A sign on the 130-year-old pier at Saltburn-by-the-Sea warns people not to jump off it. On a big surf day surfers make their way to the end of the sturdy 206 metre structure and jump like lemmings into the cold, murky North Sea. Words: Simon Palmer Photos: Ian Forsyth

Jeff Divine remembers the time when surfers were akin to outlaws, and his photographs capture the days of uncrowded line-ups, good vibes and barefoot living. Words: Michael Fordham Photos: Jeff Divine

Championed by surfers in the know for over 30 years, but largely ignored by mainstream riders; has the time finally come for the Bonzer to shine? Words: Steve Croft & Mark Sankey Photos: Alexa Poppe

As the Campbell brothers wrap up a European shaping tour, Mark Sankey discovers Bournemouth's hidden Californian connection, and why old designs aren't necessarily retro. Photos and design by Alexa Poppe

God Went Surfing with The Devil is a film by Alex Klein, which documents the war-torn region of Gaza. At a time when tensions are high, this film investigates the attitudes and aspirations of a small pocket of people where surfing removes socio-political divisions and lets the ocean carry their aspirations for peace.

When the ‘Apocalypse Now’ film crew packed up and left the Philippine coastal town of Baler, they left one important item behind – a surfboard. More than 30 years on and this quiet backwater is home to a stoked crew of welcoming locals. Words: Mark Sankey Photos: Alexa Poppe

From the archives

January 14, 2010 | Words By: Angela

photo-by-jamie-bottIn 1964 Nicholas Tomalin wrote an article for the Sunday Times entitled ‘Sun, surf and sexuality – it’s a whole new cult’ about the new craze about to take the UK by storm. Its tone reminds me of those old public information films and should raise a chuckle or two…

[Completely unrelated photo by Jamie Bott]

The Times has reprinted it in full for your enjoyment, and it’s worth a look for a number of reasons…

1) Tomalin’s dummies’ guide to surfing: “A surfer’s clothes are T-shirts, sawn off, dangerously frayed jeans, and (in the water) a black sorbo-rubber tunic that makes him look like a monochrome Dan Dare.”

2) His prophetically accurate vision of how surfing would become so popular.

3) The super story of how Bill Bailey and two Australian chums rode the Severn bore.

4) The most amazing description I’ve ever read of the surf ‘bug’: “There is undoubtedly something unhealthy about this obsession. It catches people, enslaves them and it forces the surfers into virtually outlaw bohemian lives.”

Read it and weep (with laughter).

Thanks to Jamie P for the heads up.

   

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