Tucked behind an industrial estate on the edge of Cardiff, Spit & Sawdust is more than a skatepark – it’s a sanctuary where subculture, creativity, and community grind together.
Equal parts indoor skate space, art gallery, café and studio hub, it offers a raw but welcoming environment. The boundaries between artist and skater, regular and newcomer, are as fluid as the lines drawn across the ramps.
This is a vignette for the very idea of what a third space is: living, breathing tableau where everyday routines blur into moments of connection.
Much more than a skatepark
Inside Spit & Sawdust, your senses are lovingly assaulted with a hum of conversation, laughter, and carefully chosen music. This is the soundtrack of the melting pot meeting place; some are ready for the ramps, others primed for the art, but all, undoubtedly, for the feeling that this is a place where anyone can belong.
The space is alive with possibility. Sometimes it’s a market, sometimes a gig, sometimes the walls become a gallery. “Events, exhibitions, bands, food-based events, markets, comps – all enrich the space and create a different vibe. Everyone who uses the space fully backs everything we host as it’s crucial to keep things interesting and do everything a little special,” Christian Hart, co-founder of Spit & Sawdust explains.
From the off, the space was developed with no set definition. It didn’t want to be an art space, café or skatepark. This in particular has helped Spit & Sawdust grow in popularity and attract new faces over the last 11 years.
There’s no hierarchy here – every exhibition is co-curated, every event a collaboration. The space thrives on shared ownership and mutual respect. A flat structure for a place originally oriented around an obsession with ramps.
“It’s very important to us that everyone’s on the same level… adding to the community feel and sense of inclusion. The space feels like one big family,” Christian adds.
Food first as a foundation
While some arrive for the skatepark, others drift in, drawn by the rumour of a cracking burger. After all, food is more than fuel; it’s a philosophy here. “We put our all into feeding people and keeping the prices as affordable as possible. Our laid-back nature, supportive atmosphere… and very good coffee.”
The café has a heavy locally sourced ethos, and home made is the mantra. Buns and flatbread are baked on the premises, seitan patties made from scratch, the meat that gets used is organic, and the chips are hand cut and double fried. Food is a philosophy.
“It’s a social space with cracking food, coffee, beer…oh and a bunch of ramps – if that floats your boat.”
Roofs, ramps and a new social space
Affordability isn’t just about the menu; it’s echoed in the art programme, where studio spaces are kept accessible and exhibitions spill out onto the café walls. It’s a space that beckons rather than bars the creative.
“We want to support artists as much as we can,” Christian notes. And it shows in every detail. ”Our community is the best. The sense of inclusion we like to promote means the environment looks after itself. This is whether it’s people coming to skate, eat or just enjoy a coffee. There’s been thousands of faces come, go, and return over the years, which has been a beautiful thing!”
Amidst this montage of movement and meaning, where people come and go with different purposes, it’s easy to forget the Spit & Sawdust’s roots lie firmly in skate.
“There was nowhere dry to teach skateboarding. The community needed a roof, and things developed from there. Nia Metcalfe and I are the co-founders,” Christian recalls. “Then a wave of volunteers in one way shape or form got involved. There’s too many to list, but these legends were crucial in getting everything off the ground!”
Today, the venue’s heartbeat is a steady rhythm of wheels on wood, but the people riding those boards are as varied as the tricks they attempt. You’ll see a large wave of younger skaters starting out, wide-eyed and fearless, alongside older skaters rediscovering their love for the sport, sometimes decades after their first drop-in. The ramps don’t discriminate; everyone is welcome, whether they’re learning to ollie or perfecting a kickflip.
Skateboarding in South Wales has always been strong, with many powerhouses coming out of Cardiff, but for years there was limited space to support the scene. That deficit has been filled. “We support all wheeled activities, but it’s skateboarding that we teach and support via camps as it’s our specialty and one of our passions.”
Over the years, thousands have come, gone, and returned, each leaving their own mark. Some stories stand out: one local is now an international model, while others have begun making waves in competitions, starting what Christian jokingly calls a ‘Welsh domination.’
Skateboarding shapes the culture here, but it doesn’t define the limits of what’s possible. The ramps are a stage, the café a gathering place, the gallery walls a canvas, and the studio spaces a launchpad for creativity. Spit & Sawdust is, at its core, a place where everyone is invited to carve their own line.
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