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The Buszy

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Coordinates: 52°02′03″N 0°46′13″W / 52.034242°N 0.770345°W / 52.034242; -0.770345
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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Smoothswim (talk | contribs) at 00:39, 4 October 2019 (Undid revision 919465610 by AnUnnamedUser (talk) Undoing vandalistic edits to the article by AnUnnamedUser). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"The Buszy", built in 2005, is a skatepark plaza in Milton Keynes, England. The skate area is covered almost entirely by the roof of the Old Milton Keynes Central Bus Station.[1][2]

Pronounced "Buzzy" (/ˈbʌzi/) by the locals, the Old Milton Keynes Central Bus Station, along with the plaza which sits underneath its roof are grade two listed.[3]

History

The early years

The Buszy has always been an important meeting place and focal point of the skateboard scene in Milton Keynes.[4][5] Even before it became a designated area to skateboard.[6]

Long before the area was designated a skateboard plaza, Chris Ince and his family owned and ran the One Stop Café inside the Bus Station and would sell skateboard products to the local skaters who would come from far and wide to skate the well-known marble ledges and open flat ground areas around the station.[7] The first skateboard competition was held at the Buszy in 1992. Between four or five hundred people attended. The Ince family, Chris, Jennifer, Steven and Damian built Radlands indoor skatepark that same year.[8]

The SK8MK Project

In 2002, the SK8MK project started with the aim of tackling tensions surrounding skateboarding and the need for an area in the city that was dedicated to skating. Proposals from the skate community led to the Central Bus Station being earmarked. No longer used, it had long since been a popular spot for skaters thanks to the concrete infrastructure and open spaces. It was agreed that 'The Buszy' - as it became known - needed to reflect the popular skate spots of the city. Local skateboarder Rob Selley and designer Richard Ferrington led the project, and when finished in 2005, The Buszy became the first purpose-built skateboard plaza in the world.

— mkskate.org (Ryan Gray, Jen Kavanagh, Caterina Loriggio and Ben Powell)[9]

Local skateboarder and cinematographer Lindsay Knight was instrumental in helping the local council understand the needs of the local skateboarders, as he made a video to help the Chamber of Commerce understand what street Skateboarding is. This action proved vitally important due to the fact that the local Police had positioned themselves as wanting to criminalise skateboarding in Milton Keynes.[10]

The Elder Gate Crew

The Buszy is historically the home of the Elder Gate Crew (EGC), a group of locals who skated at the spot together regularly and with the stewardship and cinematography skills of member Carter Hewlett, released two skate videos. "The Elder Gate Crew Video" and "Get to know" documenting skateboarding at the Buszy during the late 2000s.[11][12][13][14]

The name the "Elder Gate Crew" came about because the road the Bus Station sits along is named Elder Gate.[15]

Address

The full UK postal address of the Buszy is: 401 Elder Gate, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. MK9 1LR.

Park Layout

The layout of the Buszy

Obstacles

The Buszy has the following obstacles inside of the designated skate area:

  • A large marble and granite T-block
  • A low curved block
  • A 5 stair stairway
  • A large metal edged manual pad
  • A long flat medium height marble block
  • A short to medium in length, medium height marble block
  • A short very high to low manual pad
  • A small stair set
  • A fairly long metal edged, downwards sloping, successive chain of smoothly connected blocks also known as a "roller coaster"
  • A medium height, very long marble hubba style ledge down 5 stairs
  • A flat low, medium length metal bar
  • A medium height, very long metal edged hubba style ledge down 5 stairs

Because the area is a street skateboarding plaza, the majority of the flooring is covered using the same large square floor tiles found in the rest of Central Milton Keynes. This is instead of a power flowed concrete constructed floor found in traditional skateparks. Skateboarders new to the spot will notice the melodic rumble of the tiles as their wheels roll over them.

Competitions and demos

Since 1992 there have been many small events held at the Buszy by Skateboarders in collaboration with local Businesses and Charities. With both National and International Professionals in attendance.

