24 Hour Museum - official guide to UK museums, galleries, exhibitions and heritage
Gateway to Over 3,000 UK museums, galleries and heritage attractions
Skip to navigation
"One Is Catching A Tube" - Discover Royal Surfing History In Brighton
13/09/2004
As the autumn winds pick up and the south coast gets its first serious buffeting by the mighty English Channel, The Surfing Museum in Brighton is back!
An exhibition of British Surfing History is on show at Brighton Fishing Museum until October 9 and introduces us to the most regal of surfers.
With a great online resource in place, the museum is in the process of setting up a permanent physical presence on Brighton beach.
In the meantime this temporary exhibition offers a great chance to learn about the fascinating history of surfing in the British Isles.
Princess Victoria Ka'iulani - expert surfer who lived in Brighton in 1892. Courtesy The Surfing Museum.
Made possible by the generous sponsorship of Oxbow UK, this latest show explores the hidden history of British surfing, including the stories of a host of royal wave riders, from a crown princess of Hawaii to our very own Prince Charles.
The intriguing tale begins more than 100 years ago as Princess Victoria Ka’iulani took to the foaming waters off Brighton.
It was in 1892, while living in England, that the Crown Princess of Hawaii demonstrated her expert surfing skills on the south coast. Imagine the local fishermen’s surprise as they saw a long-haired foreign dignitary stood on a thin strip of wood, riding the waves.
However strange it must have appeared, it started a craze. Many years later, before he lost his heart to Mrs Simpson, the future King Edward VIII learnt how to surf on a trip to Hawaii in 1920.
In 1978, the late Viscount Ted Deerhurst became Britain’s first pro surfer. Part of the British team that had finished third at the World Amateur Championships earlier that year, the viscount made the semi-finals in his first pro contest.
The Queen Mother dances the Hula with the father of modern surfing Duke Kahanamoku in Hawaii in 1966. Courtesy The Surfing Museum.
Sadly, the well-liked surfer died in Hawaii in 1997, but his memory lives on in Brighton where visitors to the exhibition can see his North Shore Lightning Bolt surfboard.
Prince Charles surfed in Australia and Cornwall, where he had something of a reputation for dropping in on local surfers’ waves (not the done thing in such circles).
But he made up for it by becoming patron of the British Surfing Association and surfing is now one of the fastest growing sports in this country.
Also on show are rare surfboards, charting the history of surfing on Britain’s shores, old wetsuits and even a bar or two of vintage surf wax.
The Surfing Museum
The Surfing Museum, (email contact only), Brighton, BN2 1EF, East Sussex, England
Open: The British Surfing Museum is planning to open in a new purpose-built home in early 2010. Before that we'll be continuing our successful national tour - see our website for latest details of where we are located & opening times. Please note we are not open in Brighton.
Related Articles
News In Brief - Museums, Galleries And Heritage News
Museum Gets Captain Cook Era Hawaiian Surfboard On Loan
MGM 2004 Travel Writing Prize: Brighton's Endless Summer
E-news registration
E-mail story to a friend
Tell us what you think
Black Watch Museum Appeal Seeks To Raise £3million
News In Brief - Museums, Galleries And Heritage News
Newly-Accredited Medical College Invests In Mysterious Portrait
Photos Of WWII Codecrackers Go On Sale At Bletchley Park
Painting Returns To Queen Victoria's Dressing Room After 166-Year Absence
Cartoon Awards Ceremony Celebrates UK's Top Scribblers At Mall Galleries
Made08 - The Brighton Craft Fair 2008
Library Thief To Be Sentenced At Wood Green Crown Court Today
New Look For The Relaunched Garden Museum In Lambeth
Write Queer London Competition Holds Inspiration Day At The British Museum
Downs House Darwin Discovery Project Wins Funding Go-Ahead
British Museum Gets Set For Historic Egyptian Tomb Gallery
Stunning Wedgwood Relaunch Celebrates Potteries Heritage
Library Bid To Save Earliest Surviving Score Of Opera In English Language
Ryedale Folk Museum Lands Significant Harrison Collection
Portable Antiquities Scheme Is Fit For Purpose Say MLA
Leading Academics Call For Art Funding Support In Wake Of Titian Pledge
Glasgow Police Museum Edges Closer To A New Home
Search this site
Home Page
News Page
Exhibition Page
What's On
Trails Page
Website of the Week
Letters Page
Welsh Home
Graphical Version
Copyright © 24 Hour Museum
Information published here was believed to be correct at the time it was prepared. Welsh language pages developed with CYMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.