This is their story so far: its origins, evolution, triumphs, challenges, current shape, and where it appears to be headed.

Origins & Early History

Roller Disco night at Bagley’s: Roller Nation’s roots can be traced back through the revival of roller discos in London in the early 2000s. One of London's most impactful landmarks was “Roller Disco night” at Bagley’s [a large repurposed warehouse style nightclub based within the old film studios in King's Cross, North London], organised by Tony Askew [a skater from Dulwich, South London].

I remember Roller Disco Night at Bagley's all too well. I lived just down the road at the time and enjoyed a few skate nights there with my older sister [who was a pretty skilled skater] and friends. I was in my early twenties back when Bagley's opened its doors to the skate community. It was such an Aladdin's cave. You could explore the various rooms using the ramps that connected each one. It was an interesting venue - spacious enough with loads of character. So many had temporarily returned to the skating scene for this series of skating events - mingling with the seasoned skaters and having the most fun.

Renaissance Rooms, Vauxhall: From Bagley’s, Roller Disco nights moved venues, among them the Renaissance Rooms located accross the water in Vauxhall, South London. It was these pre Roller Nation skate nights that gave rise to a longstanding community of skaters that still frequent its doors today. I visited the Renaissance Rooms twice. It was a small but super cool venue that had two small rinks linked to one another [kind of smaller to how it was at Bagleys]. I went on a girls' night out there, then later returned to celebrate my birthday [fully clad in 80's skate gear and afro wig!].

It was fun to explore my lil repertoire of roller skating skills again after so many years. Later on in the evening, more of the seasoned skaters would show up and show off their rhythm skating skills- it was a whole vibe.

Becoming “Roller Nation”

In 2015, the Vauxhall location [Renaissance Rooms] was unfortunately closed due to redevelopment plans [including the new American embassy etc.]. This forced Roller Disco nights to take on a more nomadic presence.

2015-2018 became a period of being without a fixed address. This saw the establishment move through a series of short leases, and temporary sites, as they tried to find the right place to throw down their anchor.

January 2019 was to become a major milestone. Roller Nation opened its current purpose built [or purpose-renovated] venue in Tottenham, East London, on Bruce Grove [Old Bruce Grove Cinema ground floor]. After a 10 month strip out and rebuild, the space finally opened its doors to the public in January 2019.

The Venue: Size, Layout, Atmosphere

The Tottenham site was explicitly designed with roller disco in mind: the rink being its central feature, surrounded by American style booths, comfortable soft seating, a bar, diner, with a compact garden/outdoor seating where you can go to cool off.

The internal space is about 10,000 sq ft. and accommodates up to around 450 people on any given event night. As you can imagine, it can get pretty busy in there over the weekends with groups of friends, hen and stag parties. It' is possible to avoid the busiest times if you arrive early and avoid daytime skates during the weekends [where you'll see groups of children enjoying birthday parties and get togethers]. Monday nights [bring your own skates] are where you'll find more experienced/seasoned skaters doing their thing to good effect.

It's also a space where you can skate a little bit, and then just hang out, eat or just spectate from one of the booths with something nice to drink.

Ownership, Target Audience & Reputation

The people behind the scenes at Roller Nation have grown from those who ran the earlier Roller Disco nights [Bagley’s, the Vauxhall/Renaissance Rooms era]. The exact names are less cited but Tony Askew [the original founder/owner] is still a part of its driving force. The management team still seems to be tuned into the community, striving to support London's skate culture and core skating community. They regularly include skate community members to host skating lessons and other events, like some of the key events that make up Roll On London's annual skate festival, hosting roller skating workshops by skaters from London, wider Europe and the USA.

Among London’s roller skating community, outside of the growing number of pop up skate nights hosted by various members of our skate community, Roller Nation is still regarded as London's go to purpose built skate spot. 

“London’s only dedicated roller disco rink.”

~Time Out Worldwide

Trials, Tribulations & Survival

Aside from their nomadic era before their current location in Bruce Grove, the pandemic created yet another source of difficulty. The national lockdown hit nightlife and gathering spaces very hard. Somehow, Roller Nation were able to weather the storm and hold their ground. Surviving this level of disruption must require a huge level of financial resilience, community support, creativity and leadership.

