The coastal town of Dunsborough is located on Geographe Bay in the south west of WA. The town consisted of a general store, bakery and a few shacks until the 1950s. It was a sleepy coastal hamlet until surfing became popular in the 60s and wine tourism emerged in the mid-80s.
In 2001 the Dunsborough Writers Group published a book titled ‘Cape of Contrasts’. The book contains of stories of Cape Naturaliste WA and includes recollections and many fine old images of Dunsborough & surrounds. The book is available at the Public Library in Dunsborough.
Click on Your Margaret River Region tourism site to view Dunsborough’s History.
Photo: 1950s Aerial image of Dunsborough Beaches by Alexander Bain. Alexander Bain image courtesy of Brian Cole.
In the 60 & 70s Greenacres Beach Cottages/Caravan Park (located on the Dunsborough beach front) was a popular holiday venue for family holidays and visiting surfers.
Jason Greenacre: – “Greenacres Caravan Park closed in the late 90’s and it wasn’t due to lack of custom as you normally had to book at least a year in advance, it was sold by the people we sold it to for the real estate value as it had absolute beach frontage on the title.” (now strata titled Regency Beach Club).
Mitch Baker: – “My family owned the park upon its closure. The sale date was 25 February 1998.”
Photos: 1964 Surfers holidaying at Greenacres.
Top. (Left) Graeme Ward, Ross James, unknown & Geoff Baxter with surf wagon.(Right) unidentified girl with Ford Zephyr sedan & custom trailer.
Bottom. (Left) Greenacres cottage 2B. (Right) Jenny Tidy & Carol McDonald in mock beheading. Photos courtesy of Ron Moss.
Photos: 1970s Family holidays at Greenacres. Photos courtesy of King family.
Photo: 1971 unidentified lady with her bike in front of The Dunsborough Store (located corner of Dunn Bay Road and Naturaliste Terrace). The store sold groceries and petrol & had a public telephone booth outside. Photo credit Ric Chan.
Photo: 1971 unidentified lady riding her bike through Dunsborough CBD. Photo credit Ric Chan.
Photo: 1971 unidentified young bloke & Jeff ‘Re’ Marshall riding bikes through Dunsborough. Photo credit Ric Chan.
Photo: 1973-4 The Dunsborough Store. Suppliers of groceries, grog & Shell petrol. Photo courtesy of Mark Hills.
Surfers moved into Dunsborough in the early 70s. Ron ‘Gremmo’ Ellis, George Simpson & other surfers shared two rental houses on Bay View Crescent with views over Geographe Bay (near the former Greenacres cottages).
Photo: 1975 Surfers and their rental house at Bay View Crescent Dunsborough. Photo courtesy Peter McDonald
In the mid 70s a Pigbreeders Footy Team was formed in Dunsborough. The team comprised of approx 40 local surfers played against Capel and other teams in the South-West. In 1984/85 surfers Drew Brent-White, Andy Jones & the Bettenay brothers started the Yallingup Mulies Footy Team, which still exists today.
Photo: 1975 The Pigbreeders Footy Team having a shirts & skins training session at the Dunsborough Primary School oval. Photo courtesy of Peter McDonald.
SW surfers Ralph Redman and Geoff Culmsee ran a Fiberglass business in Clarke Street Dunsborough from 1973 to 2000 . Ralph also ran the Dunsborough Surf Cat hire business in Geographe Bay at the end of Dunn Bay Road during the summer holiday period.
Refer SDS blog ‘The Redman Surfing Dynasty’ published 22 April 2015 for more background on the Redman family.
Photos: 1976 Dunsborough Surf Cat Hire. Ralph Redman with his children Patrick & Melanie. Photo courtesy of Jill Redman.
The parents of renowned SW surf photographer Jamie Scott ran The Dunsborough Store in the 70s. Jamie took this photo of his dad’s store in 1977 when he was age 7.
Click on Jamie Scott Images to view Jamie’s images of the Margaret River wine and wave region.
Photo: 1977 the Scott’s Dunsborough Store. Photo credit Jamie Scott.
Photo: 1978 Dunsborough shops L-R Bianca & Kath King. View from front of former Hardware Store in Naturaliste Terrace. Photo courtesy of King family.
Young surfboard shaper Al Bean moved down south in the early 70s. He shaped surfboards in the SW and sold his boards through metro surf shops.
Photo: 1980 Al Bean promoting his surfboard business in Dunsborough. Photo credit Ric Chan.
In the 80s popular surfboard designer Greg Laurenson ran his surfboard business from an old dairy building located near the present Doctors Surgery in Dunn Bay Road, Dunsborough.
Photo: 1982-3 Greg Laurenson’s Surf Studio in Dunsborough. Photo courtesy of Gary ‘Gooselegs’ Vaughan.
Creature of Leisure Pty Ltd based their surfing accessories business in Clarke Street Dunsborough in the 80s.
Photo: 1987 Interior of Creatures of Leisure factory in Dunsborough. Photo credit Loz Smith.
In the 1980s Ron Baker ran his H2O Surfboards business in Naturaliste Tce Dunsborough. Dunsborough surfer/shaper Colin Ladhams shaped surfboards for H2O.
Image: 1989 H20 Surfboards advertisement published in Yal Mal Program.
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