Hearing that Marc Bell was getting back into riding a couple of years ago was some of the best BMX news i’d heard in ages! Marc was a legend in the North East, he had shut down rails that even at today’s standards would still not be approached by most. The most memorable rail of his era was the gap to rail at Newcastle United’s St James’ Park which you can see at the beginning of his shared section with Rob Strong in NSF2 after the photo.

Within weeks of Marc getting back into riding he was out eyeing up stuff he’d spotted in the past. We went to this spot over in Jarrow which had a meaty rail one side that he’d already done years ago and a possible hop over into a bank on the other. The bank was about as thin as this photo shows and I had to make a quick exit to clear the path for him once he’d chucked the Geoff’s. I had always wanted to get some decent photos of Marc and finally the chance was in front of me.

Marc Bell, Barspin rail hop, Jarrow, 2008

G33K: iso 100 | 16mm | f7.1 | 1/250th

Rob Strong and Marc Bell in NSF 2