan Lacey fills us in on things to come

13 Apr 2015
Opening

Find Out How You Can Get To Ride At The New Source Park

Opening Saturday 13th February 2016

8 Feb 2016
Dave clymer backyard jam flip 1994 PD 1

Re Print: 10 Things You Didn't Know About the Backyard Jams

"By '97 the events had just got out of control!"

14 May 2015
4down1up teammac grab
Play Button

4Down 1Up On The Couch With #TeamMac

It's motorcycle gears, right?

14 Apr 2015
4down1upALLl

4Down1Up - All the videos in one place

Who got your vote?

1 May 2015
Dont-Ask-Questions-Mixtape-2
Play Button

Don't Ask Questions - Mixtape 2

You've got questions? Don't Ask.

24 Mar 2015
team williams grab
Play Button

Nathan Williams and Alex Valentino On The Couch - 4Down 1Up

Last but not least, Team Williams...

16 Apr 2015
teammac
Play Button

4Down1Up - #TeamMac Full Section

Shawn McIntosh, Phil Martin and Miles Rogoish

28 Apr 2015
soundtrack graphic layers lacey

Dan Lacey Playlist

15 Lacey faves - From Dr Dre to Mumford & Sons

9 Aug 2015
etnies weartest mallick lacing up
Play Button

DIG presents... etnies wear test

etnies get creative with product testing in the UK

6 Oct 2014
Boyley-jam-2015
Play Button

Boyley Jam 2015 Video

The South Coast back at it for 2015

1 Sep 2015
Alex Valentino BMX INVASION THUMB
Play Button

Alex Valentino - French Invasion

A DIG Exclusive

17 Dec 2014
https://rixinbikes.com/

Latest Content

A2 Ml Bpr N Cchqdefault
Play Button

KING OF BNE / 'CASH UP'

Wild Down Under

24 Nov 2024
X NF6 Iv Wjnf4hqdefault
Play Button

JOHNNY RAEKES - Odyssey Bike Check

Peep some yet-to-be-released parts

21 Nov 2024
O MO H Um4wbshqdefault
Play Button

FRACTURE 'VISIONS OF LIGHT'

Felix Prangenberg, Kilian Reichmeyer, Linda Grabner & More

21 Nov 2024
W Jm5qjo 8 M Qhqdefault
Play Button

LOVENOTE - Cult x Capital mix

Alive in the streets

21 Nov 2024
X3 E Zq Dt Sq Zchqdefault
Play Button

Felipe Manerim - "A rotina que eu quero"

Doing it for Vans

21 Nov 2024
L ZE5 CL Rl Lc4hqdefault
Play Button
Xv Y Zs Omx S8hqdefault
Play Button

RAWER CREW X LISBON

DIG LOCALS

20 Nov 2024
Jfcpgo HP Zb0hqdefault
Play Button

Joey Cobbs - Kanode Knows

Low Numbers

20 Nov 2024
4n R3 KT Cb M Yghqdefault
Play Button

MATT CLOSSON - BOROUGH BREAKER RALLY

Episode 4

20 Nov 2024
Xtj B8 FPWYX4hqdefault
Play Button

CLICHE JAM - Presented by The Cut BMX

'IN THE CUT'

19 Nov 2024
H N Jdlzt Ica Ihqdefault
Play Button

Magnolia 2 - "Cataclysm" full video - 2024

Cajun shredding

18 Nov 2024
976 7s3 Gq K Ehqdefault
Play Button

Tim Wood 50th Birthday

50 YEARS STRONG!

18 Nov 2024

DIG Partner stores

More Features

KG drone shot

KEEPING IT LOCAL - 20 YEARS OF KELVINGROVE SKATEPARK

Happy Birthday to our local Glasgow park.

18 Sep 2024
Jamie Pipe Tribe

A Brave New World - The history of KHE Bikes, Part 2

Taiwan, a pornstar, and innovation in a can

18 Apr 2024
Dragon Higa gap to manual copy

PROJECT X

This is Project X - This is BMX

9 Apr 2024
WILL JACKSON SOUTHPORT OLDHAM SESSION SHOT BY KANO KANE 2

WILL JACKSON - THE 'MUSCLE MEMORY' INTERVIEW

"I got my first WTP frame at the back end of 2001. Half a lifetime ago."

21 Dec 2023
Simple session 2023 boyd hilder 9

Simple Session 2023 Photo Journal

23 years and counting...

27 Sep 2023
BOH RAIL JAM 2023 47

Battle of Hastings - Photo Journal 2023

From the beach to the basement of Source Park

12 Sep 2023
Trey Jones Pocket Air1 Aguilar 2023
20230804 DIG GLASGOW 0028

30 YEARS OF DIG EXHIBITION & BSD Jam - In Photos

Jammin' and premierin'

11 Aug 2023
20230421 OHIO 0218

Postcards from Ohio - Photo Journal

3 cities, hundreds of spots

9 Jul 2023
45 dig 93 by dolecki LYNN 250 POSH

Trails Closed - The End of Posh Woods

Why the legacy of Posh will absolutely endure

14 Jun 2023
2nd angle Zack Scott DIGBMX 4

The "Full Coverage" Interview

Never underestimate the camera guy!

8 Jun 2023
Robin in Split Croatia Photo Kieran Cooper 7

Robin Bourhis “From Engineering to Riding”

The story behind his WTP 2023 Video Part

26 May 2023