Holborn ’ s membership has remained steady . Club Chair Mark Brill puts that down to a combination of active members and an inclusive approach : “ What struck me when I first joined Holborn was how friendly the club was - there are weekly meetings in the pub and members are also encouraged to take part in everything from the committee to boat maintenance .”
As restrictions start to ease , Holborn are getting back into the swing of things . Mark Brill explained “ We ’ re back at Oasis for our Wednesday evening pool sessions , we ’ ve begun try dives and Ocean Diver , and our boat is in Portland ready for a season of diving .” Mike Maloney summed things up : “ It ’ s an amazing achievement for the club to have been going for so long , and I hope we ’ re still here in 2081 … another 60 years from now !” MARK BRILL , Chair , Holborn BSAC
Remembering Don Collier
NATIONAL INSTRUCTOR DON COLLIER has died , aged 64 , after an illness . I had known Don for almost 40 years ever since I moved to London to join BSAC at their then London HQ . One of the first people I met at the office , he was attending a BSAC Schools Association meeting . As I was at a loose end , we went for something to eat and talked until it was time for the last train home . You couldn ’ t help but be taken by the passion with which he held his views . Tenacious , certainly but if questioned he would explain his thought process in its entirety . There was a searing rationality behind his views , all of which made him a difficult adversary . But we became friends . I often worked for him and his ex-wife
SCUBACHAT
Cheryl at the Poole Dive Centre , and attended several Poole watersports jamborees such as ‘ Get Afloat ’. We tried first with a BSAC outdoor swimming pool , but although the Fire Brigade was on hand to fill the thing for us , we relied on the sun to warm the water . Suffice to say , in the following years we used municipal pools . When we were preparing for BSAC ’ s National Instructor Exam , he gave his time freely to the candidates ; as he himself had passed the year previously he had lots of advice about the exam itself and how to prepare for it . That week became the forerunner for the Prep courses for National and First Class that exist to this day . Don helped me computerise all the Coaching Scheme Equipment that was held mostly in the regions , and when I left BSAC he suggested I went into computers and allowed me to help him with some of his London customers . I eventually started my own company and Don would help out whenever he could . He was the first to encourage the use of VPN , so either of us could have remote access to our customers . Always generous with his time and his knowledge , we really only stopped seeing him as much when he gave up his IT work and had less reason to visit us in London . He was a larger-than-life figure in our lives for so long . His generous , indomitable spirit will be missed by all who knew him . ROBIN ECCLES , Alcyon Divers
First step of a Million Miles
Waiting to dive in 1970
Actor Kenneth Moore was a Chair of the club
RESPONDING TO THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN SURFERS AGAINST SEWAGE AND BSAC ( the Million Mile Clean ), Durham Divers registered to support the initiative over the summer . The first planned event was for a midweek beach clean to ensure it could be safely organised for our members . This took place at Beadnell Beach in Northumberland , where five of our members spent two hours covering the beach and tide line .
Northumberland beaches are usually well respected by visitors , so a lot of the rubbish we collected appeared to have been washed up . This included sections of rope , fishing line , pieces of rubber and , surprisingly , lots of sea glass and pottery . One of the most unusual finds was a horse ’ s tooth ( identified by a local vet ); its condition indicated it was from a 10-12-yearold and had been in the water for a number of years . It was a successful day that has encouraged the club to undertake an underwater litter pick for a larger group of members as lockdown eases . DAVID TAYLOR , Durham Divers BSAC
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