It’s a long way from North Devon to Scarborough, especially if you’re crammed into the back of a van like an illegal immigrant. We were heading North for the next stop on the UK pro surf tour and the forecast said waves.
Heading North
It was an early 6am start and we passed the time watching the Quicky Pro on the iPhone, abusing each other or watching old series 1 episodes of “the fresh prince of Bel-Air”. Read the rest of this entry »
Share
Pete Robinson centre with Museum Trustees Kevin Cook, Hugo Tagholm, Andrew Coleman and Richard Gregory
It was real pleasure to join the great and the good on Thursday night for the official launch of the British Museum of Surfing. Following years of tireless work a small band of surfing friends, led by founder Pete Robinson, finally got to to open the doors of Europe’s first surf museum, with the official ribbon cutting performed by Andrew Cotton and Ben Skinner. With music from Neil Halstead and beer from Skinners brewery the night was a fantastic celebration of the work done by so many volunteers and organisations and the realisation of a dream for Pete Robinson. Well Done!
TWO North Devon surfers have claimed titles at the British National Surfing Championships last week.
Woolacombe’s Stuart Campbell put in a powerhouse performance to win the open division in challenging surf at Newquay’s Fistral beach on Saturday.
With the lead changing constantly throughout the heat, it was Campbell’s final wave that secured the title, making him the first Devon winner since Croyde’s Richard Carter in 1984.
The Camp
The Redbull Break 5 contest drew teams of 5 surfers from across the country to the beautiful National Trust owned Sandymouth beach over the weekend. The event, now in its second year, was billed as aiming to recapture the legendary good times and camaraderie of the surf events from back in the day, and they achieved just that and then some. Read the rest of this entry »
Share
Croyde Surf Club are a hardy bunch and they proved that in spades on Sunday with the running of the Eyeball Surf Classic.
The first challenge of the morning was to get the marquee up and secured against the howling Westerly gale buffeting the bay, a feat that required greater number of heavy duty anchors than at any time in the clubs history, job done the BBQ was fired up the hot drinks flowed. Read the rest of this entry »
ShareAt the begininng of the year I spent a couple of weeks shooting production and promotional shots for the feature length debut of a talented director/writer by the name of Trevor Garlick. “A wedding most strange” was filmed entirely in North Devon and tells the tale of Danny Weatherill (played by Chris Finch) and his efforts to find love and get married in just 2 weeks before he loses his inheritance under the terms of his fathers will.
“Monkey n photog”
What better way to kick-off a weekend than being mobbed by a troop of monkeys? I can think of other ways of spending an afternoon, but it was a cool experience, apart from the live grub-worms that were dropped in my hand to tempt the fury feckers out! I was there on location shooting some specific bits n pieces but as a treat got invited to make a few friends. Got this shot holding the the camera 1-handed, bouncing the flash off the ceiling while the wee-man hopped around my shoulders(not often you’ll see a sober shot of me on the net!). Also got to make friends with a lempur, taunt some otters, lear at a lion and met a guy with a sofa made from the tail end of a Cadillac. Can’t wait to see what the weekend holds!!
Share
Because I’m eco-friendly/a cheap-skate/forgot last posting date/snowed in/hiding from the fuzz /in my bunker planning world domination(delete as applicable) I’ve gone for the electronic Christmas greeting option in these lean economic times. Happy Christmas to you all and have a great time where-ever and who-ever you happen to be with. Looks like North Devon should be the recipient of some long over-due waves on Christmas day I hope everyone has a chance to get some water time in-between crimbo commitments and hope to get out amongst it myself….. I took the above view on Saturday morning as I strolled along the banks of the River Taw, taking in the crisp air and snapping the winter wonderland created by the snow (that I’m now really bored of!). Only 4 months till the start of summer!!!! Happy Christmas and happy New Year everyone.
Share
Major Gordon Short, veteran of the second World War Burma campaign, stands atop Hill 629 in Filleigh North Devon. The hill has been dedicated to the Burma Star Association by Lady Aaron.
Share
Tweets by @robtibbles