Notable events

There have been many jams, demos and competitions at the Buszy. The plaza has held demos and received visits from renowned Professional Skateboarding teams such as Girl Skateboards, Flip, Zoo York, DC, Element, Blueprint and Matix Clothing.[16][17][18]

Battle of The Buszy

On the 2nd of June 2007, Plan B Skateboards sent a team of Skateboarders to the Buszy to take part in a special one off event called "The Battle of The Buszy". The group included Professional Skateboarder Paul Rodriguez.[19][20][21][22]

The Buszy Jam

The Buszy Jam was a yearly street skateboarding competition event which incorporated graffiti and music. The event was held at the Buszy once a year, from the time when the plaza first opened until 2015. Organised and sponsored by Rob Selley(Motive Skateboards), Liam Snusher(Snoosh Productions), Andy King(Arkology) MaD and others; the competition was held during the British summertime. The jam was attended by thousands of Skateboarders during the time period and is an important part of Milton Keyne's history.[23]

MK ame of S.K.A.T.E

The official MK Game of S.K.A.T.E is a local annual grass roots competition event open to anyone with a skateboard.[24][25] The event is currently arranged by word of mouth and by communications by locals using instagram.

Go Skateboarding Day

Each year on the 21st of June, there is a regular meetup of locals at the Buszy on Go Skateboarding Day. The event is loosely organised and there is occasionally a competition which may include a game of S.K.A.T.E.

Easy access to the Buszy by train makes Go Skateboarding Day popular for Skateboarders from around the rest of the UK to travel to the plaza and skate.

Hip Hop

The plaza contains a large collection of vivid and creative art works as the result of many highly respected national and local graffiti artists working at the Buszy painting the large "free" legal wall which is situated at the near side of the designated skate area. All of the four basic elements of Hip Hop: (Breakdancing, Graffiti, MC-ing and Dj-ing) have local history rooted to the spot. For example; Members of Hacktivist would come to the skate jams to perform before the group was formed and they gained worldwide notoriety[26] and dance crew Nemisis would regularly be seen practising together in front of the reflective windows of the Bus Station.[27][28]

Charity

Make a Difference (MaD)

In 2005, the CIC Make a Difference (abbreviated to MaD), was given control of the Buszy to enable them to turn the disused building into a multi-service youth hub.[29]

With a £500,000 investment from the SITA Trust and V, the national youth volunteering service,[30] MaD spent the following 10 years redeveloping the former bus station and delivered much needed community youth services to the area. During their time as custodians of the Buszy, MaD achieved the following and much more:[31][32]

  • Created 43 jobs all at the living wage or above, with 57% of their employees under 25 years of age.
  • Provided the only Ofsted registered holiday child care in Central Milton Keynes.
  • Served 400 free hot meals to people at risk of food poverty in partnership with MK Food Bank.
  • Provided positive activities for children and young people with disabilities (over 2876 attendances).
  • Provided young people with positive activities and a free local safe space, six days a week, year in, year out with 4139 attendances.
  • Created volunteering opportunities for 254 young people, which included accredited training.
  • Delivered training and qualifications to 35 young people excluded from school.
  • Supported all sections of local community groups by providing low cost meeting and activity spaces for them.
  • Worked with Citizens MK and supported Q:Alliance (LGBT & Transgender youth groups) when their meeting place (the point) was closed to them.
  • Supported Young Carers MK by providing space and resources for their fortnightly events.
  • Supported Connexions (Youth careers advice service) by providing free space for advice drop-ins.
  • During MaD's tenure, crime and anti-social behaviour in the area fell as much as 94%.

MaD were also instrumental in the majority of the skate jams and competitions which occurred between 2005 and 2015. Events were routinely overseen by Liam Snusher who worked relentlessly for the charity.[33]

On 19th January 2016, MaD's Buszy twitter account announced the closure of the youth hub.[34] The building owners, Milton Keynes Development Partnership, (an agency of Milton Keynes Council) decided not to permit MaD further use of the building. A satisfactory full public explanation has never been provided by Milton Keynes Council, who instead chose to hide behind the technicality that MKDP[35] are an agency not under their direct control.[36] The widely understood belief is that MKDP took over the carpark which the charity was operating at a profit to fund it's operations. In doing so, they knowingly crippled a consistent revenue stream of which the organisation relied upon. This in turn forced MaD into debt and their efforts became unsustainable.[37]

The Winter Night Shelter

Since MaD moved out of the building, The Winter Night Shelter have used the Buszy to provide shelter and assistance to the homeless population of Milton Keynes. The population of which has grown significantly since sweeping local and national government cutbacks came into force. With many homeless people sleeping in tents setup in underpasses all around Milton Keynes and especially the area between the Shopping Centre and the Train Station.[38][39]

Trivia

DC Shoes named a limited edition shoe they manufactured after the Buszy.[40]

Rapper J.Hurley of the group Hacktivist shot one of his early solo career music videos at the Buszy.[41]

The Buszy is located directly opposite Milton Keynes Central Station.

