09/09/2026
The Best Of British: Phil Williams: Finding Stoke in Unlikely Places
The Bristol Channel has played a big part in British surfing history, from the famous breaks of North Devon to generations of surfers who have grown up around its coastline.
For Phil Williams, though, that relationship with the Bristol Channel has taken a slightly different route.
His story starts in Weston-super-Mare, takes us down the coast to Woolacombe and Croyde, and eventually heads in completely the opposite direction – up the River Severn in search of one of Britain’s most unusual waves.
And somewhere along the way, Phil has spent nearly 50 years surfing, travelling, organising events and helping other people discover all the good that surfing can bring.
It started in Weston
Phil was born in Nigeria, moved briefly to Inverness in Scotland, then to Bristol at around eight years old before spending his teenage years in Weston-super-Mare.
And like so many surfers of his generation, it actually started with skateboarding.
Phil, his brother and their mates were part of the huge skateboarding boom of the 1970s. They built boards, skated wherever they could and generally spent their time looking for something to ride.
Then surfing took over.
Weston gets waves. Phil knows that better than most.
We’ve got a fantastic old newspaper cutting showing him surfing there on one of those days when everything came together. Under the wonderfully understated headline “What a wash-out!”, Phil is pictured making the most of the conditions, with the caption:
“Surfer Phil Williams makes the most of the high tide and giant waves at Weston-super-Mare.”
But if Phil and his mates wanted more regular surf, they headed further down the Bristol Channel coast.
And as teenagers, that meant hitchhiking to Woolacombe.
They’d hire boards when they got there, surf during the day, skateboard in the evenings and sleep in the dunes before finding their way back to Weston.
Just think about that for a minute.
No car. No mobile phone. No surf forecast sitting in your pocket.
You stuck your thumb out, got yourself to Woolacombe and hoped there were some waves when you arrived.
That was commitment.
From Weston to Plymouth
In 1980 Phil left Weston and headed to Plymouth Polytechnic, where surfing became an even bigger part of his life.
He became chairman of the Polytechnic surf club and in 1981 organised the National Student Surf Championships, bringing together around 300 students.
And that’s where you start to see something that runs right through Phil’s story.
He didn’t just want to surf.
He liked bringing surfers together.
In 1992 Phil spotted a little advert in Surf Scene magazine asking if anyone was passionate about both surfing and their Christian faith.
Phil was.
So naturally, he completely ignored it.
It actually took more than a year, and some encouragement from his wife Annie, before he finally got in touch.
That small decision would end up shaping the next three decades of his life.
Phil became involved with the fledgling Christian Surfers UK and eventually took on its national leadership.
What started with just four people and £10 in the bank grew into a nationwide surfing community with hundreds of members.
And the Bristol Channel would feature once again.
At Croyde, Phil and Christian Surfers became closely associated with the Jesus Surf Classic, an event that became a familiar fixture in the British surfing calendar.
Phil’s faith is obviously a huge part of his story, but what’s equally striking is just how much of his life has been spent serving the wider surfing community.
Competitions, juniors, surf organisations and para surfing – Phil has spent an awful lot of time helping other people enjoy surfing.
Then he went the other way…
For much of his adult life Phil has lived in Nailsea, near Bristol.
And eventually his relationship with the Bristol Channel took a rather unusual turn.
Instead of heading down towards North Devon looking for waves, Phil headed the other way.
Up the River Severn.
Phil has been surfing the Severn Bore for decades and became part of its wonderfully eccentric community of river surfers, the Muddy Brothers.
His longest ride on the Bore?
Around 27 minutes on one wave.
That’s not a typo.
Twenty-seven minutes.
It’s about as far removed from a conventional surf session as you can imagine, but somehow it fits Phil’s story perfectly.
Then a wave came to him
After spending much of his life travelling in search of waves, something happened that the teenage Phil hitchhiking from Weston to Woolacombe could never have imagined.
Someone built a wave just down the road from his home.
The arrival of The Wave near Bristol meant Phil suddenly had consistent surfing practically on his doorstep in Nailsea.
There’s something rather fitting about that.
After all those years of finding waves wherever he could – Weston, Woolacombe, Croyde, the Severn Bore and goodness knows where else – eventually a wave came to him.
Ocean, river or wave pool, it doesn’t really seem to matter.
A wave is a wave. And stoke is stoke.
Sharing the stoke
And perhaps that’s really what Phil’s story is about.
Because his contribution to British surfing goes far beyond Christian Surfers.
He’s been involved with British surfing organisations for decades and today is Team Manager for England’s Para Surfing Team.
He’s also put a huge amount of time into junior surfing.
In 2025, after more than three decades at the helm, Phil handed over the leadership of Christian Surfers UK.
But don’t mistake that for retirement.
He’s still involved internationally, particularly across Europe, as well as with para surfing and – appropriately enough for someone with his history – inland surfing.
My Place in the Lineup
Phil has now put many of those stories into his book, My Place in the Lineup: Serving the Surfing Community, Through Life, Faith and Changing Tides.
And we think the title sums him up rather nicely.
Because Phil’s place in the lineup was never simply about how many waves he caught.
It was about turning up and getting involved.
His surfing life has taken him around Britain and around the world, but the Bristol Channel has remained a remarkable thread running through his story.
From his teenage years in Weston-super-Mare, hitchhiking down to Woolacombe, the Jesus Surf Classic at Croyde, and then heading the other way to ride the muddy waters of the Severn Bore.
And after all those years chasing waves, he now has The Wave close to his home in Nailsea.
Nearly 50 years later, Phil is still doing much the same thing.
Looking for waves, bringing people together and finding stoke wherever he can.
Phil has dedicated much of his life to surfing and, perhaps more importantly, to all the good that surfing can bring to people. He’s shared the stoke, created opportunities and helped countless others find their own place in the lineup.
So here at the Museum of British Surfing, we believe there’s definitely a place in the lineup for the very Best of British.
Phil Williams has certainly earned his.
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Phil Williams will be joining us at the Museum of British Surfing Vintage Surf Meet, where he’ll be signing copies of his book, My Place in the Lineup.
