who ya gonna call?

Outline of two face profiles, one facing left and the other right, interlinked and outlined in pale yellow on a black background.

with

gowerbunga guest: Pete Jones

Favourite spot to surf: Langland

When I decided I was going to be making Gowerbunga, I knew I had to find a chance to speak to Pete Jones about featuring. He boasts an impressive 8 Welsh titles alongside having won both the British and Europeans, but it's not just his professional surf career that makes him one of Gower’s local legends. His surf shop, around the corner from the gorgeous Llangennith has been serving the community for over 40 years. Starting his own line reporting on the surf conditions in the 90’s he quickly became one of the beating hearts of Gower’s surf scene. Now if you know Pete you know that he’s a talker, so I’m going to let him finish the rest of this article. Read on to listen to him retell his glory days and even further to get the scoop on the original surfline...

Older man with gray hair, glasses, and mustache looking out a window on a cloudy day, wearing a black North Face jacket.

“See, in 67 I was captain of the Bishop gore swimming team.

We were swimming training one day in August, no wetsuits, just shorts. My pair was probably made out of wool in those days! We went to Langland, and Phil (Hayward) and Spike were there. Spike gave me a 9 ft tiki board.

“alright lay on it”

I was a front crawler, so I paddled out. And pfffffffff I bounced along, jumped up and rode it all the way in. First time. That moment I remember thinking ,‘fuck, I love this.’

So I paddled back out.

Text in graffiti-style font reading 'Pete Jones' with white letters outlined in black and gray.

Well I fell for it. I thought I’ve got to get myself a board. So I drove up to Abergavenny because Tiki had a factory up there, walking in they had loads of the normal boards. 9, 9 ‘6 , 10ft, and at the end there was this shorter looking one. 7’ 7 it was. A teardrop with a fin like the biggest nose you’ve ever seen.

I remember Tim (Heyland) saying, “you can’t learn on that, it’s too short.” But I thought,

An elderly man with long gray hair and glasses, wearing a black North Face jacket, sitting in a room with bookshelves, pointing and smiling.

‘I’m having that. I like that.’

I drove back so excited. I had my minivan, I had a board. I felt free. I remember turning up at Langland “God what have you bought” they said.

So I went to Cardiff college. I was a long haired guy with a tash see, I’ve had a tash all my life. My wife, my lovely wife, Carol, has never seen my upper lip. She says now “dont shave it off, I may not like you anymore!” The first time I went in, the head of department said “well it’s great to have you all here, but Peter Jones you’ll have to cut your hair and shave your moustache off.” God, I felt like I was back in school. So I remember I said, “I’m leaving.”

“What are you gonna do?”they said.

"im going surfing!"

A man is lifting his shirt to reveal his stomach while an elderly woman clings to his back from behind, both smiling and appearing happy inside a home with a large window in the background.

And I left and that was it.

The boom started in California see, it was the hippies with long hair in my day. But it’s still rebellious, what James used to do when he was 14 he would dye his hair pink! He’d go over to the local pub and they’d be saying “what the bloody hell are you doing!” so it hasn’t changed much. In my era, it was Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin for me that was it!

I thought, how can I not work and make enough money to be free every day to go surfing?

I loved this so much, but I had no money. You read Surfer magazine and see these great big waves and think, “how do I get there?” Then I saw a British team in the world contest in 1970 Australia. I thought if I can get on that team, I’ll get to travel. So I told myself ‘I’m really gonna do this.’

Black and white abstract line art of a folded pair of sneakers.

A black-and-white photograph of a man with long, wavy hair and a mustache and a woman with curly hair, both looking contemplative.

1972 I won the Welsh down here, Dave came second. It was different in those days, best 6 waves, an hour with points. I had 300, Dave had 299. Then I got into the top 6 in Britain and I chose to go to California for the world surfing championships in San Diego which was like

‘I’ve made it!’

We had great fun. In the morning all the heats were put on in the reception area. I’ll never forget this, I’m in with Gerry Lopez! I was a bit nervous, I could surf, but it was another place you know. This guy walks over, he says “Hey how you doing man, what’s your name?”. And it was Gerry. In that moment I thought,

‘fuck, that’s it then.’

A person with glasses, a beard, and long hair smiling and pointing to a large surfboard. There is a handwritten note on the surfboard that says '1975 Not for sale!'

One night Steve Harewood, from Jersey, love Steve. He was a bit of a party guy (not like Carwyn was mind!) But a party guy. Well I’m in bed and “knock, knock, knock”. He said “there’s a party on the top floor.” But we already knew cause we could hear the music from the distance. It was Lopez’s room, me and Steve got pissed as farts.

Look, a lot of them did (drugs). I looked like I did but I didn’t. I have had a go! But I didn’t need to do it,

my high was surfing.

I think if you love surfing it’s about feeling well when you come out of the water”

It’s so funny looking back at those days, because it was different. Now it’s a job. In those days, every major contest was party time, if you were good enough to be in the team then great! Now that I’m old, good doesn’t really matter you know.