British Travel Journal | Summer 2020

“Fun. Connection to the ocean.
Simplicity,” says Jamie. ““These boards
are made to get people in the sea, to
get them surfing, to get them smiling.
What we love about bellyboarding is
the pure and simple fun that you can
have on a piece of plywood. And this is
ultimately what drives the business.”
SURF CULTURE
Jamie has been at the helm of Dick
Pearce Bellyboards for a decade, after
he and his business partner Andy
bought the company in 2010 - although
bellyboarding itself has been around for
nearly 100 years.
Bellyboarding – which originated
in Hawaii – arrived in England in the
early twentieth-century. Influenced by
what their Commonwealth comrades
had told them about, British soldiers
returning from the trenches of the
First World War brought back ideas
about the narrow wooden boards we
know today, and they soon became an
intrinsic and much-loved part of British
beach culture.
Charles Pearce, who initially ran
a manufacturing business from a
small workshop in South Molton, was
inspired by the ‘surf-riders’ he saw on the
local beaches and began to experiment
with making the boards himself. He was
so good at it that, in the years after the
Second World War, Charles Pearce and
Sons’ wooden boards became a fixture on
the beaches of the south west.
After Charles died, he passed the
business onto his son Dick, who, born
and raised in Devon, immersed himself
in the surfing culture, and became a
true champion of British bellyboarding.
For fifty years, he stuck to the family’s
time-honoured production methods and
materials and he refused to compromise
on quality.
When Dick died, Dick’s widow asked
Andy, a long-time friend and surf shop
owner, if we wanted to take over the
business, along with his business partner
Jamie. “There was one catch,” explains
Jamie. “The original manufacturing
methods used by Dick’s father were a
safely-guarded family secret. Andy had to
commit to buying the business before he
was allowed to see anything of it.”
Andy agreed, and the business, along
with the original workshop and beautiful
old wood-working equipment, passed into
Andy and Jamie’s careful hands.
WOOD IS GOOD
Dick’s commitment to only making wooden
boards, even in the face of competition
from disposable, imported, polystyrene
bodyboards, is something Andy and
Jamie have taken forward with passion.
Beach lovers themselves, the company
is determined to resurrect this wonderful
piece of British heritage, not only for
posterity reasons, but also because of the
environmental impact of disposable boards.
“Since the introduction of cheap foam
boogie boards in the 1980s, there are now
huge problems with these 'disposable'
boards – which break quite easily - getting
dumped at the beach in the summer
holidays and polluting the seas,” says Jamie.
“We want to bring the bellyboard back to
its former glory. And it’s so satisfying to
see more people taking up riding plywood
again.”
Sourcing their wood from sustainablymanaged
forests in Europe, the plywood
the company uses is carbon neutral in its
growth and produces very little wastage.
“It’s also incredibly strong, meaning our
boards will last a lifetime,” says Jamie.
“Sustainability is incredibly important to
us. Outside of the bellyboards, we try to
outsource all our accessories locally. Our
board bags are made by the sailmakers in
Padstow, and we are working this year on
bags made from old sail cloth.”
Continuing to make the boards in the
same way they have always been produced
is central to the brand’s success, but
also clearly something Jamie and Andy
are personally passionate about. Their
workshop is now based in Newquay, à
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