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ADVENTURE BRITAIN

ADVENTURE BRITAIN – BOOK – DEMI TAYLOR

Adventure Britain the definitive guide to the best active escapes

The ethos is about getting out there and experiencing Britain’s natural heritage without leaving a lasting impression on it.

THE IDEA

Demi Taylor conceived the idea to write the essential guide to the best outdoors adventures in the UK. The book would draw together insightful editorial, with indispensable advice from leading experts, illustrated with evocative photography.

THE RESULT

Adventure Britain was conceived and written by Demi Taylor. This groundbreaking 320pg guide to the best in action sports and outdoors adventuring was published by Footprint Handbooks.

Picture edited by Demi Taylor featuring phots by the author plus images from the cream of UK photographers.

THE APPROACH

From ideation, research and flat planning through to commissioning editorial and photography and writing, Demi oversaw the project from beginning to end. Broken down by region, she selected the best outdoors adventures including surfing, wild swimming, climbing, mountain biking, foraging and walking. Demi took to the seas and slopes, talking to experts in each field in order to recommend the best challenges in each location. Drawing in the experience, knowledge and passion of those who spend their time reconnecting with the wild landscapes around the UK the book combines inspiration and information with the ultimate ethos of enjoying all that British landscape has to offer in a low impact way.

Adventure Britain - the best active escapes by Demi Taylor. Mountain Biking South Downs Way

Our island is an alluring array of tarn-decked peaks and depressions. It is riven with rivers and interlaced by a spiders web of trails and paths exploring hidden. There are wooded pockets and deep valleys connecting vast open tracts, where village inns are reassuring beacons of hope and refreshment. The coastline is a confusion of hard edges, soft sands, sheer cliffs and shapely dunes. Vast bays neighbour coves whose secrets are only revealed to those willing to wait for the ebbing tide…

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QUIET REVOLUTION

QUIET REVOLUTION – EDITORIAL FEATURE – CHRIS NELSON

QUIET REVOLUTION
ON THE NORTHERN ISLE

> READ <

The officer snaps his pad closed and turns on his heel, kicking sand off his immaculate leather shoes as he heads back towards his car. “I’m coming back again tomorrow,” shouts the neoprene clad figure as the officer starts the engine of the Nissan Cedric patrol car.

THE IDEA

Chris Nelson took a deep dive into the previously unheralded and unknown surf culture of Hokkaido, Japan.

THE RESULT

Written by Chris Nelson, the article was a 9 page feature Huck Magazine’s Counter Culture Issue. hotography by Richie Hopson.

THE APPROACH

Chris was commissioned by leading lifestyle publication Huck to write a feature for their Counter Culture Issue. Travelling to Hokkaido in Japan, Chris drew on contacts and friends to find and spend time with the very first local surfers, hearing tales of how these pioneers first took to the icy waters. Facing hostility from the police and, in order to increase numbers, they recruited new surfers from the local motorcycle gangs. Chris took time to establish contact and build trust, tapping into local knowledge and sourcing incredible archive imagery. The resulting 9 page feature in Huck Magazine weaves together interviews and anecdotes as well as personal insights bringing to life the previously untold story of this unique scene.

Chris Nelson explores the surf culture of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost prefecture for Huck Magazine

“Winter sees the whole island transformed into an almost featureless amalgam of monochrome hues as deathly winds slice in from the Siberian plains with the clinical sharpness of a Samurai’s cold Katana blade.”

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QUIET REVOLUTION

Every time Noboru and his crew would come across a motorbike gang they would corner the boss and sell the stoke of surfing to them with an evangelical zeal that would shame a New York ad agency. “It was a bit scary, having to talk to these gang bosses,” says Noboru. “Not all the bikers could swim, but one of them tried surfing and said to all the others, ‘Surfing’s cool!’ so then others tried it, you know. Until that time there was nothing to do around the costal towns like Muroran or Tomakomai, and people didn’t like bikers, but bikers started surfing, surfing is better really, so you could say we were a movement for good.”    

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FREEZE FRAME

SURFING NOVA SCOTIA – TRAVEL FEATURE – CHRIS NELSON

FREEZE FRAME:
SURFING NOVA SCOTIA

> READ <

Lance Moore has represented Canada three times at the World Surfing Games. ‘First time in 1992, we were like the Jamaican Bobsleigh Team. I learnt a lot,’ he says. ‘Now I can hold my own with anyone if the waves are good.’

THE IDEA

Chris Nelson was commissioned to write a a main travel feature exploring the surf potential of Nova Scotia, Canada.

THE RESULT

Chris Nelson wove together interviews and anecdotes to produce a cover feature for the Independent Travel supplement. Photography Richie Hopson.

Supported by Destination Canada

THE APPROACH

Chris was commissioned by The Independent to write an article exploring an ‘off the beaten track’ surf destination. Chris travelled to Nova Scotia accompanied by photographer Richie Hopson, to spend time with the local surf community, hearing tales of pioneers and adventurers, stories of exploration and adversity. Chris’s contacts and reputation allowed an unrivalled access the scene. Combining personal insights and interviews, the resulting piece ‘Freeze Frame’ was the cover feature for the weekend travel supplement. The trip was kindly supported by Destination Canada.

Surfing Nova Scotia, travel feature by Chris Nelson exploring the surf potential of Nova Scotia, Canada for The Independent

It is still dark as I struggle into my damp wetsuit. My toes are beginning to numb as I stamp my feet and breathe a warm, ghostly mist onto my pink fingers. The new block of malleable cold-water wax I’ve brought from Cornwall has protested at the drop in temperature by turning into something that resembles a lump of diamond-hard, coconut-scented flint.

