Carve Magazine

30 years… so, where do we start?
I’m sat outside Plymouth Uni café in the sun chatting. You got a grant to go back then. I could surf loads, lifeguard for extra cash, and have time to travel. Someone asked me what my dream job was. I said, “working for a surfing magazine”. I’d never actually thought of it before, as there weren't any to work for. Then they asked: “Why?” My response: “To inspire surfers to travel the world, give British and Irish surfers the coverage to get sponsors that would enable them to live their dreams like overseas pros, and tell the stories from home about local surfers doing remarkable things. The stuff you didn't see in Australian or American surfing magazines. And to fight the water companies dumping sewage in the sea…”
Issue one of Carve was published in spring 1994 by Chris Power. Its aim? To get people stoked and to represent British and Irish surfing, like the US and Oz mags did overseas. I wrote about a trip to Portugal. Next year I joined full-time on issue four, as Assistant Editor and Ad Manager. Been here ever since. So now it’s 30 years later. In that time Carve, its editors, storytellers and photographers, have all sought to stand by its original aims – documenting amazing travel stories, trying to get surfers to incredible places, and represent them. In 1994, British and Irish surfers were still seen as anomalies. “Do you drink tea and surf in the river?” Was a standard response. No one got why we loved surfing where we did. Waiting for breaks in weather systems, the raw brutal coastlines we inhabit, dark waters, endless storms, huge tides, no palm trees – it was all too confusing for those on tropical shores. Now coldwater surfing is a thing and coldwater swimming renowned worldwide as a major health kick. They still may not want to live here, but people get it.