For many of us there’s no escape from the cold and we must greet the winter face on, the gloom, the damp, the light so flat the horizon is lost in the sky. Endlessly watching the forecast hoping for the prevailing southwesterlies to abate for the bittersweet triumph of stolen moments in offshores.  Freezing wind from the east blowing the mess to corduroy and then to ironed cloth.

You could send yourself mad with the longing but it’s better to embrace the dark mornings, the frost on the inside of the windscreen that never clears quick enough, the teeth of the wind biting into exposed flesh as you struggle into the wetsuit that never quite dries, the shock of the first duck dive as you struggle through lines of whitewater, battling current and wind beyond the break.

Because if you look, through the waiting, the discomfort, the grey light, the grimace as your suit fills with 6 degree water for the first time, there’s still that little spark of fun and stoke that keeps you coming back. Still the need to grasp that elusive sliding feeling we are all addicted to. Still the afterglow that warms you and has nothing to do with the van heater on full as you drive home, reliving the waves of the day. It’s still surfing and it still makes me smile……………

“My paintings are all about light and colour,” says Steve, whose style is influenced by the work of California impressionist artists like Kevin Short, Ken Auster and John Comer, and the classic surf art of John Severson.

“Looking at good art will always influence and help your painting, but in the end your own style will always take over – I think the same can also be said of surfing.”

Born and bred in Devon, Steve grew up in Weston-Super-Mare, where his interest in painting was sparked at a young age: “Drawing and painting is something I have always done, it’s just in me. As a teenager I used to sell chalk drawings on the promenade in Weston,” Steve explained. His father first introduced him to surfing when Steve was a teenager, and Woolacombe and other North Devon beaches were their haunts of choice.

After studying graphic design and animation at Leicester Art College, Steve moved to London and worked with the famous animator Bob Godfrey, whose creations include the cult classics of many an 80s child’s formative years, ‘Rhubarb and Custard’ and ‘Henry’s Cat’. After working in London on classics like ‘Count Duckula’ and ‘Danger Mouse’, Steve also spent stints in Manchester and Athens working as a freelance animator. “While I was living away from the coast, I took every opportunity I could to go surfing – weekend (or longer) trips to Ireland, Scotland, NZ, Fiji, Hawaii, California and France. One time, I even bodysurfed perfect, head-high waves on the Greek coast,” says Steve.

By the mid nineties, the lure of easy living and more sliding opportunities brought Steve back to his Devon roots. He made Croyde his home after taking up the offer to run one of the local surf schools. “I continued to paint and sell the paintings in my spare time until I started to make more money from my art than the surf instructing. Since then I have worked full-time as an artist and based myself in Woolacombe,” Steve explains. “Saunton and Croyde are so crowded these days, but you can still find your own space at Woolacombe and there’s a really strong family-orientated community here, so the town doesn’t die in the winter. The light, colours and changing seasons inspire my work, and a good day here reminds me so much of California.”

“I love stylish surfers like Phil Edwards,” says Steve, who, when he isn’t painting, can be found gliding around Woolacombe’s beach break peaks on his 11-foot Skip Frye longboard. He’s even featured in Rich Gregory’s forthcoming film ONEDAY.

You can check out more of Steve’s work on his website and blog, or at The JC Gallery in Braunton. This summer there will be an exhibition of his work at the Landmark Theatre in Ilfracombe (5 July to 5 September).

Over 650 enthusiastic volunteers from the local community rallied together to clean 29 beaches between Lynton and the Cornish border, despite rainy weather on the Friday and part of Saturday. Sunday however proved to be a typically lovely North Devon spring day with many volunteers playing on the beach and enjoying a picnic after the beach clean.

A total of 653 bags of rubbish were collected, with a further 57 bags of re-cycling waste. Amongst the rubbish, some interesting finds included: A bottle from Ilfracombe Dairy with telephone number ’226′, Plastic ride-on police car, Bicycle saddle, gas cylinder; lorry tyres, oil cans, fishing rod, toothbrushes, toy soldiers, fire extinguishers, plastic cutlery, an unexploded firework, shotgun cartridges, a fridge, a pram, a dune buggy, lots of lolly pop sticks and cotton bud sticks and ear plugs.

Most importantly, everyone who took part had a great time and were extremely positive in their feedback of the day.

The Beach Clean was also part of the North Devon Coast AONB’s 50th Anniversary programme, a fitting event to celebrate our stunning North Devon AONB coastline.

Andy Bell, North Devon’s Biosphere Reserve Co-ordinator said, “The enthusiastic support shown for the Biosphere Beach Clean Weekend has been fantastic. Schoolchildren and businesses braved the rain on Friday, whilst the weekend volunteers enjoyed better weather.

Everyone pitched in with great enthusiasm, good humour and community spirit. We are really delighted and appreciative that such a huge number of the local community, from such a wide range care for this world-class environment and gave up their precious free time at the weekend.

Schoolchildren, students, families, individuals, organisations, businesses, our local MPs and Councillors,visitors and a local troupe of Morris Dancers showed impressive energy and commitment.”

Our website has photos and a short film, which capture the essence of the day: www.northdevonbiospherereserve.org.uk . We think they show a proud North Devon community doing their bit and enjoying our wonderful environment.

Biospheres are about the contribution the environment plays in our lives and how we as a community, proud of our world class UNESCO status, can play our part in sustaining our environment for future generations. Everyone who took part demonstrated the value we give to our special places and saw first-hand the harm we can do to our environment. I’m sure like me, they will be thinking very carefully about the volume of rubbish we all produce, how we can reduce it and how we might better dispose of it.

Given the overwhelming success of this year’s beach clean weekend and all the support from such a wide range of organisations and businesses we hope next year to build on this for future events.

We are all very proud of North Devon and want it to remain one of the world’s great places. Thank you to everyone who gave up their time or demonstrated their support.

For more information please visit the North Devon Biosphere web site.

Tim has kindly allowed me to pilfer from his blog:

“I recently wrote to North Devon MP Nick Harvey asking him to support the government’s Marine and Coastal Access Bill, the text of which is below. As it stands the Bill would help towards the creation of a National Trail around the whole of the English Coast. For my part I hope very much that is passed as it will not only give walkers the right to access coastal land around the whole of our coastline but also surfers the chance potentially to surf new and unexplored breaks which currently sit in front of private land.

With this in mind Liberal Democrat Nick Harvey MP’s response was extremely surprising. It can be read in full (other than my address) below. It said in particular ‘I have been lobbying the Government on behalf of North Devon Holiday park owners and holidaymakers who are rightly concerned about the impact of the access proposals under the…Bill. This has all sorts of implications for security, safety and public liability and has rightly caused alarm with members of the British Holiday and Home Parks Association…Nor do I welcome the prospect of the Secretary of State riding rough shod over landowners’ objections.’

My original message to Nick Harvey MP:
Dear Mr Harvey, I would respectfully request that you, as my MP, support the aims of the Marine and Coastal Access Bill when it comes up for Report and 3rd Reading Stages on 26th and 27th October 2009. The Bill, as it stands would help towards the creation of a National Trail around the whole of the English Coast.We in North Devon understand how wonderful access to the coast can be with our magnificent South West Coast Path. I feel it is important to extend this legal right of coastal access to the whole of England particularly as walking and outdoor pursuits are becoming increasingly popular….and revenue generating. Thank you for your time. Yours sincerely, Tim Kevan”

If the supposedly environmental Lib Dems are taking such a stance, what hope is there for the rest?

Find out more about the bill, which is currently passing through the House of Lords, here.