WA surf pioneer Jim Keenan started surfing in the 1940s, initially at metro beaches (including Rottnest) before heading down south to Yallingup and Margaret River.
Jim is an active octogenarian and will turn 85 in June 2022. He lives at Sorrento and swims daily at Hillarys Marina Beach.
Jim’s Trigg Island memoirs
In my early life I was a resident of Subiaco/Jolimont and as a result the nearest coastline was City Beach which played a major part in my love of surfing.
However, before venturing into the ocean at City Beach my initial exposure on a regular basis was the coast stretching from Trigg Island to North Beach. The reason being that the Perrin family, relatives of my family, accommodated my sister and myself during school holidays for a number of years. Their house was in Malcom St just near the tea rooms.
They were wonderful times and I well remember the wild horses that ran through the streets at night. I guess they were from the Star Swamp area. The salt air and ocean captured my imagination and body, thus leading to further ventures in the ocean.
The timeframe covering the above, would have been the 1940’s through early 1950’s. North Beach was mainly populated by holiday homes and Triggs had limited numbers of housing. Fishing was a favourite hobby of the residents both at North Beach and Triggs and there was no shortage of fish as well. North Beach had a few fisherman’s shacks, but Trigg outnumbered it with the beach having a larger expanse of coast available.
Late 50s Trigg Point beach shacks & new Trigg Island SLSC in the background. City of Stirling pic courtesy of Chris Holyday
Eventually, at about 12 years of age City Beach became my ocean target and along with like-minded people learnt to body surf. One thing led to another, and the City of Perth SLSC became our home from home. it was here that I learnt to row and paddle surf skis. My close friends were Graeme Killen, David Williams, Tony Harbison and Johnny Budge. They along with Kevin Merifield, Bernie Huddle, Bill Pratley and Bruce Hill were the early surf pioneers at Yallingup around 1954.
1956 City Beach Dave Williams toothpick board and Jim Keenan & Cocko Killen on double ski. Ray Geary pic.
Over time and with confidence we became adventurous and often paddled to Rottnest to surf, stay overnight and return the next day. Of course, our parents never twigged and thought we were sleeping in the club rooms. See Related Content below.
1958 City Beach surfers Brian Cole & Owen Oates sitting on old truck at Rotto salt works. Brian Cole pic
We also used to row or paddle to Triggs which presented good surf during the months of Feb, March, April and sometimes May. No crowds and only those who knew what they were doing surfed Triggs. Those that did not use boards or skis, body surfed and there were quite a few. The surf club was formed in 1953 at Trigg and many of its members were great body surfers. To name a few, there was Red Abbott, Tony Rigoll, Rod Baker and Moose White. There were also groups from both City of Perth and Scarborough SLSC that loved to body surf Trigg.
When the surf was flat, we would paddle the extra distance to Marmion past Mettams to the fishing club now known as the M.A.A.C. The fish they caught were unbelievable and the beers they offered us were also unbelievable. The paddle or row back to City Beach after a day’s surfing was very tiring and if you did not take off at the first whiff of the sea breeze from the southwest, it became very tiring to say the least!
Another story, I might mention is the visit to Australia in 1959 by the Lutin Girls choir from England. They toured Australia for a couple of months visiting the major cities and large regional towns. Finally, they arrived in Perth which was to be their last port of call and concerts. They performed at His Majesty’s Theatre in Hay St. Perth. Tony Martin a member of the WA Police force and the Trigg Island Surf Club was friendly with the management of His Majesty’s Theatre, and they approached him with a view to holding a barbecue for the girls at Trigg. Tony approached the surfing fraternity to recruit as many as he could to accompany the girls at the barbecue. Initially he was met with a lot of knock backs.” Pommy girls, no thanks.” Anyway, after further consideration it was agreed we would attend and socialise. Well, thank God we did, as they turned out to be super fun and along with their modified versions of the concert songs were a major hit. They were so well received and likeable that Tony organised a further barbecue in the caves at Yanchep. Great memories. I guess the fifty odd members of the choir have the same recollections.
Trigg is a wonderful suburb and let’s hope it remains that way and not be overtaken by developers.
Cheers to all the readers.
James Keenan
Sorrento.
Photo Gallery
1957 Graham Killen & Jim Keenan on double surf ski at Yallingup main break. John Budge pic1959 Boys & beers Yallingup car park. Bill Pratley pic L-R Des Gaines, Ian Todman, Laurie Burke, Jim Keenan in Des’s Holden car.1959 Yalls beach boys & boards. Brian Cole pic L-R Ray Nelmes, Brian Cole, Jim Keenan, Des Gaines, Laurie Burke, John Budge & Artie Taylor.1962 Murray Smith & Jim Keenan surfing Margaret River main break. Image courtesy Jim Keenan.2008 Kevin Merifield’s 70th birthday bash at Millbrook Yallingup. Image courtesy of Kevin Merifield. L-R Ron Fussell, Dave Williams, Mark Paterson, Jim Keenan, Cocko Killen, Kevin Merifield & Tony Harbison.2017 WA surfing pioneers at Jim Keenan’s 80th birthday held at MAAC. Image courtesy of Jim Keenan. Jim is in the red shirt centre right.2019 Jim Keenan with his photos on a rubbish bin at Yallingup Beach. Bruce King pic
An extract of Jim’s Trigg Island memoirs will appear in the ‘RECOLLECTIONS from the COAST’ book by Chris Holyday, due mid 2022.
