Memorabilia: Surfboard leash sucker
added to the website on Jan 31, 2012
Bought by David Yeo from Devon around 1970 or ’71 with his first leash (which had a clear plastic tube and a cord inner). Some people used ‘shock cord’ which was used on boats at the time. Unlike surf leashes today that go around the ankle, this rubber sucker would have been stuck to the ……»
News: Dick Pearce – an unsung hero of British surfing (April 12 1929 – July 10 2010)
added to the website on Jul 15, 2010
It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Dick Pearce, who shaped traditional wooden surfboards in North Devon for the last fifty years. Thousands of British surfers got their first start on one of Dick’s famous ‘surf riders’, and it’s a fitting tribute to him that they’re now going through a revival ……»
Surfboards: Butler 1974
added to the website on Jul 15, 2010
This is a mid 1970s Maurice Butler single fin stinger, shaped in East Anglia. Maurice was a pioneer surfer in Lowestoft, Suffolk and his first sight of surfing came in 1964 on holiday at Woolacombe in North Devon where he watched a couple of 10 foot boards being ridden (possibly shaped by Bob Powers). Back ……»
Surfboards: Karma 1981
added to the website on Jul 15, 2010
This is awesome Karma twin-fin dates from 1981 and features stunning period art and a winged swallow tail. In the late 1960s, Dave Farrow teamed up with East Runton fisherman Bob Brownsell to build surfboards under the ‘Cougar’ label on the Norfolk coast. One of their first efforts was to strip, re-shape and glass a ……»
Photographs: Bob Powers 1964
added to the website on Jun 06, 2010
Surfer-shaper Bob Powers on the beach at home in North Devon with one of the boards he made in Mortehoe. This was his personal board and Bob donated it to the Museum of British Surfing – you can see it in surfboard timeline on this site.
Wax & Leashes: Rubber leash 1970
added to the website on May 26, 2010
Various types of leash were around in the 1970s and this one is from the latter part of the decade. It has surgical rubber as a protective shell around the core in attempt to produce a better result than the ‘bungee cord’ alternative of that era.
Wax & Leashes: Bungee leash 1973
added to the website on May 26, 2010
There were some curious creations when leashes first became popular in the early 1970s – this one is made from bungee cord and dates from around 1973. It is unusual because it has a small metal tab which would have gone under the fin screw. Here’s the science bit… if you can imagine the forces ……»
Memorabilia: Late 1960s surfing jigsaw 1968
added to the website on May 26, 2010
In the days long before computer games, and when the sea was flat, young surfers (and perhaps the not so young) would make jigsaws! This beauty dates from around 1968 and features a very lucky guy taking his ‘malibu board’ off the roofrack of his lovely Alfa Romeo while his ‘bird’ looks on – sweet!
Wax & Leashes: Waxmate 1968
added to the website on May 26, 2010
An original bar of Waxmate – thought to be the first commercially available surfboard wax in Britain (imported from California), this one dates from the late 1960s.
Surfboards: Surfboards by Bruce Palmer 1979
added to the website on May 25, 2010
Discovered looking in a sorry state from its original owner in Blackpool, a quick clean and polish revealed this gem of a twin fin fish shaped by Bruce Palmer in Croyde, North Devon around 1979. It’s understood it was bought new, ridden once, then mothballed – it had a tiny ding on the tail, otherwise ……»
Surfboards: Creamed Honey 1976
added to the website on May 25, 2010
Aussie lifeguard Kevin Cross came to Braunton in North Devon in the early 1970s and produced some of the highest quality surfboards in Britain from that era under the label of Creamed Honey. This stunning example features a burgundy resin tint deck and white ‘lightning bolt’ pin lines, red bottom, with a glassed on solid ……»
Surfboards: Tiki by John Hall 1975
added to the website on May 25, 2010
John Hall was one of a group of hot Australian surfer-shapers who settled in North Devon in the 1970s. He joined Tiki in Braunton for a while, and produced this stunning little single fin in 1975 featuring intricate airbrush art on the deck. It suffered a leash cut in the rail back in the early ……»