I was a skateboarding pioneer

I was 12 when I got into skateboarding: the same age as Sky Brown, the youngest member of Team GB’s skateboarding squad at the Tokyo Olympics. And unlike most old fogies, I’m pleased that boarding has finally been recognised as an Olympic sport. When I took it up, I was constantly being told that it was a passing fad and would soon go the way of the hula hoop, the space hopper and the pogo stick. But I confidently told the doubters it was here to stay and it turns out I was right.

I made my first skateboard by pulling apart some roller-skates and nailing the bits to a piece of wood. The first time I tried it out I fell off and cut my toe so badly I had to have stitches. But I saved up and got myself a proper board from Slick Willie’s, the only skateboarding shop in London at that time, and gradually got better.