From circa 1930s to the late 1950s beach users at Yallingup accessed the beach on wooden steps and changed into swim wear in wooden ‘His and Hers’ changing sheds on the beach. The wooden beach structures fell into disrepair in the early 1960s and were replaced with concrete beach access steps and a retaining wall circa 1968.
The concrete steps and retaining wall still exist at Yallingup beach.
Over the years the beach car park has been redesigned with curbing & flora and viewing platforms, shower facilities, playground equipment, landscaping & BBQ facilities have been added.
This is a pictorial record of the changing face of Yallingup beach since the late 1950s.
1955 Surfers chatting on Yallingup Beach. John Budge pic. Bernie Huddle is the tall fellow 3rd from the right, the others are unidentified. In the background are relics from the past, a beach shelter & lifesaving reel on the left and a wooden change room on the right. 1957 Tony ‘Harbo’ Harbison with Kevin Merifield’s broken plywood Toothpick surfboard on Yallingup Beach. Brian Cole pic. In the background are the wooden beach steps (left) and Men’s wooden changing shed (right). 1958 Surfers with plywood Toothpick surfboardsat Yallingup beach. Brian Cole pic. L-R. Keith Kino, Ian Scott & Ken Hamer. In the background are the wooden beach steps (left) and Men’s wooden changing shed (right).
Kevin Merifield, Yallingup – Ido not know when the wooden change rooms/steps were built, but suspect they go way back possibly to 1930/40s, I’m sure they were pre-1950s.Yallingup local Don House reckons the change rooms were there when he was an infant, he is now 77. I thought they came down late 1950s/early 60s. And yes, some of the timber from the old change rooms was used for fires on the beach, although I am not guilty!
1958 Summer holidays at Yallingup beach. Ralph Upton pic. L-R Cousins Alec & Brian, sister Rita and Ralph with six pack and hair 😊. Women’s wooden change shed in the background.
Ralph Upton, Dunsborough – This photo was taken in the late 1950s at Yallingup beach. Note the old wooden change rooms in the background.
My parents lived in Capel and Bunbury and during school holidays these cousins and others from Perth would come down and stay with us.
My dad and mum would take us all around the South West where we would go swimming, fishing, crabbing, and catching marron. We would also visit farms connected with my dad’s work. My mum was a great cook and my cousins would always request pasties for lunch on these day trips. My mum would get up early and bake the pasties and wrap them in tea towels and place them in a cake tin to keep them warm. She would also bake duck egg sponges with fresh cream to enjoy after the pasties.
Only two of the people in the photo are still alive but the memories of those days are still very fresh in my mind.
1959 Easter weekend at Yallingup Beach. Brian Cole pic. Beach shelter with life-saving reel (top right) and ‘His n Hers’ changing sheds separated by wooden steps (mid right). 1959 Hanging out at Yallingup Easter LWE. Brian Cole pic. L-R Laurie Burke, Des Gaines, John Peterson, Jim Keenan & Ray Nelmes. Men’s wooden changing shed in the background.
Jim Keenan, Sorrento – The wooden change rooms were in a reasonable condition as early as 1953 when we first visited Yallingup. The wooden beach access steps also were in a good condition.
We never used the change room or shed as we called it, the bush was our change room and the brick toilets/change rooms near our camp was the shower room. Wemodified the urinal in the toilet block for showering with bore water.
The public used the wooden change rooms (sheds) which did not have a tap or shower.
Over the years the change rooms became storm
damaged and this led to some removal of the wooden panels for firewood by some
individuals.
1960 Jim ‘Lik’ McKenzie (striped shirt) and Don Bancroft leaving the surf and returning to their Yallingup campsitevia the dunes.Steve Mailey pic. Wooden beach steps removed late 50s. 1962 Busy beach weekend at Yallingup. Glen Matson pic. Dune access to the beach (centre) and remnants of men’s changing shed on the right.
Ray Nelmes, Yallingup – Glen Matson took this photo on a busy weekend at Yallingup beach in 1961. Remnants of one of the former wooden change-rooms can be seen on the right. There were no steps down to the beach at that time.
The photo was taken from the rocks at the southern end of the beach where the boys often sun baked in the raw on the sand dune.
1964 Spectators at inaugural State Titles held at Yallingup Beach. Photo courtesy of Kelly Jane Logan. Spectators accessing the beach via dunes (top left) and remnants of beach shelter in foreground. 1968 Empty wave line-up at Yallingup Beach. Neil Ennis pic. Concrete steps with metal handrails on the right and retaining wall on beach front.
