SCUBA Juy/August 2023 issue 137 | Page 26

Each month we feature a selection of your letters

Each month we feature a selection of your letters

We ’ re still looking for a new prize for a Star Letter , so please bear with us for a while longer . It ’ s a difficult time for the diving industry , so sponsorships are a tricky proposition at the moment .

ChatSend your letters to simon @ scubamagazine . co . uk

Cardiff BSAC Committee celebrates 50th Anniversary at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park . L-R : Dave Davies ( Treasurer ), Bill Trezise ( Chairman ), Ross Wilson ( founding member with certificate ), Mark Gosling ( IT and Social Media ), Anne Hudson ( Secretary ) and Steve Turnbull ( Diving Officer )

50 Golden Years of Cardiff BSAC

CARDIFF BSAC CELEBRATES ITS 50TH anniversary this year with some of the club ’ s founding members still aboard . The current committee has notched up almost 160 years of diving with Cardiff BSAC between them , and one of the original members , Ross Wilson , is still diving , having just turned 80 .
The club has been training divers for 50 years and is one of the leading providers of dive training in South Wales – from absolute beginners to experienced divers seeking a more advanced dive rating , or those crossing over from other agencies .
Our membership hovers around 40 people , with many of the longstanding members continuing to share their experience and expertise . In common with most diving
clubs , Cardiff BSAC struggled to regain members following the Covid pandemic but , thanks to the determined efforts of a few , numbers have started to pick up since club nights and pool sessions resumed .
Cardiff BSAC has an impressive record of scuba diving around the Welsh coast , particularly at Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion . Knowledge of sea conditions , dive sites and local wrecks puts us at the forefront of scuba diving in this region . In 2008 , the club was awarded a grant from the British Sub-Aqua Club to survey the wreck of the Thor – a 326-tonne coaster that sank at the entrance to Milford Haven in 1943 . The club also received the Peter Small Award for surveying wrecks in West Wales , as well as grants and awards for marine surveys
around Wales and the Isle of Man .
The Welsh coast offers some of the most exciting diving to be found anywhere in the world , with hundreds of wreck sites and an abundance of marine life . But Cardiff BSAC also ventures to warmer climes , with expeditions to the Red Sea and more recently to Lanzarote and Tenerife .
Cardiff BSAC has just launched its new golden seahorse logo to mark this major milestone . Chair Bill Trezise says : “ Celebrating 50 years as a diving club is a massive achievement . Our success is down to a small number of passionate people who give an enormous amount of time and effort to ensure we offer the highest standards of training , and the best diving experiences to be found in the UK .”
Cardiff BSAC meets every Tuesday evening for pool training at Fitzalan High School , Lawrenny Avenue , Cardiff at 7.30pm . New members are always welcome . cardiffbsac . org Moira Trezise , Cardiff BSAC

Coronation generations

EAST MIDLANDS SUB-AQUA CLUB CELEBRATED THE CORONATION weekend of King Charles III by diving the wreck of HMS Coronation off Plymouth , where we toasted our new King ’ s reign .
The protected wreck lies off Penlee Point and was named to commemorate the coronation of King James II , as the ship was launched in the same year , 1685 . Sadly , the ship was lost just six years later in a storm .
The wreck has been extensively surveyed and a diver trail now enables divers to easily navigate the wreckage , with its cannon and anchors . The site is managed by the Coronation Wreck Project Team and permission must be obtained via the team beforehand . See coronationwreck . org for details . LINDA RITSON , EMSUB 1663
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