Product Research: Magazine Double Page Spread

Magazine Name: Laced

Lead Article and Headline: Hot Spots

Double Page Spread Headline: Hot Spots: Manchester

With summer just around the corner the search for the best Hot Spots to shred and chill is on. With popular YouTubers filming and editing videos to a professional level helps promote such spots. Videos hold all the secrets behind the best locations that leave viewers eager for adventure! There are numerous iconic locations around the globe that appear in many videos which people are so familiar with even if they have never visited them themselves.

Manchester being one of the main must visit cities in the UK has some amazing spots ranging from some sweet indoor and outdoor parks to gnarly street spots with buttery ledges. With the sport being huge throughout Greater Manchester and with places like Liverpool and Leeds only a train journey away the popular spots are always choka during summer. With Skaters, Inliners, Scooters and even BMXers tearing up the parks and street spots it makes it near impossible for the public not to stop and gaze at the bangers being thrown down.

Urbis, Manchester

One of the busiest street spots in Manchester town centre is Urbis originally known as the Cathedral Gardens; it’s the perfect spot to get warmed up with its varied sized ledges and gaps it keeps everyone happy. Urbis is hugely popular mainly with skateboarders but you will find a few scooters and Bmxers also. Urbis is located right in the prime of all the chaos! It’s a 5 minute ride from the Arndale where you can shop and grab a bite to eat and right next to the Printworks, Victoria Train Station, The National Football Museum and Manchester Cathedral. Also with Urbis it is so chill! There are massive grassy areas where you can just drop your bags and chill in the sun, the surroundings are sweet! And the best factor is there is no security to move you along so you can stay as long as you wish, result!

Location: Cathedral Gardens, Corporation Street, Manchester, M4 3BG

Media City, Salford Quays, Manchester

Another crazy location is MediaCityUK located at Salford Quays. Only a quick Metrolink journey from Manchester town centre Media City stands on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal. With its numerous sick spots dotted about the land it again has something for everyone. However on some of the ledges there are a few skate stoppers, which suck! Depending on the spot you are you can get moved on by security, that’s one of the only main low blows to this location. However there are various different sized stair sets and ledges which you can shred and not get moved. Also with Salford Quays there are some super awesome chill spots if you maybe don’t want to ride and more just feeling like a chill with your mates in the sun. You can go swimming in one of the outdoor cut-off filtered part of the quays. From May till October it is open to the public to use whenever they please. It is great to just jump in and cool down after being in the sun all day!

Location: Salford Quays, Salford

Irlam Skatepark, Manchester

Irlam Skatepark is an outdoor park in a little town called Irlam, a quick train ride from Manchester town centre. With its well-designed flowy layout it makes the perfect park for riders that like transfers and going big! The park consists of 8 ramps, 5 hip different hip transfers, a rollin’, a spine and a massive back wall quarter. There is also a rail up, across and down the funbox type ramp and 2 waxy hubbers for the more techy riders out there. 3 of the ramps are actually clearing boxes as well but are quite big and scary! It is right in the centre of a massive park with a Tesco and Lidl store just around the corner. There is also a massive car park right next to the park as it is on the same land as the Leisure Centre. It is a 5 minute ride from the train station which has a direct line to Manchester Oxford Road Station and Deansgate. Irlam Skatepark was actually voted one of the best outdoor parks in the UK by Vans and Monster Energy BMX rider Harry Main who visits the park quite often! If you want to get a better taste of what the park is like there is plenty of videos on YouTube!

Location: Liverpool Road, Irlam, Manchester, M44 6BR

Beast Rampz, Manchester

If you’re beginner, intermediate, pro; a tech rider, flowy rider, love going big or just genuinely having a chill sesh with your mates, Beast Rampz is the park for you. It has something for everybody; mini ramps, street section, ledges, rails, stair sets, wall rides, spines, hip transfers, flat banks, boxes, verts, midi ramps and even a foam pit! The park is 27,500 square ft if you’re wondering how it must fit so much variety in and is hugely popular with all the different sports and rider styles. It’s about a 5 minute ride from Manchester Piccadilly train station and a 10 minute ride from Manchester City Centre. It first established 2 years ago and has made a really big name for itself. A massive factor that impacted the park was the foam pit. It’s the only foam pit in Manchester so people got really pumped for it. With its huge 12ft rollin’ type quarter it gives you the opportunity to gather tonnes of speed. The take-off quarter is decent with no coping so it doesn’t send you backwards and you have the full ability to launch right into the foam. They also have a big café that serves food and drinks, fully functioning clean toilets and many different seated spectator areas where parents can sit and watch. They also have a shop which stocks parts for BMX, Skateboards, Scooters and Inliners.

Location: Beast Rampz Skatepark, Unit 2 Matthews Street, Ardwick, M12 5BB