The Hammond family were pioneers at Yallingup and built Surfside Tearooms north of the unsealed Yallingup beach car park in the 1950s.
The Surfside complex was demolished in 2006 to make way for holiday accommodation and the beach car park is now sealed with curbing, defined parking spaces and flora.
1956 John ‘Budgie’ Budge’s Morris Minor sedan in unsealed car park near Surfside Tea Rooms at Yallingup beach. John Budge pic. Budgie’s car has plywood and balsa surfboards on the roof. 1975 State Titles competitors/spectator cars in sealed car park at Yallingup beach. Ric Chan pic. Melaleuca trees surround Surfside Store on the left and the brick toilets/change rooms on the right. 1967 Surfside Tearooms/Store (1950s to 2006) and car park at Yallingup Beach. Sharon McDonald pic2020 Wintertime Yallingup beach car park and holiday accommodation. Jim King pic
In the early 1960s surfing pioneer/builder Tony ‘Harbo’ Harbison constructed brick toilets/change rooms on the beach front at Yallingup.
The brick structure was demolished in the late 1980s and Harbo built replacement stone toilets/change rooms north of the beach car park at this time.
1956-57 Camp kitchen on Yallingup beach front. John Budge pic L-R Keith Kino, John ‘Red’ Abbott & Bernie Huddle. Brick toilets/change rooms were built on this site in early 60s. Circa 1980 Brick toilets/change rooms at Yallingup Beach (early 60s to late 80s). Photo by the late Peter Matulich. Prime beach front real estate 😊
Kevin Merifield, Yallingup – Fairly sure Tony ‘Harbo’ Harbison was involved in building the brick toilets/change rooms in the late 1950s/early 1960s on the Yallingup beach front.
Dave Williams (RIP) – Some of us desiring a cold shower figured out a unique plumbing devise whereby jamming a brick into the overhead toilet cistern provided us with an overflow of water to descend down on the operator and hence a perfect shower was created. (Excerpt Surfing Down South Book published 2014 by Margaret River Press).
Len Dibben, Booragoon – In the days when the track to Caves House was limestone, there was a stream that ran frequently all the way down to the ocean. To have a shower we hooked up a 20-gallon drum with a lid cut out and holes punched in the other side for a shower. (Excerpt Surfing Down South Book published 2014 by Margaret River Press)
2015 Stone toilet/change rooms (late 80s to present) & surfboard shape showers at Yallingup Beach.Jim King pic. L-R Bryn the dog (RIP) and Kim ‘Dish’ Standish.
In 2011 Yallingup was officially declared a National Surfing Reserve and a bronze sculpture of a surfer was unveiled to commemorate the Origins of Surfing in Western Australia.
2011 Plaque National Surfing Reserve Yallingup. Jim King pic. 2011 Officials unveiling the bronze sculpture to recognise the Origins of Surfing in WA at Yallingup. Jim King pic. Beach playground equipment in the background.
Many thanks to the contributing photographers and South West surf pioneers & locals who helped research this matter.
From circa 1930s to the late 1950s beach users at Yallingup accessed the beach on wooden steps and changed into swim wear in wooden ‘His and Hers’ changing sheds on the beach. The wooden beach structures fell into disrepair in the early 1960s and were replaced with concrete beach access steps and a retaining wall circa 1968.
The concrete steps and retaining wall still exist at Yallingup beach.
Over the years the beach car park has been redesigned with curbing & flora and viewing platforms, shower facilities, playground equipment, landscaping & BBQ facilities have been added.
This is a pictorial record of the changing face of Yallingup beach since the late 1950s.
Bernie Huddle is the tall fellow 3rd from the right, the others are unidentified.
In the background are relics from the past, a beach shelter & lifesaving reel on the left and a wooden change room on the right.
In the background are the wooden beach steps (left) and Men’s wooden changing shed (right).
L-R. Keith Kino, Ian Scott & Ken Hamer.
In the background are the wooden beach steps (left) and Men’s wooden changing shed (right).
Kevin Merifield, Yallingup – I do not know when the wooden change rooms/steps were built, but suspect they go way back possibly to 1930/40s, I’m sure they were pre-1950s. Yallingup local Don House reckons the change rooms were there when he was an infant, he is now 77. I thought they came down late 1950s/early 60s. And yes, some of the timber from the old change rooms was used for fires on the beach, although I am not guilty!
