1968 Isle of Wight French Surf Trip

An Isle of Wight Surf trip to France in 1968 remembered by Graham Sorensen who shared a campsite and waves in a field along with Bob Ward, Elizabeth, Angus, Hutch, Mo, Trevor, Dita and Pat.  Traveled in a green kombi van with a kiwi emblem drawn on the front. Taken in...
Successful Year For Surf Club

Successful Year For Surf Club

Article from a local paper 17/2/68   The first annual meeting of the I.W.Surf Club was held at the Clubhouse, Ventnor on Friday week. Mr R. Backhouse (chairman) said that surfing was a new sport to the Island and he had encountered literally hundreds of people...
Come Surfing – by Robert Ward

Come Surfing – by Robert Ward

What is Surfing – by Robert Ward Is it pushing a plywood strip through six inches of white summer foam with Dad and the family, taking a slide of twenty yards with the kids screaming with excitiement? For many this is surfing. For some the difference between...
‘The start of surfing on the Island’ by Pat Morrell

‘The start of surfing on the Island’ by Pat Morrell

‘The start of surfing on the Island’ by Pat Morrell Hutch and I started body boarding at Compton in 1955. My parents rented one of the huts that were out there then. The boards were just flat plywood sheets – the “posh” people had boards with curved up noses but ours...
The Girls were there too…..!

The Girls were there too…..!

During the early sixties it wasn’t just the boys enjoying the waves, there were some pretty hardcore girls surfing on the Island with no wetsuits or leashes too. One of those was the young Susan Ellis (now Backhouse) who became the first Isle of Wight Surf Club...