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seven mile beach south coast nsw australia
club history
| Barry
Taylor Surfboards, 1969 North Sreet Nowra, 1971 East Street Nowra 1975 Princes Highway South Nowra NSW Barry Taylor, Taylor Tubestick; x Al Wilson, Terry Glass |
| Christie Surfboards
1975 South Nowra 1978 John Bull Centre, Bomaderry Al Wilson Existing Board : Twin fin II with fin boxes - Paul Flack. |
|
Excepts from
Christine Talbot: Snapshots
of a Village : An Illustrated History of Shoalhaven
Heads.
Page 81
In late 1969, a group of local lads used Armitage's boatshed in River Road as a venue to build surfboards. They formed SHOALMAGH surfboard group, - the "MAGH" being initials of the surnames of the group members - Tony Mathew, Michael Armitage, Greg Gardiner (a Bomaderry lad) and Peter Hitchen. According to Tony Mathew, "their first board was shaped with a saw amd scissors." It cost $2 as all the materials were 'seconds' that were sourced from a supplier called Dion in Sydney. In all they made 20 to 30 boards. Some of the early boards were based on discarded boards were cut down and re-shaped. Peter Hitchen and Nigel Coleman went on to make surfboards in the old cottage at the rear of 35 Bolt Street from 1977 to 1985 under the name of Natural Flow surfboards.  SURFING AT THE
HEADS, 1972
PHOTO
COURTESY
OF MICHAEL ARMITAGE
Club history states
that,
"Following the death of local identity Vic Zealand, the Shoalhaven Heads boardriders held a memorial surfing contest in 1980. The success of the contest led to the formation of the Heads Boardriders Club in March 1981 with Peter Hitchen as President. Over the next five years, the Club held competitions, social and fund-raising events and the annual Vic Zealand Contest. Members worked with environmental groups on environmental issues, particularly the river entrance. They planted ten Norfolk Island Pine trees in the Charlie Gumley Reserve behind the Surf Club in 1981 and some of these remain. In 1991 the Tim Harvey memorial contest revived interest in the Club and it was reconstituted with Mick Morgan as President." Page 207 IAN AND MARJORIE ARMITAGE AND THE BOATSHED RIVER ROAD Information and photos courtesy of their son, Michael Armitage. The boatshed for Jerry Bailey Reserve was originally situated on River Road about where ie pontoon is now. In 1955,at the time when the uildings were being moved off the Reserve, the boatshed was moved a few hundred metres up River Road to where there is a clearing with Coral trees now, just before the hill in River Road. This position was at the very edge of the Crown Reserve The
boatshed was run by Mr Buckley at this time. About 1966, Ian and Marj Armitage bought the boat shed from Mr Hills, taking over the Crown Lease on it. The boatshed was a large building clad with 8 inch rough-sawn weatherboards, painted a beige colour with a heritage red trim. The boat-hire business was run from the river end of the building where the Armitages rented out putt-putt boats and four canoes. The canoes were constructed from marine ply and home-made in the boatshed. Holidaymakers could rent a boat for $2 an hour with $1 deposit; canoes were only 50c per hour. The hire boats were moored at the mooring posts at the back of the boatshed where the water was very deep. There were also ten rowboats for hire - some quite large with three sets of oars - and six motor launches. Tinnies with outboard motors gradually replaced the wooden putt-putts. The boatshed was on a Crown Lease and for this lease to continue, the boat hiring business had to continue. For various reasons it became increasingly difficult to keep going. The wooden boats required a lot of servicing to maintain them in good order and the Inspectors from the Maritime Services Board would condemn any boats that had rot or worm damage to the timbers. As well as this, there was a problem with vandalism - boats being torched on the riverbank, oars being pulled for firewood etc. Also holidaymakers were beginning to bring their own boats, and so the boat hiring business was winding down. The living quarters of the boatshed, essentially a one bedroom flat, was rented out to an old couple - a mother and son - for $7 a week. They had an area of lawn and a vegetable garden, bounded by a picket fence. About 1969, with the flat empty and the boat hiring business ceased, Marj had the idea of turning the |
 Snapshots of a
Village :
An Illustrated History of Shoalhaven Heads, once Jerry Bailey. Compiled & researched by Christine Talbot. Published by Christine Talbot, Coolangatta, NSW, September 2018.  PHOTO TAKEN AT
SHOALHAVEN HEADS BEACH, 1964.
FROM LEFT: EUAN POULTON, PAUL FLACK, TERRY PREBBLE, JACK JENNINGS, IAN LLOYD. PHOTO COURTESY OF PAUL FLACK Page 181
 Lydia and Vic Zealand with Paddle-boards, 18 Hay Avenue, circa 1960. PHOTO
COURTESY OF MICHAEL ARMITAGE
 MIKE ARMITAGE AND GREG MATHEWS WITH THE RIVER IN THE BACKGROUND |
 MIKE
ARMITAGE AND GREG MATHEWS WITH
THE JERRY BAILEY RESERVE IN THE BACKGROUND |
 LOCAL
BOYS
- PETER HITCHEN, KENNY, ROB GUMLEY, MIKE ARMITAGE,
BOB ARMITAGE -
WITH SURFBOARDS THAT WERE MADE BY THE SHOALMAGH GROUP OF BOARD-MAKERS AT THE BOATSHED. |
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