Bellyboarding

[2] It appeared in the United Kingdom in the very early 1900s, especially in Cornwall and Devon on the English Channel.

It was introduced to the United Kingdom by pioneering Perranporth watermen George Tamblyn and William Saunders, soldiers of WWI in 1918, having been inspired by stories from South African & Commonwealth soldiers they had met and swapped stories with in the trenches.

[1][2] Tom Tremewan, a relation of George Tamblyn, and the local undertaker, came up with the first bellyboard or surfboard in the UK, made out of coffin lids.

And by rich British people who travelled to Hawai and learned surf and decades later in the 1950s and 60s.

[1][2] The World Bellyboard Championships, held each year at Chapel Porth in Cornwall, try to revive this sport.