L-R Cousins Alec & Brian, sister Rita and Ralph with six pack and hair 😊.
Women’s wooden change shed in the background.
Ralph Upton, Dunsborough – This photo was taken in the late 1950s at Yallingup beach. Note the old wooden change rooms in the background.
My parents lived in Capel and Bunbury and during school holidays these cousins and others from Perth would come down and stay with us.
My dad and mum would take us all around the South West where we would go swimming, fishing, crabbing, and catching marron. We would also visit farms connected with my dad’s work. My mum was a great cook and my cousins would always request pasties for lunch on these day trips. My mum would get up early and bake the pasties and wrap them in tea towels and place them in a cake tin to keep them warm. She would also bake duck egg sponges with fresh cream to enjoy after the pasties.
Only two of the people in the photo are still alive but the memories of those days are still very fresh in my mind.
Beach shelter with life-saving reel (top right) and ‘His n Hers’ changing sheds separated by wooden steps (mid right).
L-R Laurie Burke, Des Gaines, John Peterson, Jim Keenan & Ray Nelmes.
Men’s wooden changing shed in the background.
Jim Keenan, Sorrento – The wooden change rooms were in a reasonable condition as early as 1953 when we first visited Yallingup. The wooden beach access steps also were in a good condition.
We never used the change room or shed as we called it, the bush was our change room and the brick toilets/change rooms near our camp was the shower room. We modified the urinal in the toilet block for showering with bore water.
The public used the wooden change rooms (sheds) which did not have a tap or shower.
Over the years the change rooms became storm damaged and this led to some removal of the wooden panels for firewood by some individuals.
Wooden beach steps removed late 50s.
Dune access to the beach (centre) and remnants of men’s changing shed on the right.
Ray Nelmes, Yallingup – Glen Matson took this photo on a busy weekend at Yallingup beach in 1961. Remnants of one of the former wooden change-rooms can be seen on the right. There were no steps down to the beach at that time.
The photo was taken from the rocks at the southern end of the beach where the boys often sun baked in the raw on the sand dune.
Spectators accessing the beach via dunes (top left) and remnants of beach shelter in foreground.
Concrete steps with metal handrails on the right and retaining wall on beach front.
The Hammond family were pioneers at Yallingup and built Surfside Tearooms north of the unsealed Yallingup beach car park in the 1950s.
The Surfside complex was demolished in 2006 to make way for holiday accommodation and the beach car park is now sealed with curbing, defined parking spaces and flora.
Budgie’s car has plywood and balsa surfboards on the roof.
Melaleuca trees surround Surfside Store on the left and the brick toilets/change rooms on the right.
In the early 1960s surfing pioneer/builder Tony ‘Harbo’ Harbison constructed brick toilets/change rooms on the beach front at Yallingup.
The brick structure was demolished in the late 1980s and Harbo built replacement stone toilets/change rooms north of the beach car park at this time.
L-R Keith Kino, John ‘Red’ Abbott & Bernie Huddle.
Brick toilets/change rooms were built on this site in early 60s.
Prime beach front real estate 😊
Kevin Merifield, Yallingup – Fairly sure Tony ‘Harbo’ Harbison was involved in building the brick toilets/change rooms in the late 1950s/early 1960s on the Yallingup beach front.
Dave Williams (RIP) – Some of us desiring a cold shower figured out a unique plumbing devise whereby jamming a brick into the overhead toilet cistern provided us with an overflow of water to descend down on the operator and hence a perfect shower was created. (Excerpt Surfing Down South Book published 2014 by Margaret River Press).
Len Dibben, Booragoon – In the days when the track to Caves House was limestone, there was a stream that ran frequently all the way down to the ocean. To have a shower we hooked up a 20-gallon drum with a lid cut out and holes punched in the other side for a shower. (Excerpt Surfing Down South Book published 2014 by Margaret River Press)
L-R Bryn the dog (RIP) and Kim ‘Dish’ Standish.
In 2011 Yallingup was officially declared a National Surfing Reserve and a bronze sculpture of a surfer was unveiled to commemorate the Origins of Surfing in Western Australia.
Beach playground equipment in the background.
Many thanks to the contributing photographers and South West surf pioneers & locals who helped research this matter.
Related content.
1950s Trad Jazz at Yallingup Beach published August 2019.
Surfside at Yallingup history published October 2015.
Hammond family farm (Yallingup Hill) early history published August 2017.
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