Park celebrates life and legacy of champion skater
A PROFESSIONAL skating champion was just 23 when he died in a freak accident after colliding with a lamppost while skating.
Richard Taylor, from Barry and a former pupil at Ysgol Glantaf in Cardiff, was the British inline skate champion when he died in 2004.
He has continued to inspire others to skate in the 16 years since thanks to a popular Barry skate park dedicated in his name.
In fact, it’s so popular that the park is coming to the end of its life and Richard’s brother, Rob Taylor, is on a mission to raise £250,000 to upgrade the facility.
Richard broke both his legs and fractured his skull when he ran into a concrete lamppost. He’d skated off a pavement after his knee seemingly gave way, Rob said. He died five days later in hospital in Cardiff.
“He was just skating down a local hill in Barry with a friend,” said Rob, who was in Australia at the time.
“My friend said his leg just gave way and that it happened so fast. It was one of those incidents that you wouldn’t think could happen. My friend was laughing at first, because the fall didn’t look that bad. But it was just the way he fell.”
His older brother was the best inline skater in the UK, if not the world, Rob said, and he’d taken on skiing too in the winter before he passed away. In just a few short months, he’d already become a champion skier.
“That’s what got me into skiing,” said Rob, who’s now a ski coach.
“I was always a snowboarder but after he passed, I decided to do things he enjoyed and turned his passions into my passion.
“It’s been a rollercoaster. I was so young and not really knowing what I wanted to do, but it got me into coaching.”
In 1996, Richard and his best mate Michael Rolf canvassed all the Knap residents to petition to get a skatepark. When it was built, it was the first outdoor skatepark of its kind in Wales, Rob said.
The Taylor family, desperate to continue Richard’s legacy after the tragedy in 2004, set up the Richard Taylor Memorial Fund to raise funds for an updated skatepark dedicated to his memory.
Their hard work and dedication paid off, raising £70,000 toward the project with a further £30,000 contributed by the Vale of Glamorgan council.
Now, their fundraising skills have been called back into action as the current park is showing signs of wear and tear.
Rob said: “We spent three years raising money for the skatepark that is there now. 14 years later and the park is coming to the end of its life. It is very close to being shut down due to excessive use - which is amazing.”
He’s hoping a combination of fundraising, council funding and lottery money will help create something “long-lasting and worthwhile” at The Knap.
Richard was, and still is, “massively important” to a generation of youngsters inspired by his life, Rob said.
“He was so outgoing, the most positive person I’ve ever known,” he said about his brother, who was a professional skater and stuntman.
“There was never a dull moment when we were growing up. He had a catch phrase, if something went wrong in life, something that might send even the most resilient person into a tail spin, he would break open his trademark smile and reassure those around him: ‘It’s all good’.”
Vale of Glamorgan Cllr Kathryn McCaffer said: “The memorial skatepark at the Knap is of great importance both as an outdoor sports facility for the Vale and as a memorial to Richard Taylor. The council is very proud to have been able to support its construction in 2007 and is now working with the Taylor family on plans for a new park.
“Our ambition is to be able to supplement the money raised by the family to fund the replacement of the existing skatepark with a new concrete park.”
Find out more about the Save the Rich Taylor memorial skatepark at https://www.gofundme.com/f/saverich-taylor-memorial-skatepark