Skating from the station's exit to the plaza takes approximately 3 minutes. For directions; head straight out of the Station and straight across the zebra crossings. Continue straight ahead and down, using the right hand underpass. Next, take the first right and continue forward straight up the sloping foot path. Follow either the left or the right hand side path of the building and the plaza is situated at the very far end.

References

  1. ^ "Google image search results for "MK buszy"". Google(alphabet). Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Buszy Plaza Skatepark (Milton Keynes)". skateparks.co.uk. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  3. ^ Duncan, Jessica (4 August 2014). "The former Milton Keynes bus station has been recognised by English Heritage". MKWeb.
  4. ^ "Interview with Wig Worland". livingarchive.org.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Interview with Nathan Lindsell". livingarchive.org.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  6. ^ "Interview with Leo Sharp". livingarchive.org.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  7. ^ "Interview with Steven Ince and Damian Ince". livingarchive.org.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  8. ^ "Interview with Chris Ince and Jennifer Ince". livingarchive.org.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  9. ^ "MK Skate History". mkskate.org. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  10. ^ "Interview with Lindsay Knight". livingarchive.org.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  11. ^ "Interview with Josh Lock". livingarchive.org.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  12. ^ "Interview with Carter Hewlett". livingarchive.org.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  13. ^ "EGC video - Cart's Youtube channel". Carter Hewlett via youtube(alphabet). Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  14. ^ "Interview with John Aldridge". livingarchive.org.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  15. ^ "Map to the Buszy". Google(alphabet). Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  16. ^ "MK Skate History". mkskate.org. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  17. ^ "Interview with Dean John Edwards". livingarchive.org.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  18. ^ "The MK Buszy Jam". Caught in the Crossfire. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  19. ^ "MK Skate History". mkskate.org. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  20. ^ "Battle of the Buszy 2007". Andy King (Arkology) via youtube(alphabet). Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  21. ^ "Plan B Battle of the Buszy". caughtinthecrossfire.com. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  22. ^ "Battle Of The Buszy flyer". duckduckgo.com. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  23. ^ "MK BUSZY JAM 2009". Andy King (Arkology) via youtube(alphabet). Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  24. ^ "The Official MK GAME OF SKATE Youtube Playlist". Andy King (Arkology) via youtube(alphabet). Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  25. ^ "MK GAME OF SKATE 2010 INTRO". Andy King (Arkology) via youtube(alphabet). Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  26. ^ "MK BUSZY JAM 2009". Andy King (Arkology) via youtube(alphabet). Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  27. ^ "Britain's Got Talent Nemesis Crew Street Dance Group". kiti997 via youtube(alphabet). Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  28. ^ "Nemisis have talent". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  29. ^ "Case study - Make a Difference (MaD)". gov.uk. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  30. ^ "Jo Whiley launches The Buszy in Milton Keynes". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  31. ^ "Latest update from @MaDteamMK #savethebuszy". twitter.com. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  32. ^ "MaD (Make A Difference) CIC localgiving.org page". localgiving.org. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  33. ^ "The Milton Keynes "Buszy Jam" 2011 – October 29th". sidewalkmag.com. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  34. ^ "Tweet: Sad to say the Buszy is officially no more". twitter.com. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  35. ^ "Milton Keynes Development Partnership website about page". mkdp.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  36. ^ "Make a Difference/The Buszy". milton-keynes.gov.uk. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  37. ^ "Save the MK Buszy!". sidewalkmag.com. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  38. ^ "The Winter Night Shelter". winternightsheltermk. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  39. ^ "Buszy building opposite CMK rail station to become homeless shelter". miltonkeynes.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  40. ^ "Did you know DC designed a trainer and named it The Buszy?". Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  41. ^ "J.HURLEY -DIFFERENT music video (HIZZALRECORDS VERSION)". J.HURLEY via youtube(alphabet). Retrieved 2019-10-03.

52°02′03″N 0°46′13″W / 52.034242°N 0.770345°W / 52.034242; -0.770345


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