I didn’t really know how this interview was going to play out – Jord Lightowler is a man of few words! Honestly, Jord’s skateboarding speaks a thousand words by itself, and that was the real motivation for interviewing him. His skateboarding is purposeful and fast, but also relaxed and loose at the same time. Watching him lock into a grind or stall is always rad, and when you can skate like that and get everyone hyped, you ain’t gotta say much. – Ade
Congrats on getting onto the 5050 team, how did you get involved with the shop?
Cheers man, I’ve known all of them for a while now, and I wanted to skate for them. So I kinda just asked and it worked out haha.
Have you met Danny Wainwright? And if so has he still got a beefy ollie?
I’ve never met him, but I’m sure he has.
You’ve been shredding it up around Bristol for a couple of years now – when did you first move down there?
Around the start of summer 2018.
How’s Bristol treated you since moving down there?
It’s spoiled me with friends and experiences. I feel very lucky to be here.
What’s your favourite park in the Bristol area?
Dean Lane!
Who do you usually skate with?
All the homies. Too many to list haha!
When I first met you I remember you being part of the Worcester crew – how long did you live up there before moving down south?
Well I’m originally from Tipton, in the Midlands. I grew up there, and moved to Worcester with my family when I was 12. I lived there for ten years until moving to Bristol.
Who influenced you when you first started skating?
I can’t really remember. I was just into anything dumb with wheels as a kid?
What’s the difference between the Bristol and Worcester skate scenes?
The biggest difference for me is the amount of skaters in Bristol compared to Worcester. Since I’ve moved it looks like a load of new kids and people have started to skate in Worcester, but when I last lived there, there were maybe 4 or 5 people who skated. In Bristol there’s hundreds of skaters.
Who are some of your favourite skaters from around the Worcester area?
I like Vaughan and Tom Carr, but my favourite skater from Worcester has to be Mosh King Darren Blocksidge!
You’ve been skating for some rad companies such as Forecast and Converse! How did you get hooked up with Converse?
I got lucky with that! My good friend Francis rides for converse and he hooked it up!
Have you got to skate with many of the other skaters from the Cons team?
Only the people I already know that skate for them. It’s just a flow deal, so I haven’t been on any trips or anything yet with them.
Forecast have been killing it lately – how did you get involved with them?
Ah man, Forecast are just the homies! I just end up jumping in Tidy Mike’s van whenever I can because they’re always going to skate rad tranny spots or skateparks.
Who are some of your favourite skaters from the Forecast team?
All of them bhuttty!
Do you have any full parts in the works with any of your sponsors?
No, nothing in the works with sponsors at the moment.
I saw some rad footage of you skating the Vert Ramp at Spit and Sawdust. Is Vert something you’ve always been into skating or did you only recently start?
I only started trying to actually skate vert recently. A group of us wanted to get into it, so we started going down to Taunton and then Spit when that got built. It’s fun trying to figure out the bigger tranny. Skating with the Forecast boys has helped push that a lot for sure!
Who are some of your favourite vert skaters?
Sam Beckett, Bob and the scram boys!
I always think of you as purely a transition skater, but you’ve got some sick street moves too – what do you prefer skating, street or parks?
Haha cheers man. It really depends how I feel on the day you know. Some days I could spend all day skating a ledge or a curb, whereas other days I just wanna go try and blast around, and skate big tranny. I love it all! Well, most of the time, haha.
What are some of your favourite street spots in Bristol?
Lloyd’s is a sick one.
What street spots would love to visit?
So many! I really wanna go skate the streets of San Francisco and New York. Also a lot of Europe that I haven’t been to: Berlin looks like it has some amazing street spots, that would be so fun.
There was some rad footage and photos from Forecast of you skating a boat, which to be honest was the perfect meeting point of street and transition – how did you find that spot?
That boat spot has been there for years! You can see it driving over one of the roads from Hotwells into Bedminster, and people for years have thought that it was skateable! Some BMXers unscrewed a big ladder that was laid flat in the middle, and once that was moved people started skating it! It’s a very sick spot.
Have you skated many boats or was that your first?
That was my first, haha. It’s not even a boat: I’m not sure what it actually would be used for. Maybe something to do with an old mechanical bridge that’s next to it? I dunno. It’s sick to skate anyway!
Anyone you want to thank?
You, and all the homies. X x x
The Terrible Company 