A Wave of Memories: Our New Community Exhibition is Taking Shape

Following the launch of our new major exhibition, SURF!, in March, we invited members of the public to contribute their own memories and experiences of Cornish coastal enjoyment for a new, community co-created exhibition.

The new exhibition, which we have named Surfing Memories, opened in June. Locals and visitors to Cornwall have sent in fantastic photographs of their Cornish seaside memories, surfing shots and beach days over the years, right up to the present day.

The unique ‘album’ of personal and family memories has been enjoyed by visitors to the museum over the summer, encouraging many to return with their own contributions.

Ross Imms, who lives in Cornwall, has contributed a number of family photographs taken at Treyarnon Bay in the early 1950s. He said: “Mum grew up riding the old-style wooden bellyboards on Cornwall’s North Coast.

Kevin Nolan before he left the North Cornwall breakers for the ski slopes of British Columbia,
Courtesy the Imms family, Treyarnon, 1952

“I discovered surfing on my fourth birthday, when I was gifted a board. Mum showed me how to catch a wave that day, and I’ve kept surfing close ever since. I find comfort in these grainy images – they capture the joy and purity of playing in the whitewater, and I wonder what they must have meant to my relatives who had lived through so much.”

“Now I ride the same stretches of sand with my daughter. She’ll never meet her great-grandparents, but I recognise in her a smile that reaches back through the generations and gives hope for the future.”

Tamara Young has also contributed a photograph that was taken by her father in 1988. The photograph features her riding a wooden bellyboard at Polly Joke. She said: “When I visited the SURF! exhibition, it made me think of all the old photos we had at home growing up. So, when I saw that the museum was asking for contributions for the new community exhibition, I had a look through what we had.”

Tam enjoying her polystyrene board,
Courtesy of Tam Young, Polly Joke, 1988

“It was lovely showing my kids the photos and the old boards we used to use. Seeing the photo of me up in the museum alongside everyone else’s contributions is just brilliant.”

The Surfing Memories exhibition also includes accessories from bygone beach days, video footage of Cornish holiday highlights projected onto the wall, and a digital display of photos submitted by the public.

Dr. Jenny Lee, Curator of Exhibitions and Special Projects here at the museum, explains: “The really exciting thing for me is the exhibition shifts and changes according to the submissions we receive. With over a year left of the exhibition, I’m looking forward to seeing how the show evolves.”

“Our major new exhibition, SURF!, takes visitors on a journey through surfing culture – the boards, the medals and the characters, but through this community exhibition, we have captured some of the fantastic personal stories we knew were out there, held by families and people across the country.”

“The exhibition is an opportunity to celebrate those personal connections and stories, communicating our individual, deep-rooted links with the Cornish coastline and what it means to us all.”

You can find Surfing Memories in The Balcony Gallery on Level 1 of the Museum.

If you would like to submit your own photograph to be displayed in the exhibition, please use our online form.