Surfboard at National Maritime Museum Cornwall Named Object of the Year at Cornwall Heritage Awards 2026

We are thrilled to share the news that Anne Stephens’ Surfboard, on display at National Maritime Museum Cornwall has won Object of the Year at the Cornwall Heritage Awards 2026 and we had the honour of hosting the celebration right here at the Museum.

On Tuesday 19 May, the Cornwall Heritage Awards came to us filling our galleries with the brilliant people who dedicate themselves to preserving and sharing Cornwall’s remarkable story.

Image: Chaos Digital

Object of the Year

The winner of Object of the Year 2026 was a worn and weathered blue board that has been quietly waiting in our SURF! Exhibition for you to find it. Anne Stephens’ surfboard has been named Object of the Year at the Cornwall Heritage Awards 2026. It carries a story of family, adventure, migration, community, and two extraordinary sisters who were riding waves long before Cornwall became synonymous with surfing.

Anne and her sister Dora were among the first known female surfers in Cornwall. At a time when women riding waves was far from commonplace, these two were out on Fistral Beach doing something quietly extraordinary.

The board came to them as a gift from their uncle, Alfred Perrin, a member of the Cornish tin mining diaspora who had made his home in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and taken to surfing at the famous Muizenberg Beach. Like so many Cornish families of that era, the Perrins had followed the global movement of miners and engineers, carrying their skills to new shores and bringing new ideas home in return.

This year’s Cornwall Heritage Awards theme was Community, and we believe Anne’s board speaks to that theme in the most resonant way possible. It represents Cornish families who stayed connected across continents. It represents women who claimed space in a sport that didn’t yet know it needed them. And it represents the community that came together to found this very museum, ensuring that stories exactly like this one wouldn’t be forgotten. Anne’s son, George Hogg, rode this same board throughout most of his life. George was one of the key founders of National Maritime Museum Cornwall, his vision helped shape our collections and we’re very proud the surfboard was recognised with this award.

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who voted for Anne’s surfboard, to the Cornwall Heritage Awards for celebrating the incredible network of museums, galleries, castles, mines, historic properties and community archives that make Cornwall’s heritage so alive, and to all our fellow nominees and winners on the night.

Image: Chaos Digital