Funnell Ronald Spencer (1 results)

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. 2nd Edition. First published in 1934, this "improved" Coronation Year Edition was issued in June 1953 in response to growing interest in the sport, notably thanks to coverage in the Daily Mirror and Picture Post (pp3-4). Original staple-bound colour illustrated wraps 12x19cm. 36pp including b/w photos and local adverts. Printed by A. Wheaton & Co., Exeter. Very good, tanning, with some creasing, staples rusting. Ronald Funnell (1894-1971) ran the Cornish Bookshop in Newquay at this time, and had written a published a couple of other local guides. This work first appeared when surfing was taking off, having apparently been imported by Australian soldiers during WW1 (ref: Andy Funnell, Spencer's Wood: Ronald Spencer Funnell, Surfing Pioneer on the Cornish Coast). This second edition includes practical advice on board type, confidence, hold and control, choice of breaker, take-off, best times, and a few don'ts. There is also a list of all suitable beaches in England, cautions to bathers, and warnings re Spring tides. Photos credited to the author, Daily Mirror and Raymond Smith show surfers in action, and some striking locations. Adverts are for local equipment suppliers Westlake's (for curved ash or chestnut boards, and agents for the new Solarbo Balsa Boards which are pictured), shops, tours, hotel, and dancing at the Blue Lagoon. Very rare, with Worldcat and Jisc recording only 4 locations (BL, National Library of Scotland, Trinity College Dublin, University of Oxford). A shorter revised edition appeared c1955/6.…