Over the past week or so Mark mentioned that the River Derwent at Loftsome Bridge was looking relatively clear and he had checked out between 3 and 6m of depth whilst fishing. After a few calls a group of five decided to give it a go on a Sunday morning. Directions to the site passed by word of mouth proved interesting but eventually everyone assembled at the proposed dive site.
Loftsome Bridge
The fishermen along the river bank gave it up as a bad idea once they heard us planning the dive and getting our gear out....oops sorry fellas!!!
Mark had brought his boat which we offloaded from his wagon and launched into the river. JC completed the relevant SAA paperwork and acted as boat handler/safety cover.
The four divers split into pairs, Mark and Nigel in one pair, Len and Steve in the other. Kit was assembled and the usual, “how warm is the water” was overheard. (Warm enough for a semi dry). Conversation also began about what we may find in the river....luckily we never found anything untoward.
Entry was from a muddy slope on the river bank, and the entries were different to say the least ranging from reverse giant strides to the new method “The Mark Dyer Launch”. All of these worked fine. We decided to have SMBs with each pair in case of boat traffic and once set up we descended to “rummage”.
Gettin in!!
Len spotted something glistening at the bottom.....a gold coin perhaps?...no just a 2 pence piece!!! Within a minute or so Steve had found a bike.....it looked like it had only been in the water recently as there was no dirt or rust etc. This was sent to the surface and loaded on the safety boat.
Safety boat cover and bike recovery by JC
The river bed was generally at about 3-4 metres and the viz ranged from zero to 4m in places. After a good rummage around we surfaced after about 20 minutes and moved to an area that was slightly deeper.
Again in pairs we descended and there was a lot of debris in this area. A few bottles were brought to the surface, an old ceramic type, a very old beer bottle and a chemist jar with a name and address embossed on the bottle.
On Googling the details it was found that this chemist/druggist was based in Hull and went bankrupt in 1881. An old key was also found and Steve found a rifle that had been encrusted from a very long time in the water. We also found an old fashioned cash till, but left this until next time.
We then got out (somehow), got the boat out, and Steve decided to test the bike...........in full dive gear!!!! It worked.
Preparing to go
Flying along
As an unknown dive to us, this turned out to be a good morning, with different conditions and the usual good laugh. We will try different sections of the river as long as the current and viz are favourable. Thanks to all who attended and especially to Mark for the idea, planning, boat etc.
Misc Pictures
