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| Silver Surfers: the old boys still ruling the waves |
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Page 2 of 2 It was around 1955 that one of the first surfboards in Britain was to grace the local shores of St Agnes in the shape of a 14 foot wooden ply board shaped by A Westcott of Perranporth. According to the ‘early surfers’, a group of active surfing enthusiasts, the board was apparently used only once and then given to St Agnes Surf Life saving Club which formed in 1954 (the second oldest surf lifesaving club in the Britain after Bude). This gave birth to a local craze that was set to grow to unprecedented heights later in the century and put St Agnes firmly on the UK’s surfing map. In addition it was around this time that a St Agnes’ local living legend Mike Hendy, sent off to the Lilly White department stores in Australia for a modern surfboard. When the Benetts board arrived it caused a sensation, with enthusiasts traveling from all parts of Cornwall to see the wave riding machine and steal its dimensions. In essence the board was a historical template to today surfboards. In 1962, a young surfer (or more colloquially: grommet) named Steve Bunt, enraptured by the free-spirited nature of the contagious sport and fuelled by the skills of his idols such as Dave Docking, Pete ‘Whitewater’ Widett and Trevor Greenslade, gave Bunt the inspiration to restore an old 10 foot longboard, snapped during a large swell. This gave Bunt the opportunity to ride alongside his peers and take to the Atlantic swells that pounded the surrounding beaches. This inevitably sparked an interest in shaping and creating his own brand of surfboard. Starting up in his garage down at Trevauance Cove, Bunt decided to name his fledgling business Best Ever; a name originating from a phrase coined by his close friend, Tim Boydell. With a growing allegiance of local surfers eager to try Bunt’s innovative designs it was not long before Steve would team up Mark Hills (www.hilzeez.co.uk), and finally, a top UK shaper Johnny Purton (JP), a highly respected shaper from Wales, to affirm an internationally renowned brand of surfboard. Alongside Best Ever resides Beach Beat surfboards, originating in St Agnes in1974 and owned by Peter ‘Chops’ Lascelles. Lascelles expanded on the surf theme and opened two retail outlets in the heart of Peterville (Aggie Surf Shop) perpetuating the grass roots surfing image that the international surfing labels would soon support. This inevitably created a healthy competition not only on land but in the sea. In the late 1980s, St Agnes became known as the ‘badlands’ a place to be feared by the novice surfer surrounded with stories of territorial Cornish surfers passionate to protect their surf spots from any ‘foreigner’ who dared attempt to infiltrate the tight local surfing community. All this lead St Agnes to be prominent in national and international surfing circles. To mark the growth of an expanding sport and affirm an independent surf culture away from the self-acclaimed surf capital of Britain - Newquay, the Bunt –About Surf Festival was born in 1980 and celebrates its 28th year this October. This monumental surf competition, headed by Steve Bunt now aged 53, has over a 100 entries and boasts 14 categories, one of which is the much-anticipated Masters. It is this category that the silver Surfers of days gone by grace the ocean in awe of the spectators in an retrospective display of a sport steeped in culture and history. With surfers as old as 60 and surfboards to reflect this, and an accumulated age spanning well over five centuries, surfers such as Ben ‘Postie’ Stockley, Barry Garland, Kim Richards, Martin ‘Turnip’ Ward and ‘Itch’ Houghton battle it out for first place as the St Agnes Bunt-About Silver Surfer. The much-coveted prize acts as a legacy capturing nearly seven decades of surfing in St Agnes, handing down generations of surfing knowledge and experience to the up-and-coming local grommets. The Bunt-About celebrations come to a crescendo in the Driftwood Spars, the original head quarters of St Agnes surfing shenanigans, with music and presentations lasting well into the early morning. Talking to many of the ‘silver surfers’ of St Agnes it is apparent that surfing is a sport that is not ageist, sexist, or racist and transcends all generations. With Cornwall as its place of birth in Britain, surfing, a sport that encompasses environmental, social and economic values supporting local and non-local communities alike is a sport that is here to stay. As Steve Bunt said: “As long as there is an ocean there will always be surfers, surfing gives you a craving that runs strong through the blood.” Bunt, posed with the question of when he might stop, answers quite defiantly: “Not till the day I drop.” For more information on St. Agnes visit www.st-agnes.com |
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