Manly Surfing History - 45 years on and Ken’s still Amped
It was a different world back in 1964. That was the year The Beatles visited Australia for the famous group’s only tour Down Under. It was the same year Harry Vanda met George Young and Stevie Wright at a Villawood migrant hostel and formed Australia’s answer to The Beatles, The Easybeats. Manly’s own Robert Askin was the ‘less than honourable’ Premier of NSW.
At the same time, surf culture was taking a firm grip on Australian youth. The First World Surfboard Riders Championship was held in Manly that year and was won by local legend, Midget Farrelly to the soundtrack of 'surf' instrumentals played by bands like Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, The Denvermen and The Atlantics.
And in 1964, 16 year old Ken Gray was learning to surf on the NSW far north coast. Up that way, you either joined the Woolgoolga Surf Club or nearby rival Yamba… Ken chose the former. So who is Ken Gray and why am I writing about him in The Drum?
Many Our Manly readers would recognise him on sight… he’s the genial postie who delivers the mail every day (rain, hail or shine). His ‘run’ covers an area of Manly from the library to Manly Surf Club … in one section (of about 1½ square kilometres) he delivers to over 550 units and businesses! It keeps him fit - which is just as well; because Ken (now a spritely 60) has maintained his love of the surf for 45 years and still organises his shifts around the quality of the waves.
Ken moved from Woolgoolga to Manly in 1966, the same month pounds and pence changed to dollars and cents. He took a job as a ‘Telegram Boy’, training out at Strathfield so he could actually work the keyboard as a Telegraphist as well as deliver messages. He was transferred to Canberra, but that was too far from the beach so he quit the job and returned to Manly.
Ken Gray still surfing… 2008 The maldives
He applied for and won a job with O.T.C. (Overseas Telecom, later to become just Telecom and then Telstra), where he stayed for 21 years. Again he continued to volunteer for shift work, starting in the afternoon and working late to make sure the mornings were left free for surfing (when the swell and the water clarity is usually at its best).
For half the day (and night) he was King of the Keyboard, typing and sending Telexes (until that technology went the way of the dinosaurs)… but every morning, his Kingdom was the surf and he’d usually be found at his favourite breaks - either The Bower or Mid-Steyne.
In 1987, Ken’s dad died and he returned to the North Coast for a while… but soon after a mate who lived in Collaroy gave him a call and offered him a casual job back in Sydney as a postienat - a job that would still allow him time to surf. It was only supposed to last a short time…but 22 years later, Ken’s still pounding the beat with only great waves staying this brave courier from the swift completion of his appointed rounds.
I shared a coffee with Ken last week and listened to him talk about surfing as it was – the best breaks, the characters of the sport, the changes in technology and more. Here’s an excerpt of that conversation:
DK: So what was surfing in Manly like in ‘the early days’ Ken?
KG: Well surprisingly, even though it was early on in terms of professional surfing, back then if you could swim, you surfed… everybody did if you lived near the beach. But you had to be a decent swimmer… we were using those old loggers with no leg ropes. I’ve made many a long swim from the break to where The Bower restaurant is now to reclaim my runaway 9’ 6” Barry Bennett. Amazingly, like me, many of the guys I surfed with back then are still surfing today… (those that are still alive anyway).
DK: So you would have seen Midge Farrelly and Nat Young at their peak?
KG: Oh yeah… and there were a whole heap of other local legends too, some of whom never went pro. but could sure surf. Stuart Entwhistle (or ‘Twizzle’ as he was better known) was a real icon of the Manly surfing community. He won the World Long Board Championship in 1987 here in Manly and was an inspiration to many, (including a young Richie Lovett).
Twiz was one of those guys who couldn’t keep still… he was absolutely hyper. Some of us had another nickname for him – ‘The Rubberman’. There were always arms and legs flying everywhere. The Parties at his place were something else. Twiz had his last surf in July 2001, competing in Hawaii for his good friend China´s Annual Long Board Classic. He died of skin cancer in 2002.
Then there was one of the originals, Snowy McAlister… C.J. ‘Snowy’ McAlister was a legend when I first came to Manly. The story goes that he’d seen Duke Kahanamoku surf Freshie way back in 1915 as a kid and after that, began surfing on his mother's pine ironing board! A super talent, Snowy used to ride in what were then called Board Display contests. He’d do things like surf while standing on his head.
