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Sharing the adventure
26
ALMOST A YEAR TO THE DAY SINCE WE learned we had been awarded the Heinke Trophy , Clidive was able to host an evening this August to celebrate our success and be presented with BSAC ’ s most prestigious club award .
In another step towards normality following the challenges of the last eighteen months , 30 club members gathered at a pub in London and heard Heinke judge Tony Marshall praise the quality of the Clidive submission and tell us how much the panel appreciated our central theme of ‘ Sharing the Adventure ’. The theme celebrated the common purpose linking the club ’ s past with its ongoing success in what was our 50th year . Tony highlighted Clidive ’ s ongoing commitment to providing adventurous diving for all levels of diver through a comprehensive dive programme , structured training , and our strength
Clidive founder Eddie Beagley in depth that enabled four of us to achieve the First Class Diver award as part of the club ’ s 50th anniversary activities .
Also highlighted were the efforts made to document our history , recording how the adventures of the past and efforts of previous generations of club members had laid the foundations for the current success and strength of the club . So it was with some sadness that , the day before the Heinke celebration , the club learned of the death of founder and first Diving Officer , Eddie Beagley , aged 97 , in his Canada home where he had retired to indulge his other passion of skiing .
Current Diving Officer , Nick Barter , who was previously the Heinke Co-ordinator , toasted Eddie ’ s memory and spoke of how his legacy was embodied by the club ’ s success in being awarded the Heinke
Trophy for a third time . Eddie founded Clidive as a special branch to provide affordable adventurous diving to his scuba students at the Central London Institute ( CLI ), which provided adult education classes and sporting opportunities to the inner London community . The CLI closed down many years ago , but Clidive survived - reconstituted as an open branch - and eventually grew into the club we know today , continuing the central purpose of providing affordable adventurous diving to our London community . A full obituary has been posted on the Clidive blog written by Clidive President , Keith Holman , who Eddie taught to dive in 1978 . It can be found
at http :// www . clidive . org / dive-trips / eddie-beagley-rip /