Surfing Nova Scotia, travel feature by Chris Nelson exploring the surf potential of Nova Scotia, Canada for The Independent. Photography Richie Hopson
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FREEZE FRAME

As surfers, our quest is always for the perfect wave, but the fine print has always included a warm-water clause. Over the decades we’ve scoured the Equator looking for the ultimate ride; risked leaky ferries off Bali, malaria-riddled jungles in Java, shark-infested waters off Mozambique and civil wars from Nicaragua to Sri Lanka.

They have been surfing in this Canadian province since Saturday 7 July 1962. “The amazing thing about our surf history is that we can trace it back to the very first day a Nova Scotian paddled out on a surfboard,” says first-generation surfer Jim Leadbetter. “Rod Landymore and his brother had a father who was in charge of the Eastern Fleet. An American admiral came to visit and brought them two surfboards. They caught their first waves that very day.”

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ICE BREAKERS

COLD WATER SURFERS – EDITORIAL FEATURE – CHRIS NELSON

ICE BREAKERS

> COLD WATER SURFING <

“That degree of cold carries with it an inherent threat, a quiet, ever-present menace. It waits for that one mistake when responses are slowed, when coordination and judgment are slipping, when the cloak of hypothermia clouds the senses. Just one broken zip during a mid-winter duck dive or a heavy wipeout can trigger a fight for survival.”

Ice Breakers, Chris Nelson

THE IDEA

Chris Nelson was commissioned to bring to life the untold story of cold water surf pioneers for a main editorial feature for The Telegraph Magazine.

THE RESULT

Written by Chris Nelson the 6 page feature brings together interviews and anecdotes in a compelling read. Published by The Telegraph Magazine.

Accompanied by photography sourced by Demi Taylor.

THE APPROACH

Chris was commissioned by Telegraph Magazine to write an in-depth yet accessible feature about those surfers who shun warmer climes to ride waves. The 1700 word article drew on the stories of pioneering surfers from Alaska, Nova Scotia and Scotland, bringing to life their adventures and the spirit that drove them to break trail in these frigid waters. The article ran as one of two main feature pieces in the weekend Telegraph Magazine, with images sourced by Demi Taylor from leading photographers.

Ice Breakers: The untold story of cold water surf pioneers by Chris Nelson for The Telegraph Magazine.

Ice Breakers, The Cold Water Surfers (an excerpt)

Charlie Skultka frantically scanned the frozen shoreline, the dark fringes where the raging Pacific collides with the forest-shrouded Mount Edgcombe volcano. Waves pounded the razor-sharp lava reefs, offering no safe haven for him to scramble ashore. He’d been drifting in the icy waters for about six miles and was beginning to run out of island.

For most people ‘do or die’ is a slogan, a mantra to stoke the fire or push them out of their comfort zone. Here in Alaska it is a very real possibility. Having wiped out and lost his surfboard, Skultka was locked in a fight for his life. Without the extra buoyancy afforded by his board, he was like a leaf in a river, helpless against the torrent.

ICE BREAKERS
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SURFING THE WORLD

SURFING THE WORLD – BOOK – CHRIS NELSON & DEMI TAYLOR

Surfing The World - A dream tour around the planet's best 80 waves as told though essays, interviews and images by Chris Nelson and Demi Taylor

So well researched, written and photo edited, it’s gotta be close to the best surf guide book I’ve ever seen.

Australian Surfing Life Magazine

THE IDEA

A dream tour around the planet’s best 80 waves as told though essays, interviews and images.

THE RESULT

Surfing The World conceived and written by Chris Nelson and Demi Taylor. This ground breaking 320pg best selling and critically acclaimed dreamers guide to the planet’s very best surf spots was published by Footprint Handbooks.

Picture edited by Demi Taylor featuring images from the cream of international surf photographers.

Best selling 320 pg full colour book on sale world-wide

Translation rights sold.

THE APPROACH

A dream tour around the planet’s best 80 waves… Yeah, you got us. We know the idea of ‘the best’ anything is a subjective one and while there can never be one definitive list of the best waves, we tried to get as close as possible by condensing the perspective of the wider surf community.

Through our contacts, we spoke to everyone from emerging talents to surf legends as well as fellow surf writers, editors, photographers and industry bigwigs from around the globe to get their take on the best waves out there and what makes them so good.

Some are waves that defined an era or a year, a few are forgotten treasures, while others are destined to become future classics. Draw up a list of your own top 10 waves and then get out there and ride them. This is the golden age of the surf trip. Your dream wave is a lot closer than you think.

In 320 pages, ‘Surfing the World‘ combines in-depth, accurate surf information, analysis of the waves and how they work, where they fit in terms of geography, history and culture, unearthing those personalities who have taken on and pioneered the breaks, telling tales of exploration and adventure accompanied by beautiful photography from surfing’s leading lensmen.

From ideation though development of the concept, research, writing, commissioning photography to guiding advertising and securing brand partnerships, we were involved in the whole process through to delivery.

320 pages that will have you packing your bags and out of the door before you even get halfway through it… buy it, and then get out there yourself. 

ZigZag Magazine

THE REVIEWS – SURFING THE WORLD

“So well researched, written and photo edited, that it’s gotta be close to the best surf guide book I’ve ever seen.” ASL

” 320 pages that will have you packing your bags and out of the door before you even get halfway through it… buy it, and then get out there yourself.” Zigzag Surfing Magazine 

“Beautiful publication combines lush photography with information and anecdotes… a must for both the daring and the dreamers amongst you.” Stranger Magazine

“Good in the travel bag or just as useful on the coffee table. ” **** Tracks Magazine

SURFING THE WORLD
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