One of BSAC ’ s best loved and most prominent dive instructors , Marg Baldwin has served as National Instructor , managed Stoney Cove and acted as the Scouts ’ National Advisor for Snorkelling . She is the veteran of 25 expeditions to Tanzania , Madagascar and Fiji
BSACDECADES
1970s
One of BSAC ’ s best loved and most prominent dive instructors , Marg Baldwin has served as National Instructor , managed Stoney Cove and acted as the Scouts ’ National Advisor for Snorkelling . She is the veteran of 25 expeditions to Tanzania , Madagascar and Fiji
You recently moved from Leicestershire to the West Coast of Scotland . What ’ s your association with this part of Britain ?
I ‘ ve been diving the West Coast of Scotland for the past 50 years , and finally decided to move here after hanging up my fins at Stoney Cove . Back in 2009 , I came to the Kyle of Lochalsh for my first attempt at National Instructor . I failed , but it was the right decision . I wasn ’ t up to scratch because I tried to do it too soon after my First Class Diver .
How did you first get involved with BSAC ?
I think it was 1971 . I had initially learned to dive at a commercial school in Birmingham , and it hadn ’ t gone well . But I knew a BSAC instructor ; the network sprang into action and I joined Rugby BSAC , where I began to truly enjoy diving . Coordination and speed are not my strong points , but I found diving was something I could do slowly and be completely comfortable . We had a really supportive club at Rugby .
How were attitudes to women divers in the early Seventies ?
I was known as an ‘ honorary bloke ’... truly ! I suppose because I helped carry things and I could pull-start an engine . There were three women in the club at that time .
What do you remember of your early training ?
Doing the ‘ E and F ’ tests ! Part of it was the ‘ ditch and retrieve ’. You had to go down to the bottom of the pool and take the
Aqua-Lung off . Then you came to the surface – exhaling on the way up – and then go back down to put it all back on again . A few years ago , [ Stoney Cove owner ] Martin Woodward and I performed a re-enaction in the pool at Stoney , to show the in-house Instructors what we had to do back in the day !
What attracted you to instructing ?
I ’ ve thought about this a lot – it all lies in the reward you get seeing people achieve things . People will come up to you 10 years later , saying “ You taught me to dive ” and it ’ s a wonderful feeling . It was Jim Watson [ now BSAC ’ s Safety and Development manager ] who encouraged me into instructor training . At some point in the 1990s , he asked : “ Why aren ’ t you an instructor trainer ?” I replied : “ Have you any idea how old I am ?” He said : “ Yes – I ’ ve got your date of birth written down here !”
Before I knew it , I had been put onto the ITDC [ Instructor Trainer Development course ], where I met Maggie Cowing and Robin Eccles , and a lot more of the big names . I was useless to start with , but once I got myself sorted , I grew and grew . I just loved it .
What do you think the future holds for BSAC diving ?
I love the concept of technical diving , and I am a trained rebreather diver . But I think we ’ ve lost our way a bit ... the technical stuff seems to have become the be-all and end-all for so many of us . I ’ m concerned that we ’ re losing the pleasure and simplicity of recreational diving ; the sheer privilege of being underwater . We ’ ve got to be safe and we ’ ve got to be responsible , but we ’ re making it all too complicated sometimes .
Marg instructing her niece , Alison
High jump at Scout Camp
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