First Waves

Alex Conrad

Alex Conrad was brought up in Cornwall. He learnt to surf in the 1980s and has competed both on traditional wooden bellyboards and on more traditional ‘longboards’.  

Mark Iles

Mark Iles is a Brighton based surfer and the owner of Mellow Wave surf shop.

Bob Groves

Bob Groves surfed and shaped boards across the South West and the South coast. He also worked at Bilbo surf shop in Newquay.

Ben Elvey

Ben Elvey is one of a small group of people (along with brother Fred Elvey and friend Harry Rochlin) known to be surfing in the UK before the Second World War.

Pip Staffieri

Pip Staffieri was an ice-cream seller in Newquay. He was inspired to build a board around 1940 when he saw a picture of Hawaiian's surfing in his dentist's encyclopaedia and some time later was spurred into action after the chance vision of a beautiful wooden surfboard on a Cornish beach.

Andy Bennetts

Andy Bennetts is one of the pioneers of Scottish surfing. Along with Bill Batten and Ian Wishart he set up the Scottish Surfing Federation in the 1970s and encouraged the development of the surfing scene in Scotland.

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 15^th birthday.

Russell O'Connor

Russell O'Connor grew up in Watford but travelled to Cornwall and Brighton to surf during the 1960s before eventually moving to Cornwall. His dad was a carpenter and built him his first board based on images found in magazines.

Nick Noble

Nick Noble grew up surfing in Saltburn and still runs a surf school there.

Harry Rochlin

Harry Rochlin surfed with Lewis Rosenberg and friends in Newquay around 1929 - the exact date is unclear.

Roger Mansfield

Roger Mansfield was born in Newquay. He learned to surf aged 6 and was British Surfing Champion in 1970. He curated the 'Surf's Up' exhibition in 2004 and wrote 'The Surfing Tribe - A History of British Surfing' in 2009. He is Research Consultant for 'The First Wave'.

Ian Hill

Ian Hill was one of the first people to surf using a Malibu board in Northern Ireland. He was a pioneer of surfing in the country and went on to start one of the first surf shops in his area. His son is Andy Hill.

David Bracey

David Bracey got his first board in 1965 and surfed for the first time at Fistral, Newquay and after that often surfed in Porthtowan.

Jake Sage

Jake Sage remembers the first time he was taken out back at Praa Sands and pushed onto his first wave and says it was a feeling like no other. He is now a sponsored surfer.

Roger Mansfield

Roger Mansfield was born in Newquay. He learned to surf aged 6 and was British Surfing Champion in 1970. He curated the 'Surf's Up' exhibition in 2004 and wrote 'The Surfing Tribe - A History of British Surfing' in 2009. He is Research Consultant for 'The First Wave'.

Chris Hines

The first beach Chris Hines went to was Widmouth Bay, Bude but he got his first wave in Sennen, West Cornwall. He moved to Porthtowan when he was 19 and founded Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) in 1990.

Alan Duke

Alan Duke grew up in Northern Ireland. His first experience surfing was bellyboarding on an ironing board. Other people were surfing plywood boards but the first time he saw a real board was in a Colgate advert on TV.

Bill Batten

Bill Batten was one of the first pioneers of surfing in Scotland. He returned from New Zealand in 1968 and brought a board back with him. He founded the Scottish Surfing Federation with Andy Bennetts,Ian Wishart and others in 1975.

Martin Geary

Martin Geary  came to Newquay in 1966 as deckchair man and lifeguard on Tolcarne Beach. He started building surfboards co-founding Martin Richards Surfboards later known as Outer Limits. Arthritis stopped him surfing and surfboard building.

Mark Bailey

A Poldu lifeguard in the 70s, Mark Bailey grew up in Sennen as a teenager and surfed Porthleven Reef early on.

Linda Sharp

Linda Sharp won numerous competitions over 20 years of surfing from the early 1970s including European, British and Welsh titles. She is one of the most successful British female surfers.

Tris Cokes

Tris Cokes was brought up in Porthtowan, Cornwall. He opened Tris Surf shop in 1971 and shaped many boards. He now runs Homeblown, manufacturing more environmentally friendly surfboard blanks.

Johnny Manetta

Johnny Manetta moved to Cornwall from London in 1969/70. He has been shaping boards and part of Tris Surf Shop in Porthtowan since 1974 and organised the Cornish and Open through the 70s and 80s.

Johnny Manetta

Johnny Manetta moved to Cornwall from London in 1969/70. He has been shaping boards and part of Tris Surf Shop in Porthtowan since 1974 and organised the Cornish and Open through the 70s and 80s.

Arlene Maltman

During the summer of 1976, aged 12, Arlene Maltman borrowed boards and suits and kept practicing in the whitewater. She won the European Championships in 1984 and the British in 1984. She is President of Jersey Surf Club.

Ben Skinner

Ben Skinner, AKA “Skindog” has been surfing since the age of 3, originally in Jersey, but then in Cornwall. His dad, Steve Skinner encouraged him. Ben has won numerous British and European titles and won 2nd in the World Surfing Games.

Graham Looker

Graham Looker got into surfing in the mid-60s and worked for Gul from the mid-90s until 2011.

Sam Bleakley

Sam Bleakley took up longboarding in the early 1990s and became European champion. The son of Alan ‘Fuz’ Bleakely, he lives in Gwenver, nr Sennen. He started surfing with his father aged 5.

Sam Bleakley

Sam Bleakley took up longboarding in the early 1990s and became European champion. The son of Alan ‘Fuz’ Bleakely, he lives in Gwenver, nr Sennen. He started surfing with his father aged 5.

Nigel Semmens

English, British and European champion, Nigel Semmens started surfing in his hometown of Newquay in 1971 - when he was 14. He later set up and was head shaper for Ocean Magic.

Dan (Mole) Joel

Dan Joel, AKA: Mole is known for the big wave riding he did on the West Coast of Ireland in his early 30s (2008). A Porthleven boy, he was inspired by older guys like Budgie, Bernie, Milky and Dave Burr who were riding the reef.

Dan (Mole) Joel

Dan Joel, AKA: Mole is known for the big wave riding he did on the West Coast of Ireland in his early 30s (2008). A Porthleven boy, he was inspired by older guys like Budgie, Bernie, Milky and Dave Burr who were riding the reef.

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 15^th birthday.