Battersea Park - Easy Saturday Skate

Because I am teaching my friend Hon how to skate I was always looking for suitable places for him to progress. I stumbled upon a group called the Easy Saturday Skate. (ESS). This is primarily a beginners skate group where they meet every Saturday morning at 10:30, by the Pagoda. It seemed like a very early meet up time for a Saturday but I thought it was worth checking out all the same.


The people are very welcoming. Right at the beginning Simon introduced himself in front of a circle of about eighteen skaters. He explained the usual disclaimers about the fact you are 'skating at your own risk,' and to watch out for other park users. We then called out our names around the circle which is nice as it starts to break the ice.

As we went around the park at a leisurely pace I chatted to a number of people. Everyone was easy going and there was a very nice vibe about this small group of skaters of varied abilities. 

ESS incorporates two laps around the park. With the third optional lap being a slightly faster Sunday Stroll street skate pace. Or if you don't fancy the third lap a handful of people went straight for the cafe. The park at the time had a mixture of very smooth sections, slightly rough and areas with some pot holes. I think this was great for newbies as it had a variety of surfaces without the stress of cars. ESS is great for getting used to skating as a group which is a good stepping stone towards the London organised street skates.

When we had finished there was the same bubbly chatter and up beat positivity at the cafe as when we were skating. One thing I will always remember was that everyone was full of smiles at ESS that day. 


Besides waking early on the Saturday, the only grumble for me was that I didn't really feel like I skated, it was more of a social outing. Which in some ways was good for newbies as you stop thinking about skating and you just get on with it. On the other hand I had hardly raised my pulse rate, but there was nothing stopping you skating more around this gorgeous park once everyone had dispersed.