Competition from new skating venues: Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace, which opened in White City, West London in late 2022 was a very high profile, expensive venue with a large footprint, led by Liberty Ross [daughter of the founder of Flipper’s in LA], Usher Raymond, and backed by major investment. It was flashy, with a premium design and marketing campaign to match. Although they presented fierce competition to Roller Nation, however, they closed their doors earlier this year. The competition did catalyse some fresh and creative inonnorvative ideas from roller nation, like fresh themes, competitions and collaborations - this was received as a postive response on their part and has generated more creativity from them since. There are whispers of Flippers making a comeback to the London Skate scene, but nobody can really say this is true for sure!

Significant Recent Development: The Jam Skate Competition “Battle Jam”

One of Roller Nation’s evolution most exciting initatives was in August 2023, where the venue ran Battle Jam, a three-week jam skating competition which was the first of its kind here in London. It was on every skaters lips, and what a vibe it turned out to be. Anybody who was anybody in the skate scene showed up to either take part, judge, play a music set or actively support from the sidelines! It was a big moment for our scene and huge numbers of supporters showed up. It was 3 rounds of ecstatic skating fun, entertainment and drama [of the best kind]! And the grand prize - £1,000! All styles of rhythm skating were welcomed.

This event really showcased the community's desire for more than just social skating & disco nights—we relished the high quality performances. It really did showcase the creativity and edginess of the urban skate scene.

Roller Nation’s key achievement isn’t just being open, but surviving and adapting: It has continued serving both party crowds and seasoned skaters alike. Even in the presence of flashy competitors like Flippers, Roller Nation seemed to be able to retain its loyalty among longstanding skaters. This undoubtedly helped to see them through. 

 
Skate photographer Roland Ramanan says:

“The streets, car parks and skating rinks are impromptu stages where people can express their sense of freedom and unity. They push and support one another to develop remarkable skills with a unique UK style … have developed a strong sense of camaraderie and inclusion.”

City rollers: London’s flourishing skating scene – in pictures.”
~The Guardian, July 2024

Roller Nation Today

On big Saturday and Friday nights: Its quite full, lively, with lots of people out to party develop their skating skills in big and small ways. The music varys fepending on the night thst you go with anything from 80's classics, to pop, soul, house, R&B, Afrobeats and Soca. 

On some weekdays or less busy nights: there's a bit more room to skate, drill your skate moves or routines - its pretty much a community vibe under a roof. You can choose to skate around the rink, get busy working your jam skating skills in the middle, or take your spotwork practice to a slightly more discreet spot on the periphery by one of the booths.

It takes its users straight back to their youth:  its pretty much party vibes - dance and of course, the love of skating [particuarly on a good surface]. It supports not just nostalgia but growth. People who have never skated before or not skated for decades can get fully involved alongside those that are fully immersed within skate life - just like I did at the Rensaissance Rooms over a decade ago! Anyone can go along and develop their skill set in a most enjoyable way. They have stewards dotted around the fink to help and advise you. Its a pretty nice way to start your roller skating journey [if you havent done so already]. Its also a bit of a god send outside of the warmer months of the year. They make it possible for you to skate all year round!

Final Thoughts

Roller Nation is more than just a roller skating venue. It's for sure, en-route to becoming a cultural institution in London’s urban skating scene. It’s not flawless, but its strengths lie in its authenticity, community, and ability to adapt.

It's established for itself a solid core base of people who skate their regularly, love the culture, want to jam undercover from the elements, learn amoung other community members and catch a gaurenteed vibe. It’s one of the few places in London that has preserved the roller disco spirit in a more permanent, stable way. 

It has shown great resilience over the years, we can only hope that they're able to continue to thrive and support our growing community in creative ways - that's more themed nights, collaborations with talented DJs, maybe even live performances to strengthen the connection to jam skating's urban musical roots.

Roller Nation remains pretty connected and responsive to the cultural essence of our skating community. This ultimately will be continue to be their trump card.