Surfers will take to the water this weekend in memory of a popular pioneer of the sport along the Norfolk and Suffolk coast.

North Norfolk News: A rare picture of Neil Watson surfing on a homemade board. Picture: SUPPLIEDA rare picture of Neil Watson surfing on a homemade board. Picture: SUPPLIED (Image: Archant)

Surf photographer and writer Neil Watson, 70, from Lowestoft, died in December last year just 10 days after learning he had ischemic bowel disease.

At least 200 people are expected to attend an event in his memory at the East Runton cliff top car park on Sunday September 20.

His name on a surfing and windsurfing memorial will be unveiled at 10.30am.

Nearly 100 surfers will then do a paddle out in the North Sea and release a wreath before the start of a freestyle surfing competition.

Event organiser Paul Nicker, who had been friends with Mr Watson since 1976, said: 'There has been a huge response to the event. Neil was a quiet and unassuming guy. He was a genuine east coast legend. Everyone knew him. Neil would be horrified we are doing this because he didn't like the fuss.'

As well as the surfing competition, people will be able to admire vintage Volkswagen camper vans, another passion of Mr Watson's, and vintage surfboards from the 1970s.

Mr Nicker, 53, from Russell Avenue in Gorleston, added: 'Surfing was Neil's passion. He had an encyclopedic knowledge. He was always the one person who would come out of the water with a big smile.

'He was a massive ambassador for the sport. He has been an inspiration to an awful lot of people.'

Mr Watson spent his childhood in and around Beccles during which time he enjoyed fishing, canoeing, swimming, and water-skiing on the Broads.

But his love of surfing started in the late 1960s while he was on honeymoon in Cornwall with his wife Pauline, who died in 2008.

The couple had a daughter Justine and son, Dan, who is also a keen surfer.

Mr Watson, who was a grandfather-of-one when he died, founded the Lowestoft Surf Club in the early 1970s.

He then took up photographing and writing about surfing which included producing a magazine on the sport along the east coast called Ripple.

Ripple is now not in publication but people still collect it.

He later contributed to the national surfing press, with his articles and photos of the sport along the east coast and further afield being published in magazines, guidebooks, and underground newsletters.

Mr Watson's favourite beach to surf and take photos from was Lowestoft but he also loved Cornish beaches.