Chilling Waves: Freezing British Surfers Brave the Cold in Stunning Photos!

Over 1,000 years ago, the Polynesians in Kona, Hawaii, pioneered the sport of surfing, as evidenced by ancient cave drawings. By the 1950s, surfing had blossomed into a dynamic subculture in areas like California and Western Australia. It wasn’t long before young people globally were captivated by the portrayal of fit, sun-kissed surfers braving the ocean waves.

Surprisingly, even in the UK—famous for its chilly, pebbly shores and less-than-sunny weather—surfing has established a profound cultural footprint.

This season, the National Maritime Museum Cornwall (NMMC) delves into the unique surf culture of Britain with its exhibition ‘SURF! 100 Years of Waveriding in Cornwall.’

In light of the exhibition’s debut, we spoke with Dr. Sam Bleakley, the curator, to discuss the deep-seated surfing traditions in the South West of England.

Surfing caught on in Cornwall in the early 1900s, beginning with enthusiasts riding heavy, flat wooden boards dubbed ‘coffin lids,’ crafted by local carpenters in areas like Perranporth.

By the 1930s, the expansion of railway advertising had tourists flocking to beaches in Newquay, Bude, and Polzeath. Here, families took to the waves on new plywood belly boards designed with a curved front, making it easier to surf the breaking waves. The pastime of “surf-bathing” soon became a favored beach activity.

In the 1960s, the introduction of fiberglass boards and the rise of stand-up surfing were propelled by the allure of Hollywood movies. Young Cornish surfers like Chris ‘CJ’ Jones, who became a national and European champion by 1971 and is shown above, drew heavy inspiration from early surf magazines that found their way to stores in Newquay and St Ives.

Featured here at Fistral Beach in Newquay is local Simonne Renvoize, a pivotal figure in Cornish surf culture. In the 60s, together with her then-partner, four-time national surf champion Rod Sumpter, Renvoize produced pioneering Super 8 surf films. She later launched two of the UK’s first surf publications: British Surfer (1968-70) and Surf Insight (1971-74), which prominently featured British symbols like the Union Jack in their promotions.

In 1971, Skewjack Surf Village was established on a former RAF base near Land’s End in Sennen, becoming Europe’s first surf camp. According to Bleakley, it sparked a lively cultural scene characterized by rampant partying, beach BBQs, and surf lessons given despite hangovers. For just £1 a day, guests were transported to and from the beach in an old ambulance, known affectionately as ‘Amy,’ and spent their evenings partying before sleeping on stark military beds. Bleakley hints, “The best stories are best left untold.”

By the late 80s, surfing had diversified with shortboards dominating the scene, better suited for larger, more challenging waves. However, a resurgence in the popularity of longboards emerged among those wishing to reconnect with surfing on smaller waves. Roger Mansfield, a 1970 British surf champion and later author of The Surfing Tribe, led this revival. His Offshore Surfing School was inspired by Alpine ski schools and allowed newcomers to safely enjoy the buoyant, larger boards, ushering in a new wave of surfing enthusiasts.

Bleakley describes the current atmosphere in these modern images as “quite indicative” of Cornwall, citing the “beautiful water color, the limitless horizon, the wheat-colored air, and the unique geology… all shaping the surfing experience here.”

Photographer Luke Gartside, previously editor of Europe’s longest-standing surf publication Wavelength (established in 1981), based in Newquay, is a testament to “a robust industry of Cornish surf magazines,” which also includes titles like Carve and Surf Girl.

Surfers Against Sewage, founded in 1990, began as a protest against the “400 million gallons” of untreated waste dumped daily around the UK coast. “We were tired of surfing amidst human sewage and finding sanitary products and condoms in our hair,” founder Chris Hines told VICE. Their campaigns, featuring gas masks, coffins, and inflatable feces, grabbed headlines and even reached the European Parliament. Today, the Cornish group stands as one of the UK’s leading marine conservation charities, supported by over 100,000 people.

Before becoming a celebrated photographer, Lucia Griggi served as a beach lifeguard and surf instructor in Cornwall. Her award-winning work has been recognized by National Geographic, featured in Time magazine, and showcased on the BBC. “Being among the first women to be published in the surf scene, both locally and internationally, opened doors for many other female photographers in the surf world,” she remarks. Her ‘Surf Lecture’ at the Museum is centered on “resilience—and never giving up.”

Additional exhibition highlights include ‘artboards’ from surfer Maia Norman’s collection. “The red one is a Julian Schnabel,” Bleakley notes, referring to the New York artist who directed the 1996 film Basquiat. “It was too good to exclude.”

The ‘butterfly board’ is a previously unseen 2008 piece by Norman’s former partner, Damien Hirst, a Turner Prize-winning artist. He embedded butterflies in resin on a board shaped by Cornish craftsmen Ben Skinner and Jason Gray. “The surfboard can be a grand canvas,” Bleakley remarks.

@jamesbalmont

‘SURF! Waveriding in Cornwall’ is now open and runs until January 2027 at the National Maritime Museum in Cornwall