Tributes to a pioneer of surf, film and music
ONE of Cornwall’s pioneer surfers and owner of arguably the most famous music venue in the Duchy has died.
John Adams was one of the original pioneers of the West Cornwall surf scene in the Sixties. He passed away on January 1 in Penzance at the age of 81.
He grew up in Yorkshire where as a teenager he would spend the summer holidays working in his mother’s snack bar in Whitby.
It was during a summer trip to Cornwall where he was hoping to work in hotels and restaurants that he got hooked on surfing.
In an interview with KernowKalling in 2011 he said that it was after finding work as joint second chef at the Grenville Hotel in Bude that he got his first taste.
At the time, there were a couple of Australians working in the fledgling Surf Life Saving Club – the first in the UK – who introduced him to bodysurfing and surfing.
The call of the sea saw John move to Cornwall for good in search of unsurfed waves, many of which are now well known classics.
In the interview he said: “My friend Mike Hole and I both had vehicles we used to cruise around looking for unsurfed spots and this way opened up locations such as Porthleven, Praa Sands, Perranuthnoe, Nanjizal and even Gwenver, these were pioneering times.”
John surfed all over Cornwall and with his friends brought the sport to all corners of the county from Sennen to Porthtowan and even Newquay.
With his friends he was one of the first surfers at Sennen and formed the Sennen Surf Club.
The clothes shop run by Mike and his brother Tony in Penzance became the headquarters of the newly formed British Surfing Association of which John was a founding member.
John, who is survived by partner Carolyn Stephens, children Danielle and Mitch and three grandchildren Zac, Eli and Annabelle, founded Three S Films in 1979, producing, exhibiting and distributing mainly action sport films.
His productions celebrated surfing, windsurfing and skiing and, in 1987, his film Mountain Surfers was the first British film to document the emergence of snowboarding. Its success brought in commissions for films outside the realm of sport and, under John’s stewardship, Three S grew from there into the innovative company it is today.
To non-surfers John will probably be remembered as the owner of the Winter Gardens music venue in Penzance which grew from quite a civil affair at the beginning to become the stage for some of the world’s biggest bands, from Fleetwood Mac to Queen and the Sex Pistols. Fed up and disillusioned with the venue in which he had invested so much money and time John sold the building in 1987.
John’s daughter Danielle Ainstie paid tribute to him, saying: “Dad is known for being the first to surf Porthleven with his friend Mike Carr, but he also ran the Winter Gardens and booked artists like Fleetwood Mac, Queen and Talking Heads to name a few. He was even seen on stage with the Sex Pistols. That all those massive acts all played Penzance is a reflection on our dad’s vision.” Danielle who now works in Saudi Arabia as chief of marketing for a $20billion project said: “Growing up with our dad, we didn’t realise how lucky we were at the time. Mitch and I were often collected from school on a weekend by our dad and mum in a VW campervan and taken directly to a beach.” She added: “Dad loved his grandchildren, he spent many summers taking them surfing and fishing and much to my horror even when very sick still went off go-karting with them.
“He was a true legend, not just for his nightclub, his surfing but also as a dad and a JonDad, the nickname his grandchildren had for him.”