Agatha Christie: surfing pioneer

A number of newspapers have reported the discovery of evidence that the Torquay-born author Agatha Christie was among the first to adopt the modern style of surfing standing up on the board.

See, for instance, the Guardian story Agatha Christie's surfing secret revealed, which reports research by Pete Robinson, founder of the Devon-based Museum of British Surfing - mentioned previously - that Christie and her first husband Archie became keen surfers during their world tour organised as part of the 1924 British Empire Exhibition.

In Agatha Christie: An Autobiography, posthumously published in 1977, Christie recalled:

Oh, the moment of complete triumph on the day that I kept my balance and came right into shore standing upright on my board!

For more surfing history, see the Museum of British Surfing. As yet the museum only has a web presence, but according to the website, it's currently on target for its planned opening at Braunton, Devon, in the near future.

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Torquay Pottery

Michael Mapps sent us a link to his new site, Torquay Pottery (www.torquaypottery.co.uk).

Created by collectors, its aim is "to increase further the knowledge of all pottery made in the Devon area between 1860 and 1980". Apart from a nice gallery of photos - which will rapidly dispel the stereotype of Torquay pottery as focusing on low-grade "Mottoware" souvenir knick-knacks - the includes a brief history of Torquay Pottery and a variety of articles and news useful to collectors.

The site augments the Torquay Potter Collectors Society site we mentioned previously.

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The wreck of the Tehwija

The weblogs Wayland Wordsmith and JSBlog have posts on the wreck of the Tehwija, a schooner that ran aground near Exmouth in 1907.

The Tehwija, called the Viga by some local newspapers, was a Riga-registered three-masted schooner carrying timber from the Baltic to Exmouth. It was wrecked in stormy conditions at Orcombe Point, fortunately without loss of life due to a successful rescue of the crew by the Teignmouth lifeboat. The Devon Local Studies Library has a photo of the wreck, which you can see is on the Exmouth side of Orcombe Point, as well as one of the captain's Pomeranian dog, which had to be left aboard but survived the wreck.

See Wayland Wordsmith for The wreck of the schooner 'Viga', an account from Pulman's Weekly; and JSBlog for The wreck of the Tehwija, which contains the text of a 1956 Nautical Magazine article by Anne Walsingham.

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