They had started the 20th century with no fins, just dipping their feet in the water to steer, then the single fin ruled for the best part of four decades, and then twin fins came into vogue - and finally in the 1980s three fins on a surfboard became the new Holy Grail.

In truth, shapers had experimented with three fins ('bonzer' boards) for years, but it was Simon Anderson's 'thruster' set up that would set the standard for the next twenty years.

As the 1980s started to kick in with it garish fluro wetsuits and clothing, surfing went ballistic. In the UK, glossy full-colour magazines like Wavelength, Surf Scene and Carve were launched, reflecting the growing popularity of surfing here.

Surfing was big and brash.

1989 would be another proud year for British surfing when the charismatic Martin Potter clinched the world professional title on Hawaii's infamous north shore - a surfer who is still competing today.

Surfing continued to grow in Britain through the late 1980s and 1990s as longboards became more and more popular again - allowing many more people to enjoy the pleasures of the ocean.

Concern about Britain's appalling pollution all around this maritime isle's coastline prompted the launch of the environmental pressure group Surfers Against Sewage.

In a decade they changed (many) water companies attitudes towards sewage treatment and help steer (most of) them away from the pump and dump mentality. Now they sit alongside British and European government ministers helping to decide policies to protect our precious seas.

In the late 1990s The Surfer's Path magazine started up and soon became the country's bible of soul surfing - focusing on the stoke, art and culture of the sport as no British publication had done before. It now has a worldwide readership as surfing's boundaries become ever more blurred.

Today we have a flourishing surf scene with stars like Russell Winter, Robyn Davies and Sam Bleakley who tour the world competing - and tens of thousands of 'ordinary' people (no true surfers are 'ordinary') surfing on every coast of Britain whenever there's a hint of a swell.

Now in the 21st Century it's a multi million pound industry, as the marketing men push the lifestyle image of surfing to the limits. In Britain today you can hardly switch on the TV, turn the corner of a street, or the page of a mainstream publication, without seeing some sort of representation of surfing.

Surfboards now come into the country from major shapers all over the world, but hidden in surfing communities all over Britain small 'backyard' businesses still make boards to keep their local surfers in the water.

Here at the home of The Surfing Museum in Brighton we have Steve Darch at Filf, who's shaped boards for British Masters Champion Cliff Cox and top women's surfer Heather Colebrook. Just one small fish swimming successfully in a very big ocean of surf manufacturers.

Around Britain, names like Tiki, Gulf Stream, Nine Plus, Custard Point, Fluid Juice, Snugg and Second Skin are just a handful of the British companies at the forefront of keeping a hungry home market supplied with the latest surfboards and wetsuits.

Retro is the new cool, with surfers delving back into the sport's past for inspiration to take them to new levels of stoke. As with so much in our modern lives, what's old is new again, and so we turn full circle (a nice roundhouse cutback perhaps).

You can only imagine what Captain James Cook would have thought today if he sailed up the east coast of England to his native Yorkshire, only to see some rubber-clad soul pulling into a thick brown barrel.

Who knows where it will all lead. But when you pick up your modern surfboard and paddle out for just one more wave, remember the decades of surfers who went before you and make up the proud heritage that has made surfing in the UK what it is today.

Extracts from "Cold Water Soul, a History of British Surfing" by Peter Robinson.

Copyright © 2003 The Surfing Museum Ltd. All rights reserved.