Vintage Surf Photographers series 3 : Doug Wilson

Posted by Unknown February 06, 2016

Vintage Surf Photographers series 3 : Doug Wilson

by Sam Bleakley

The paddleboard race, 1966 Cornish and Open, Porthtowan.

Englishman Doug Wilson’s vibrant images captured the carefree spirit of British surfing in the 1960s. Wilson was a keystone in the early British surf scene and became a pioneer of the UK surf industry. Born in Sussex, he came to Cornwall to lifeguard in 1959 at Fistral beach (after working as a musician in the army). He soon became good friends with Bill Bailey, who was a lifeguard on Porth (after leaving his position as an RAF engineer). These two characters became central to the Newquay Surf Life Saving Club, alongside Doug Turner and Richard Trewella. Inspired by South African lifesaver (and later famous surfer) Max Westland riding waves on his club’s international demonstration tour in 1959, these four watermen experimented with stand-up rides on the buoyant double wave-skis. They were soon hooked on surfing. Wilson began taking surf photos in 1960. He also opened Newquay’s first shop, Surf Promotions, selling his own surfing postcards and importing American Surfer magazine. Every issue was devoured by the small clan of surfers and passed on to friends. Wilson was one of the four founders of the European Surfing Company, who made products under the Bilbo label, formed in February 1965. The surfboards were made in a Newquay factory on Pargolla Road. In 1967/68 Bilbo employed 40 people and produced approximately 70 boards per week in high season and 10 custom and 20 moulded boards per week in the low season. By 1970 an estimated 12,000 boards were built, which not only supplied the home-market, but the early equipment demands in France and Ireland. In 1967 Wilson opened the Bilbo Surf Shop on the Station Forecourt, the first large-scale dedicated surf shop in the country. The shop was the cultural epicentre of mid to late ‘60s Newquay surfing, where visitors would not only admire surfboard shapes, but also tune in to the latest Californian bands playing on the stereo – Spirit, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, Quicksilver Messenger Service. In 1994 Doug co wrote You should have been here yesterday: The Roots of British Surfing.

Rod Sumpter, Fistral, 1966. In the 1960s it took highly innovative individuals like Rod Sumpter to make a living from surfing. "It was a big event when Rod arrived in Newquay," said Doug Wilson. "He was the best surfer we had ever seen. Because of his sporting reputation, local surfers put him on a pedestal. He came to our Bilbo factory and put forward lots of ideas about board shapes and the latest techniques from the USA and Australia. He was a major contributor to board improvement in Britain. He would ride for Bilbo, we would give him boards, promote him and pay him to shape signature models."

Rod Sumpter’s Britannia Signature Model shaped at Bilbo. “Rodney marketed himself superbly,” said Wilson. “He knew what sponsorship meant, what surf teams were, how signature models worked and all about surf clothing. The whole marketable package.” When Sumpter joined the British team for the World Contest in 1966, he chose a huge Union Jack to cover the deck of his board. It became his trademark. At Ocean Beach, San Diego, Rod finished 5th in the final behind titans Nat Young, David Nuuhiwa, Corky Carroll and Jock Sutherland. He also fulfilled a huge ambition by beating childhood hero Midget Farrelly.

Porthmeor beach culture, St Ives, 1965.

Great Western, Newquay, 1963. Chris Jones, Viv and Rob Wilson, Roy Heath and Roger Mansfield.

Cornwall’s Gwynedd Haslock was the first British Women’s Champion in 1969. She racked up five British titles up to 1976, always riding her faithful Bilbo. “At the start of the Ladies competition there was only a core group of about six of us who would turn up to compete. At those times transport wasn’t always easy, and not many women had there own cars. I think there were others who would have competed if they could get there. I remember when Linda Sharp appeared on the contest scene in the 1970s. She arrived alone from Wales by train to Newquay, then walked with her surfboard all the way up the coast to Watergate Bay. No wonder she did so well with that sort of determination.”