IN PICTURES: Albany’s Granny Grommets celebrate sign of tribal law with coffee, cake and ride on new surf reef

A surf on the new reef followed by a cup of coffee and chocolate cake was the order of the morning for Albany’s Granny Grommets, spiced up on August 29 by the unveiling of a giant plaque which lists the rules of the waves. The writing on the sign, sited just before the boardwalk which leads to the new reef at Middleton Beach, records tribal law, the etiquette to be followed by all surfers, grannies or not. It also honours one of their own, well sort of, for Tony Harrison is not a granny himself but the founder of the club and a passionate advocate for all things surfing, seafaring and environmental. The women gathered at the surfing reef, as they do every Friday, to swap stories and memories and even sing the Granny Grommets’ song, an amusing ditty which includes the memorable lines about “riding the break, spitting out the foam, fighting off the years and the nursing home”. For grommet Sandra Shakespeare, the club has enabled her to stay active and maintain her love of the water. “I’ve always been a sea person,” she said. “We used to be living too far away to get to Albany very often but when we sold the farm I knew it was time to come.”