I started surfing when I was 21 and living in Australia. I grew up in the North East of England about 30 minutes from the coast. Although my uncle surfed, surfing wasn’t on my mind at all growing up and I didn’t really know or care that it was possible (and epic!) around my hometown. 

I was working with horses in Australia which had been my lifelong passion, and I just fancied getting into something new in my free time as my horse love was pretty fulfilled at work! Surfing wormed its way in pretty quick and took over my life.

The drive is pretty inexplicable - it’s so immersive, meditative and addictive. There’s never anywhere I’d rather be when I’m surfing an epic, sweet or cute wave - it puts you firmly in the moment, and that’s really hard for me to achieve any other way. Sometimes I absolutely hate it too when I have a terrible session, but it just makes me need a good session even more. Addiction… but a largely positive one so I’m ok with it.

It depends on the time of year. My partner Chris and I run NE Surf, a surf school in Bamburgh, Northumberland. From April until November we’re generally planning or teaching lessons, running surf camps, surfing or hunting for any little swells that roll by or walking our little doggo, Zena.

From December until March we’re normally somewhere else in the world, bumming around in a van, always fully focussed on surfing, eating and sleeping.

New Zealand was amazing because in parts you can get from East to West within a few hours and have totally different swell opportunities, everyone was so friendly, the waves are incredible, the people to space ratio is perfect. I’d move there in a heartbeat if it weren’t so far from my family.

Get rid of the 9 to 5. If you have to have a ‘normal’ job, let’s get everyone together to sign a petition for a 4 day working week? Or 3? If that’s not possible, move somewhere that has more constant daylight hours throughout the year - if I had to stick with my previous job as a math teacher I would have had to move away from the UK - short winter days, structured jobs and inconsistent swells aren’t overly conducive to surfing.

I did community care work for a while during covid which meant that I could surf on my shift break while out and about… It actually was a pretty amazing and fulfilling job, but hard work and emotionally taxing.

Surf’s up. Because Chicken Joe is a legend.

@ne.surf for the hearty Northumberland vibes and @srface for your cold water surf fix.

Paddle power and speed - there’s nothing more infuriating than missing a good wave.

I found out that Edinburgh is actually further west than Manchester the other day which blew my mind.