WA surf pioneer Jim Keenan started surfing in the 1940s, initially at metro beaches (including Rottnest) before heading down south to Yallingup and Margaret River.
Jim is an active octogenarian and will turn 85 in June 2022. He lives at Sorrento and swims daily at Hillarys Marina Beach.
Jim’s Trigg Island memoirs
In my early life I was a resident of Subiaco/Jolimont and as a result the nearest coastline was City Beach which played a major part in my love of surfing.
However, before venturing into the ocean at City Beach my initial exposure on a regular basis was the coast stretching from Trigg Island to North Beach. The reason being that the Perrin family, relatives of my family, accommodated my sister and myself during school holidays for a number of years. Their house was in Malcom St just near the tea rooms.
They were wonderful times and I well remember the wild horses that ran through the streets at night. I guess they were from the Star Swamp area. The salt air and ocean captured my imagination and body, thus leading to further ventures in the ocean.
The timeframe covering the above, would have been the 1940’s through early 1950’s. North Beach was mainly populated by holiday homes and Triggs had limited numbers of housing. Fishing was a favourite hobby of the residents both at North Beach and Triggs and there was no shortage of fish as well. North Beach had a few fisherman’s shacks, but Trigg outnumbered it with the beach having a larger expanse of coast available.
Eventually, at about 12 years of age City Beach became my ocean target and along with like-minded people learnt to body surf. One thing led to another, and the City of Perth SLSC became our home from home. it was here that I learnt to row and paddle surf skis. My close friends were Graeme Killen, David Williams, Tony Harbison and Johnny Budge. They along with Kevin Merifield, Bernie Huddle, Bill Pratley and Bruce Hill were the early surf pioneers at Yallingup around 1954.
Over time and with confidence we became adventurous and often paddled to Rottnest to surf, stay overnight and return the next day. Of course, our parents never twigged and thought we were sleeping in the club rooms. See Related Content below.
We also used to row or paddle to Triggs which presented good surf during the months of Feb, March, April and sometimes May. No crowds and only those who knew what they were doing surfed Triggs. Those that did not use boards or skis, body surfed and there were quite a few. The surf club was formed in 1953 at Trigg and many of its members were great body surfers. To name a few, there was Red Abbott, Tony Rigoll, Rod Baker and Moose White. There were also groups from both City of Perth and Scarborough SLSC that loved to body surf Trigg.
When the surf was flat, we would paddle the extra distance to Marmion past Mettams to the fishing club now known as the M.A.A.C. The fish they caught were unbelievable and the beers they offered us were also unbelievable. The paddle or row back to City Beach after a day’s surfing was very tiring and if you did not take off at the first whiff of the sea breeze from the southwest, it became very tiring to say the least!
Another story, I might mention is the visit to Australia in 1959 by the Lutin Girls choir from England. They toured Australia for a couple of months visiting the major cities and large regional towns. Finally, they arrived in Perth which was to be their last port of call and concerts. They performed at His Majesty’s Theatre in Hay St. Perth. Tony Martin a member of the WA Police force and the Trigg Island Surf Club was friendly with the management of His Majesty’s Theatre, and they approached him with a view to holding a barbecue for the girls at Trigg. Tony approached the surfing fraternity to recruit as many as he could to accompany the girls at the barbecue. Initially he was met with a lot of knock backs.” Pommy girls, no thanks.” Anyway, after further consideration it was agreed we would attend and socialise. Well, thank God we did, as they turned out to be super fun and along with their modified versions of the concert songs were a major hit. They were so well received and likeable that Tony organised a further barbecue in the caves at Yanchep. Great memories. I guess the fifty odd members of the choir have the same recollections.
Trigg is a wonderful suburb and let’s hope it remains that way and not be overtaken by developers.
Cheers to all the readers.
James Keenan
Sorrento.
Photo Gallery
L-R Des Gaines, Ian Todman, Laurie Burke, Jim Keenan in Des’s Holden car.
L-R Ray Nelmes, Brian Cole, Jim Keenan, Des Gaines, Laurie Burke, John Budge & Artie Taylor.
L-R Ron Fussell, Dave Williams, Mark Paterson, Jim Keenan, Cocko Killen, Kevin Merifield & Tony Harbison.
Jim is in the red shirt centre right.
An extract of Jim’s Trigg Island memoirs will appear in the ‘RECOLLECTIONS from the COAST’ book by Chris Holyday, due mid 2022.
Related content
1954 Rotto crossing history by Jim Keenan published 8 Oct 2016
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