Vintage railway surf posters

Fancy splahing out some cash this January ? Probably not say most of you since we're usually skint after Christmas. Tempting but still in the £200 - £300 price range are these original railway posters from the 1930s and 40s advertising the stoke of bellyboarding in Newquay. Bellyboards have been ridden on these shores since early last century and these great posters show the early history of Cornish surfing. The auction is run by Morphets in Harrogate and starts on 15 jan. Bellyboarding is still going strong on these shores among the older population who started doing it back in the day and a few new fans like John Isaac , see www.pronetobelly.blogspot.com .

1967 Bilbo skateboard

Gavin has sent some shots of his rare 60s Bilbo skateboard along with its original how to skate leaflet. Gavin got it from the original owner who says he bought it in around 1967. Bilbo started to make skateboards in 1965 after first importing Roller Derby models from the USA. With deck by Bilbo and wheels by Hobie, this is thought to be the first commercial European skateboard, and because of it Bilbo's mail order business soared.

Its great to have the original leaflet with photos of skaters above Towan beach in Newquay.Note rule no 14 - Parents act your age, skateboarding is for youngsters !

Christmas 1977 Polyprops

Dear Santa, can I have one of those plastic things with wheels ? I think they're called skateboards. A nice colourful one if possible, thank you. For many kids at Christmas 1977 this was the TOP want. A polyprop, as we used to call them was a step up (!) from the legendary 'surf flyer' (think wood, sheet metal and rubber wheels = danger ). For many a one hit wonder and discarded by February, for others the start of a lifestyle/ culture that led into surfing. From the era that skateboarding became it's own person ie a culture of it's own without being something you did on 'flat days'. First 'hill' on a skateboard or first 'drop' on a surfboard - for many a turning point in their lives. - Sean.

Tube News

Sean has sent some photos of his Tube News covers. Tube News was a great little mag, small format but usually about 50 - 60 pages, published by the Wessex surf club in Dorset. It has articles about surfing from all over Britain, plus a lot on the contest scene and surf travel plus a bit of history. It always had a lot of advertising from the big brands in the surf industry and kept going a long time, from 1980 to the early 90s ( and beyond ? ). It was edited by Roger Castle.

New arrivals

Just picked up these two relics of the 80s , a late 80s Gul thruster and a mid 80s Tris thruster by Martin Wright , under licence from Limited Edition. Both very dirty but 80s Cornish classics.

Freedom singlefin by Steve Harewood

Here's an early single fin, probably '72 or '73, from the ever excellent Freedom surfboards of Jersey. It was shaped by Steve Harewood, who started Freedom in 1969 with Barry Jenkins. The company soon became the centre of a thriving surf community in Jersey scoring quality waves and getting strong contest results. Steve himself was in the GB team for the world champs in Puerto Rico 1968, and after that got shaping experience making Dewey Weber's Ski before coming home to start Freedom.
This board had been advertised in the local paper for three weeks before I bothered to go and look at it. I was expecting something beaten up so was very happy to see this beaut with its deep orange tint and bubbly 70s grahics (and happy post coital couple !) There is also a stylised bird design which seems to be a bit of a Freedom trademark - I have another with a bird and my mate Jamie has one with a butterfly spray. The dimensions are 6'10 x 20 1/2 x 2 3/4.

Ad from British Surfer 1971

Interesting shot of Tom Bates ( with a Weber ski ? ), Steve Harewood and Barry Jenkins ( with Greenough style kneeboard ) at the old Coin Varin factory at St Peter, early 70s.

Rare Alias singlefin

Gavin has sent some photos of his boards including a rare Alias singlefin which is actually an early Tris board. If anyone knows different please let me know. I found an Alias floating in my local estuary once and it took me a while to find out who made it. Mine just had the words Alias Surfboards England on in pencil. Gavin's has this great hand drawn logo with an owl and a line up similar to the well known later Tris logo with the rising sun face. The shape of the board looks around 1970 or just after with its unusual wide tail. Its good to see it cheers Gavin.

This shot shows the Alias flanked by a Mark Boyd pintail and an early Ocean Magic stinger, probably shaped by Mooney McAllum and surely must be one of the first Ocean Magics made (1976ish ) , influenced by the Ben Aipa stingers over in Hawaii.

Deus / boardcollector surf meet

Damion of boardcollector organised a surf and skate meet last week. I hope he doesn't mind me showing some of his photos cos it looks like it was a great day, I'm just gutted I live a few thousand miles away ! Loads of boards , skateboards , mags and posters , I guess it was a scaled up sunnier version of our St Merryn jumble. Love the Dodge charger, I think the closest thing we had to it was John Eldridge's Triumph estate - classic ! Photos by Damion and Carby Truckwell.

Santa Cruz early 80s twin +1 fin

Now now what have we here then ? As its Christmas time I thought mabye something that contains the word santa. A board that would have been a rare import to the UK in 1984. Shaped by the legendary Joey Thomas who was king of the twin fins in California in the late 1970s. A ripper by all accounts as well. 6'2 x 20 x thick. Tri fin with removable /adjustable centre one. 80s spray ; slightly late for the era leash loop. Hipped. - Sean

Santa Cruz were best known for their skateboards, heres a couple of ads, above 1978, below early 80s.

Here's Graham's copy of Wavelength no 1 from 1981, launched by John Conway and went on to be one of the most successful surf mags in the UK through the 80s and 90s. The first few issues were in large newspaper format with lots of colour ,and are very scarce now.

A couple of contest brochures held in Jersey, which hosted a lot of early contests and had a wealth of local talent. Dated 1968 and 1970, above sponsered by a cigarette company, which seems a bit weird now.

British Surfer no1, the first British surf mag and top of many collectors lists. Launched by Rod Sumpter. Below is an ad from a British Surfer of 1970 for a Guernsey surf company called Blade - anyone heard of them before ? Thanks to Graham for sharing some of his collection.