Alan Bleakley

The first person Alan Bleakley saw surfing was an Australian lifeguard, Bob Head, on Great Western beach, Newquay. His first board was one of Bob Head’s which he got courtesy of a card game for his 15th birthday.

Interview: Rachel Yates 13/10/12 Ref: AV4020

Full interview available in The First Wave Archive.

Surf spots

Timeline

Two sides of surfing

Fish and bird

Safari

Rod Sumpter

Board revolution

Racism in surfing

Ozzies

Overground underground

A mod and a surfer

Finding a surf mate

Localism

Sharing knowledge

History and surfers

Harbour rats

First surf

In a card game

Feminism didn’t feature

Fashions

Environmental concerns

Diving suits

Disreputable

Darker side of surfing

Cribbar sewage

Cribbar 66

Breaking conventions

Beach Boys et al

Californian culture

Bowler hats

Bilbo

Shortboard revolution

Alan describes the change from longboards to shortboards in the late 1960s.

Newquay Surfing Ban