Holiday
When the BBC’s Holiday programme decided to feature Skewjack in its 1976 edition, no-one had any idea of the impact it would have - or that it would go on to be a pivotal point in the Skewjack Story. The team accommodated camera men, producers and presenters, organised staff and ‘punters’ for filming … and at times had to explain that the surf couldn’t be summoned up on demand!
Filming week was fun, exciting and a major coup for the growing surf village. What happened afterwards took staff by storm. Sackfuls and sackfuls of mail, booking upon booking coming in through the door and summer after summer, full to brimming. Skewjack was now on Britain’s radar.
Big groups of lads and girls would come on their summer break, enjoying new found freedom from the family and searching for escape, as well as a taste of surf life, the party and of course, romance.
Slowly and over time, the ethos of Skewjack became skewed. The original surf roots of the village were being diluted - in line with the growing commercialisation of what was fast becoming a lucrative industry. The stories being gathered for this project not only chart Skewjack’s journey but weave a picture of how surfing’s heart also changed.