Maggs Ashton tells the story of a popular local wreck , and a memorable dive when ideal conditions yielded an important discovery
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Ilfracombe BSAC and the mystery of the Toilet Wreck
Maggs Ashton tells the story of a popular local wreck , and a memorable dive when ideal conditions yielded an important discovery
Plumbing new depths
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Start of the dive , on the starboard hull
Over the 2022 dive season – May to September for the Bristol Channel – we started diving this wreck as a club for the first time . While the visibility wasn ’ t great , I just loved it from the start . It ’ s a particularly pretty wreck ; most of the stern and what remains of its hull and cargo hold are adorned in Sagartia and jewel anemones , and a variety of sponges .
We named it the Toilet Wreck and set about pooling our photos and knowledge . Being some 2.5 nautical miles off the North Devon coast in the Bristol Channel , the tidal range here means we need a good neap tide and a favourable sea state , so it ’ s not a site we can dive as often as we would like . We managed to dive it three times during 2022 in reasonable to poor viz , and while we had an idea of its size , engine , and