He won board displays in Sydney at Manly and Bondi right throughout the 1920s and in Newcastle from 1923 to 1936 all on solid wooden boards. In 1924 he won the 'Australian' Championships at Manly. He stopped competing during the war years but made a comeback at the 1956 Olympic Carnival in Torquay, Victoria. He was still surfing Manly in the late 60s.
When he passed away in 1988, a major winter long board event at Manly was named in his honour. In a book called Greats of the Australian Surf published in 1983, author Graham Cassidy listed his all time Australian Surfing Greats based on performance, style, contributions to design and to surf culture; and ‘Snowy’ McAllister was right up there with the likes of Midge Farrelly, Nat Young, Wayne Lynch, Terry Fitzgerald, Mark Richards, Simon Anderson and Tom Carroll.
Then there’s Barry "Magoo" McGuigan – a living legend who’s about 80 and still surfs competitively. It was only a few years ago (2006 I think, so he would have been 77) that he added the Over 60s Australian title to his Over 50s national trophy. It was over in W.A. and apparently the crafty old bugger just sat on the inside and milked the shapely inside walls for all they were worth.
‘Magoo’ has led the epitome of the surfing lifestyle - his whole life has revolved around the sport. And it’s the lifestyle that Magoo and these other guys value the most. He has an amazing collection of surfing memorabilia and his knowledge of surfing history is unsurpassed. I remember he was once quoted in a surfing magazine as saying: “The liquid running through my veins isn’t blood… it’s salt water!”
Bobby Mills was another one… an absolute loose cannon. No matter how big the surf was, he’d paddle out… and he had to catch the biggest wave of the day, whether it was closing out or not. He just had to take it. In the end, Bobby lost it and sadly took his own life at North Head in 1992.
Way back in 1972, Bobby wrote an article for Surfing World magazine titled: ‘The Good Old Days’ - a retrospective covering the period from the introduction of the Malibu board in 1956 through to 1966*.
DK: Author’s Note: I later researched this article… here are some quotes for it. “In those days, surfing was all about what you could do on a 9’ 6" board. All the first generation boys like Midge and Nat can remember how it all started and the feeling we used to get from it.
“Nat used to be the King of Collaroy… look at him now! WOW, can that guy surf. Midget opened Australia's surfing bit into the world by winning the 1964 World Title at Manly and has just about paved the way ever since. He is a beautiful person and always will be.
“I still have a 9ft 6in board I loved riding in Manly… what great old days I used to have there. The Bower - that was my favourite place. I’ll always remember Glen Ritchie and Robbie Lane - ‘The Bower Boys’ as they were then called – man, they used to ride that place to a standstill on their long boards. It’s still lots of fun crashing through sections, 'toes over' on the old boards.
“I wonder what’s happened to those real big days we used to have consistently at Manly when all the boys used to get out there at 20 feet and really get destroyed? I remember sitting in the Manly Pacific Hotel with all the boys one day when we had given it a big miss because it just had to be 25 foot and terrifying.
“To my dismay I suddenly realised that two tiny figures out there were two board riders, attempting to paddle out toward The Bower. No one could believe it and on racing around to Cabbage Tree Head, we made out Jeff and Billy Hannan paddling like crazy to scramble over this gigantic set that was more than 20 feet. Billy seemingly casually turns his board around half way up the wall and pushes into the last wave.
“He takes the drop and sweeps into a big, arching turn, right into the black bowels of a Frenchman's Reef bowl - utterly destroyed. Now that takes a lot of guts. Next thing more guys are heading out. I have been out at The Bower around 20 feet and even though I was dying inside, I did manage to get into one or two. Billy Hannan lost a brand new McTavish gun one day out there and it was six months before the board was found washed ashore up near Cairns, almost two thousands miles away!
