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After many enjoyable dives and training sessions at Capernwray dive centre, Alan Wyper and I decided we needed a change of scenery and planned a trip to Vivian Quarry. Being a relatively new club member, I had never dived it before and had heard many contrasting remarks about it, some good and quite a lot not so good. Only one way to find out, and what better than a cold January morning, with a little bit of rain thrown in for good measure. We were joined by half a dozen club members and arrived at about 9.30 to a deserted car park, apart from a few seasoned walkers wrapped up against the elements, who questioned our mentality.
Vivian’s access is through a short tunnel with a small dive shop at the entrance. Once you come out of the tunnel you can’t fail to be impressed by the site, with sheer slate walls all around towering over your head, its almost like being in the bottom of a volcano. The water surface is not huge, but it is certainly spectacular and it did look a little cold (perhaps the walkers were right).
We went back to the dive shop to register, which is good value at only £5.00 for a day's diving. The shop is quite small with friendly staff and has a selection of equipment for sale; air fills, oxygen and first aid are all available. There are new heated changing rooms on the car park and a toilet block next door. It also has craft shops and a slate museum, so non divers have plenty to look at. Once we were changed we headed for the water. It is a little way but not to taxing for anyone with average fitness.
The dive shop operates a safety system whereby you are given a number when you register, and each time you dive you inform the staff that you are diving and also when you are back out of the water.
Alan pointed out the new wooden platform with two entry points, and a decent set of steps to get out. He explained that it used to be a difficult ladder, which put a few people off.
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We jumped in and were surprised that it didn’t feel as cold as it looked, (my computer read a modest 4 degrees). We dropped down to about 18 metres and started our tour. We had decided to do a complete circuit and visit the blast splitting shed on the way round. Visibility was about 8 metres although there were not a lot of fish to be seen, just the odd small fish and the occasional eel. There were plenty of other things though from boats to exercise bikes, a table which was set out for a tea party and of course ‘bloody gnomes’, why do all dive sites have them? Is it because they are so tacky that people chuck them in when they find them?
We arrived at the splitting shed which is a round, stone hut complete with slate roof and a wall which runs round the outside of the only entrance. Alan had told me that it is possible to go in although there is not a lot of room, or I could just peer in and have a look if I wasn’t confident. I made my way between the wall and the hut and shone my torch in; it looked ok and so I decided to enter. There was not a lot of room and so I decided to leave, but as I turned round, Alan was also entering, completely blocking the door. I suddenly felt a bit claustrophobic, and was glad when he had moved so that I could get out. Once we were both back out, we made our way round to the other side, there are lots of interesting nooks and crannies to explore and another sunken boat; there is also a training platform at about six metres. My hands were now starting to feel the cold and we made our way to the exit point. During our surface interval we were highly entertained by the dive shop staff feeding the fish with dog biscuits. Not that interesting you might think, but the fun was watching the ducks trying to get the biscuits before the fish and occasionally the fish grabbed the ducks, which was hilarious. After a decent surface interval, we dived it a second time, and found many more things that we missed on the first dive. On the whole I thoroughly enjoyed the dive and although it is not very big, it is certainly far better than I imagined, and would recommend it to anyone who has not dived it before. I would also recommend thermals!
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| Andy Morris |
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