Lord Thurso On The Rather Nice Wave Outside His Window

Very few politicians in the UK know anything about surfing, but Lord Thurso, Member of Parliament for Caithness Sutherland and Easter Ross, bucks the trend.

“I’m not a surfer myself but I watch them with a telescope through my window,” says the 55-year-old hereditary peer, whose house and land overlooks the reef at Thurso East. “Twenty years ago there were hardly any surfers here, 10 years ago a few more started turning up, and now there are always a few black dots out in the water. Their standard goes up dramatically every year.”

In accordance with Scottish law on hereditary titles, Lord Thurso owns not only the farmland on which the contest site is located but also the rocks down to the low water mark. “In England, the convention is different,” he says, “English titles provide for ownership to the high water mark.” However, fortunately for local and visiting surfers, not to mention the recently concluded O'Neill Highland Open by Swatch, Lord Thurso is not bothered by people using his land to go surfing.

“I don’t ask for anything in return for the use of the land and the rocks during the contest,” he says. “My family has a long-standing tradition of not interfering with people’s enjoyment. I’m just pleased to see that there is so much fun going on in the water outside my window.”

John Thurso comes from a venerable Liberal Democrat family. His grandfather, Sir Archibald Sinclair, was the Liberal Party leader from 1935 to 1945, and it was following his father’s death in 1995 that John took his seat in the House of Lords. He has since spoken many times in the House of Lords in favour of Lords reform, and is the first and only hereditary peer to have been elected to the Commons having previously sat in the Lords.

Lord Thurso was educated at Eton and went on to have a distinguished career in the hospitality industry. He is now a full-time politician, and says that the Highland Open is “a brilliant thing to have on the town’s doorstep. It brings very good spend into the town, and from talking to people and hoteliers on the weekend I know that they’re very appreciative of the event. It something new and different, encouraging a fresh perspective on Scotland so that tourism isn’t just about traditional pursuits such as hill-walking and fishing. Moreover, everyone here loves meeting the surfers. It’s a cliché but it’s true - they’re a really nice bunch of people.”

Moreover, “surfing is a great thing for young people to get into,” says Lord Thurso, adding that plans are underway to build a new facility on the pier, opposite the reef of Thurso East. “It’ll cater for a variety of watersports, from surfing to kayaking.”

That’s likely to be good news for Paul Canop, 13, who emerged as the Highland’s Open’s most devoted grommet. The Thurso youngster, who started surfing when he was five, was a fixture at Brims and Thurso East for the duration of the event. A member of the local surf club, Caithness Boardriders, Canop says he’d like to be a pro surfer one day. He says having the likes of Sunny Garcia in town has been “awesome.”

Given the increasingly high profile of surfing in Scotland, is Lord Thurso tempted to try his hand at what, for the Hawaiians, was ‘the Sport of Kings?’ Lord Thurso smiles. “I was brought up swimming in the sea outside the family home, in just a pair of trunks, but I fear the experience may have scarred me for life. Mind you, if I’d had the kind of kit O’Neill makes today, I think I’d have given it a go.”

It may be too late for Lord Thurso to take up surfing, but no matter. His support for the sport in Thurso, allied with his willingness to assist in the holding of the Highland Open, mark him out as one of that rare breed: the British politician who may not ride any waves, but has a lot of time for those who do.

Photograph of castle courtesy of a difficult-to-read name on Flickr; photo of the reef firing courtesy of Caro Jones on Flickr. Photograph of Lord Thurso (in suit) courtesy of his website.