“No one forgets the old Manly crew like Bob Pike, Graeme Bennett, Flacky, Peter Cornish, Warwick Smith, Nipper Williams, ‘Doc’ Spence and of course mad Morrie Lee. Morrie just lives for big days and he used to drag me out everywhere he went. Once we went surfing at Dobroyd Bombora - the biggest breaking wave inside the harbour mouth. It was a giant sucking 15 foot left and I just went to the toilet. Morrie was taking off another 200 feet inside of where I was and sometimes making it - when he didn't, well that swim is something else.
Photo John Severson - Pipeline 1964. Photo from The Art of the Surfboard by Drew Kampion
“Those days were great. When Manly Pacific Club and Queenscliff and Mid-Steyne Board Clubs existed, it was amazing how we used to all get together and party. A turn put on by those boys was something to remember. But for me, when those clubs went, so did the social brotherhood of surfing.”
DK: Sadly, Bobby’s now gone too… but Magoo and many others are still surfing?
KG: Oh yeah. I’ve seen a lot of faces come and go… but there’s a heap of guys from the pre-leg rope days still around and still competing.
DK: And you still enter the Masters events Ken?
KG: I do. In fact I finished 4th in the NSW Over 50s titles in 2001 and 4th in the Australian Titles in the same division in 2003! I compete these days just for the camaraderie… despite what Bobby thought, ‘The Brotherhood’ still exists. We have a great time at these tournaments regardless of results… if you get through a few rounds of competition, that’s just a bonus! I’m off to Crescent Head again soon and there’s at least 30 competitors in the Over 60s division (which I’m now just eligible for)… it’s the same in Noosa.
DK: Fantastic! You were never tempted to turn Pro?
KG: Nah… in the 60s I was too young, then I got married and had kids and by the time of the Bronzed Aussies era I was too old. Actually I didn’t surf much at all for a while when the kids were first born. Wasn’t really until they got into Nippers in the early 80s that I got back into it. (My son Cameron’s now a great surfer and a lifeguard at Manly.)
DK: So I guess you’ve ridden in some big surf too?
KG: I was never one of those crazies like Bobby who went out in 25 foot waves… but I’ve ridden The Bower plenty of times when the waves were up to 10 feet and more. And like Bobby, I’ve surfed the Harbour on big days. I remember in January ’74 when that cyclone hit that smashed down the Boardwalk at the old Manly Pool… would you believe we surfed Balmoral that day? And I’ve even surfed left off Fairlight Pool!
DK: What about the shark scare this summer… that didn’t tempt you to spend less time in the water?
KG: No… they’re always out there. Obviously with cleaner water comes more bait fish and more sharks, but they’re pretty well fed. I’ve seen them, but never really had any close brushes with them.
Although there was one day at mid-Steyne when this enormous shape just swam slowly underneath us… that was pretty freaky. (That’s one of my favourite local breaks by the way… right out in front of the North Steyne Surf Club. When a good Nor’ east swell hits the banks, it’s just right!)
But talking of sharks, the scariest place I’ve ever surfed is Cactus in South Australia… and I never even saw a shark. It’s right at the beginning of The Great Australian Bite – Great White territory. I was there one day and there were some seals sunbaking nearby. We were just told not to go in the water… ‘cos where there are seals, there are likely to be Whites.
DK: So… Cactus… Crescent Head… Noosa… you obviously travel around a bit chasing waves?
KG: Oh yeah… and overseas too! I surfed in Noumea in 2006… and last year a group of us travelled to The Maldives. That was great!
Ken Gray surfing in The Maldives 2008
(Note the hat to protect against that searing northern hemisphere sun!)
DK: So you’ll keep on surfing?
KG: I’ll surf as long as I can walk. That’s the one good thing about a steamer… it holds your body together!
DK: Thanks Ken… happy riding!
The writer of The Drum, Dave Keogh, has been a professional writer for some 30 years, contributing to publications as broad as Modern Fishing and Outdoor, he honed a passion writing a regular column – Talking Tennis – for The Manly Daily. With a varied history including work as a music industry publicist, theatrical agent, band manager, poet, editor and tennis coach, he found his niche in advertising, and with loads of awards under his belt, Dave went into business on his own and now runs several very successful businesses, including an online community connecting sport-loving people – http://www.doubledrummer.com/Most importantly, Dave loves sport, and is an avid supporter of The Manly Sea Eagles…