Retired WA surfer and surf-industry pioneer Len Dibben age 88, reflects on surfing at Cottesloe during the 1950s and 1960s.
Surfing Cottesloe in the early days by Len Dibben
When I first started surfing in the late 50’s & through the 60’s even into the 80’s & 90’s Cable Station reef used to break really good, a great right hander. What stopped that break from working was the building of Cottesloe Groyne, Dutch Inn Groyne, Sand Tracks, the lengthening of the North Mole, City Beach groyne & Floreat groyne, just to name a few.
Those were the days when North Mole was a secret spot. Also, before the Cottesloe groyne was built in 1959, there was no surf to speak of at Isolated, Seconds or Cove. We surfed Cottesloe beach at the Dummy (formerly the Loom), the Bell (also known as the Pylon) & Slimys reef, Dutch Inn (pre-Groyne) & Cable station in the winter.
The beach at Dutch inn was quite wide as local fishermen used to leave their wooden clinker boats on the sand all year round and we guys at Cottesloe used them as a wind break when we came in from a surf. In a southwest wind we would build a fire to warm ourselves in between surfs.
There were no wet suits, maybe footy jumpers & our swim costumes. Surfers back then were Terry James, Bob Birch, Gary Birch, Cliff Hills, Ron Allen, Jeff Dalziel & Kerry Davies. There were about 10 – 15 of us that were regulars at all these breaks. I was the only guy not from Cottesloe, I was from Beaconsfield.
1948 Surfing wooden surfcraft at Cable Station Cottesloe. Water shot by Don Bancroft.
Mid 1950s Mark Paterson & Bob Keenan surfing 16ft toothpicks at North Cottesloe. Photographer unknown
1959 Alan MacGilvray and Keith Campbell surfing Dutch Inn Cottesloe. Photo courtesy Keith Campbell.
1960 Aerial photo of Cottesloe with The Cove & Mudurup Rocks in the foreground. . Image courtesy of The Grove Library.
1966 Cottesloe main break. Surfers Artie Shaw & others with the old pylon on the right. Photo Nick Thomas RIP.
1967 WASRA State Title program featuring State Open Mens Champion Murray Smith surfing the North Mole. Photo Trevor Burslem.
Len and his wife Wendy, have played a significant role in the history of WA’s surfing industry. Now that Len has hung up his tools, we thank him for sharing his surfing memories.
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