The South West Film and Television Archive (SWFTA) is the regional film archive for the South West of England. Established in 1993, SWFTA's core collection comprises of the combined programme libraries of Westward Television and TSW (Television South West). The archive also cares for a significant number of donated film collections, both amateur and professional, dating back to the early 1900s.
This film is part of Free
The Surfers
Local and international surfers explain their obsession with catching a wave in this charming film about the sport from the early seventies.
From the collection of:
Overview
This film takes an interesting look at the developing surf scene in Cornwall's Newquay and St Ives. In interview the main protagonists include a brother and sister from Australia, Brian Schofield at Bilbo surfboards and the Surf Insight magazine editor and distributor which had been set up in the sixties as one of the first British magazines dedicated solely to surfing. The Museum of British Surfing (MOBS) opened in 2013 in Braunton to showcase British surfing heritage.
The documentary also shows ex-champion surfer, surfboard-maker and shop owner Charlie Williams, surf holiday provider at Porthmeor Beach, Chris Taylor as well as the inventor of a surf sailing catamaran. Surfing established itself as a sport in Hawaii, Australia and California and from the 1950s became popular in Britain. Heavier and more streamlined Malibu boards and newer technology began to radically change the sport in the seventies and despite some attempts at regulation surfing took off all over Britain as the latest craze. Brian Schofield is the father of TV presenter Phillip Schofield. They moved from Oldham to Newquay and New Zealand and back before Phillip started appearing on children's TV.