'I I didn't have any friends,” says Charlotte Banfield. “And I'm not interested. I was so depressed. It was all really meant to end badly for me.” Banfield – Having had cerebral palsy, epilepsy and autism, he was bullied at school, but later at age 13, she was enrolled by her mother for a six-week surfing course. Wave ProjectIt helps improve the child's confidence and relieve their anxiety through riding breakers. It was a pivotal moment, especially as Banfield was about to be removed from school.
But her first surf class was a disaster. “I had a fear of water. I couldn't stand my skin. I ran away and locked myself in the car.” But something – perhaps a “no pressure” feeling – got her back. “For the first time in my life I felt free when I first rose.” This liberation changed her life. “I've returned to education. I left school without GCSES, but I got my Masters in Marine Biology. Surfing gave me confidence.”
It gave it more than that. The 26-year-old Banfield is a gold medal-winning world parasurf champion whose achievements are celebrated in surfing! A 100-year shaking in Cornwall, an exhibition at the National Maritime Museum (NMM) in her hometown of Falmouth. “It was an honor when I won the money in honor of being mentioned at this museum,” she says as she chats at the cafe. “I used to be here on a school trip and I remember hiding from the boat teacher on display.”
Surfing dates back thousands of years, particularly to Polynesians who settled in Hawaii at around 400AD, but the pursuit has become part of Cornwall's heritage, similar to Pastes, piracy and painting. There are Cornish quotes that can help explain why. “Moldros” means the ever-present sound of the ocean. You won't get that in Wolverhampton. Then there is light. “In Cornwall,” wrote geographer Dr. Sam Bleekly.
Bleekly, the European Longboard Champion and Senior Lecturer of Culture Tourism at Falmouth University, curated the show at NMM. He says surfing is different in Cornwall. This is thanks to soft sandy beaches that dot 422 miles (680 km) of surfaceable coastline from Boud to Falmouth. “You can ride shallow waters in a different way than a surf break in Polynesia,” he says. Additionally, the county is widely open to Atlantic swells all year round. According to former Cornish-born Pro Robin Davis, one of the great joys is a wave that travels 4,000 miles across the ocean, colliding with a Porthlben, Porthmeal, Penzance or Peramphose.
The history that the show tells is from Cornish Surf culture, which rises up on the tide swelled by foreign influences. What Bleekly calls the “tin mining diaspora” has witnessed surfing in Tahiti, Hawaii, West Africa and South Africa. Especially off the coast of Muisenberg near Cape Town, where Agatha Christie reportedly surfed in 1922.
During World War II, US troops stationed in Raf St. Maugan near Newquay, reportedly attracted locals with their creepy skills. However, four Australian lifeguards, Bob Head, Ian Tully, John Campbell and Warren Mitchell, revolutionized surfing in Cornwall 63 years ago, shocking Newquay locals with “hot dog surfing” with longboards of glasses. The sound of Beach Boys, Jan and Dean playing at Pirate Radio Stations has made Surfing a part of the 60s shaking.
Surfboard craftsmen popped out and their smooth pieces were now celebrated at the show. Among them is Chris “CJ” Jones, who carved the board out of wood, carbon fiber, paint and even recycled plastic. “They are artwork and they remain,” says NMM director Stuart Slade, showing me.
By the late 1960s, Newquay was branded as a surf city and as Cornwall as California in the UK. That said, surfing was once banned when a gang of bodyboarders and longboarders (equivalent to surfing mods and lockers) wrecked on Newquay beaches. Surfing, ostensibly the coldest of entertainment, has come to be seen as a violent threat to some people and the public order.
This is one of many tensions explored in the show. Surfing is both a tourist money spinner and a counterculture lifestyle. It also includes pitting swing surfers against a strait-covered plush shirt in California, Cornwall. Since surfing became an Olympic sport in 2020, another tension has emerged. Is swinging, like skateboarding and BMX-ing, essentially a sport where essentially rebellious nature only gets lost in competition for medals and world records?
Whatever the answer, Cornwall has become a breeding ground for world champions and industry who recognize the therapeutic benefits of surfing and want to make it a sport for everyone. At that last point, I am amazed at the show's surf couture display. From wetsuits to tight tight, almost fetish wear and a loose body-covered surf hijab designed by local company Finister.
Bleakley's best conceit is telling stories from the past 100 years on 100 surfboards. One is a Coffin board, which is because the first bodyboard was made in the 1920s by carpenters who specialize in ffins. There is a photo being held at Fistral Beach in 1926 by a female surfer and pasted it onto the Western Country patriarch who deemed unsuitable for women.
In contrast, there are walls of sparkly lacquer boards, some designed by Damien Hearst, and former partner, California-born Maia Norman, is an avid surfer. The Hearst design was auctioned in 2003 for a campaign group surfer against sewage. Nearby, we encounter surfboards in Newquay's garden, scattered for the show. Once the longest board in the world was 37 feet long, it looks like what Team GB would use if six bobsleds switched to the sea.
Regarding all the surfing agility of the show, the rise of Banfield came close to set, especially in 2021 when a seizure occurred during a surfing event in California. “It was very humiliating,” she says. “I was in the water for a minute and couldn't move. My body felt so heavy. I had to be helped by another surfer.”
What's worse was coming. “I was banned from the competition until the epilepsy was controlled. It made me feel incredibly depressed. I went to a very dark place. I tried to take my life. It was very clear that the ocean kept me in my senses.
Luckily, some coaching and medication adjustments allowed Banfield to start competing again. Last year, she won another gold at the World Championships. “I still have bad days,” she says. “When I do that, I get a surfboard, get a wetsuit, and get a car.”
National surfing champions, often Davis, reflects this sentiment. “Surfing is almost a spiritual experience. It's humble. You can see very quickly that you can't master nature. But the dangers of the present are also adrenaline rush. Huh? She cups her fingers to show me. “It seems like time is expanding. It feels like you've been there for years when it's not a few seconds. It's pure stoke. It's epic.”
It also sounds very dangerous. “It's – but surfing is both dangerous and exhilarating. There aren't many sports that wildlife eat. I saw sharks. This is scary. And in Mexico, it was very close to breaking through whales.” This is when they kick their bodies out of the water and land back on the surface with explosive force. Davies cites more dangers: “The seal bitten my toes.” It sounds less scary, I say. “They were really big seals,” she replies.
Then there was a time when she wiped out the Hawaiian pipeline. This is a reef rest known for its rifts and underwater caves. “I hit the bottom and pushed it away with my feet. I just hit the rocks. I was trying to own it until I could see the gap and swim to the surface.”
While car accidents have ended Davis' competitive career, she claims she is still a longboard and isn't too late to learn. “I taught an 80-year-old woman who dreamed of standing on a board. She did that! But I'm not saying it's easy. When you're swimming in a place where there are waves, whisk white water and swim in a hard place, it's difficult, but it's worth it.
Surf! It will be located at the Cornwall National Maritime Museum in Falmouth from March 28th to January 28th, 2027.
