The date. The 4th of April 1961. This was the date our club first became known in the diving community, BSAC branch 0138. But why? Who first thought that Lancaster/Morecambe should have a dive club?

I managed to track down Rob Hargreaves, the club's first Secretary, back in 1961. After introducing myself to him over the telephone I asked him if he would allow me to talk to him about his involvement in the fundamental creation of the dive club.

Over the phone Rob sounded a nice friendly person, but to ask him to talk to me, a stranger, must have been a bit of an odd request from the club membership, since Rob has not been involved with the club for many years. A date was arranged and off I set to talk to Rob about the birth of our club. How will he react to me? What if I upset him? As I reversed into his driveway, being tactical for a quick get away if needed, Rob and his wife came out to greet me. There stood a slim man in his Seventies, a welcoming broad smile set on his face hand out stretched to welcome my hand. There was no need to worry about seeming awkward, or nervous. We went into his home and I was expecting a sort of treasure trove, with brass portholes and other bits of ships. No not a thing to put Rob in the dock as an ex diver, no clues in his lovely front room. Only thing he is guilty of is he and his wife have surrounded themselves with family artefacts and Rob has a collection around his walls of RAF aircraft prints and decorative plates.

I asked Rob how he became wrapped up in the diving bug that we all seem to get? Rob sat back and you could see his mind flashing back to his youth and to that sunny beach in Spain where it all started for him. He obtained a snorkel kit and while diving in Spain he saw a Ray that took his breath away. He recalled a school trip when they had hired spear guns and gone off to fish. They saw a boat that seemed to be drifting out to sea, so he and a few of the boys swam after the boat. Once they caught up with the boat, they came across members of the Blackpool branch on a dive.

Rob who at the time was a teacher, set him self a goal and went down to Lancaster Baths where he was told that some chaps from Blackpool would teach him to dive. Rob sat and with a chuckle told me of a slim man called Ray Wiseman; who was one of the instructors. Rob suddenly got up a said, "hang on I will be back in a second". He returned with his Diver Training record booklet and Diving Log. The dates in the sixties showed his progress through his 8 weeks training course, all in feet. One of the qualifying dives, for a first class diver, was a free ascent from 200 feet to the surface, (60 Meters) "we used the twin Merlin valve as standard kit on our dives" He told me.. After training they got together. Rob, Peter Carter, Dive Officer, Stan Millston. These were among the first 12 members of the club. They all put in some money to form the clubs kitty. 5 Bob was raised. (25 pence.) Rob had a mask and fins, Stan had the Tanks, and they met each Friday night at the Park Hotel. Was this to look at the equipment they had or was there more to this gathering of the 12 Disciples of Lunsedale?

I asked Rob how they managed to keep going with little equipment. Rob said, in a relaxed tone that, "we did not know any better, we knew we had to make the club grow and attract other like minded people. We had made contact with a Branch Dive Officer in Bradford, a bloke called Doug Ballan, who would give advice and let us know who was diving where and what kit they had"

I asked Robert why the name Lunesdale? "Well we thought of Lancaster Branch and of course Morecambe branch, but the membership though small at first covered the whole of the Lunesdale area, so to please all we named it Lunesdale. The first badge was Neptune with the name Lunesdale and later it changed to a diver in side a fish".

"The first time we dived as a club was on the Crook of Lune. By now some of the members had wet suits and the rest of us dived in what ever we could use to try and keep a little warm". Rob showed me a slide, of some of the members in wet suits at the river Lune. This was in October 1961. Rob told me how they use to get the early type of Neoprene from Bradford, as the club went into the wet suit age, with no expense spared. Rob would get the material and whoever wanted a suit would lay on the floor while Rob, with his Art background would draw round them and then cut out the shape, glue the bits together and charge the sum of £7.00 for the suit. This was a fair price in the early sixties, £7.00 was a lot of money and near to a weekly wage. "I think the suits were called Sherocho suits or something like that", added Rob.

"To dive we needed air so, Bill Fox or Jock Holt, who worked for ICI, made an Air Filter to fit the Air compressor at Morecambe Bus depot. We would use some small RAF Dumpy air tanks out of the old bomber aircraft. We sometimes got hold of tanks that were like small dustbins strapped to your back. We would shop around if we had some spare cash that was not very often, to find and buy German tanks called Draeger". "These were very good and more like diving cylinders". Rob let out a laugh, as he smiled he told me about one of the club members who was not such a lucky diver on trips, he could not remember his name but, told me the guy was a novice and they went out to a wreck in the bay. He could not wait to get in the water. "As we approached the site, and as we kitted up, he had put on his Dustbin type cylinder on his back and before we could say anything he done a back roll over the side of the boat into 3 feet of water and was stuck with legs stuck out of the water on a sand bank". Another time Rob, chuckled, "was when we dived Windermere, when he done a back roll off the jetty and landed on a plank and scoured himself on a large nail on the bottom. We had to bring him up plus the plank that he was attached to". "He also went to Preston Bus station and filled his air tanks there. The result with the fill made him go green and his breath smelt of Sardines, he became so ill. This was oil vapour in the fill. We had to take him to hospital a bit sharpish"

How did you get people to join the club? "We would put adverts in the local papers and we would also to keep the branch growing we would be outside the picture houses of Lancaster and Morecambe when a film showed involving under water adventures and divers, with our Lunesdale Club stand, like the old services recruitment. We would drum up interest and new members". Rob then went on to say, " I don't see anything in the local press about the club". "I knew the club still existed, but what they were up to and where they now meet, there is little knowledge. We use to us any means to get members and we did". Rob added, "I cannot believe that the club is 40 years old. I would not believe the club would last 40 years if you asked me this when we first started. But the club has always had a hard core of those who work hard to keep the interests of the club alive".

Dive trips, Rob went on to tell me were organised by NORFAD, and they would ring up people and tell them where the dive was and those who had transport would be put in touch with those who needed a lift to the dive site. On the odd occasion we would be at the wrong pick up point. But that is dive trips! I put the question to Rob about what he thought was his most remember able dives. Rob sat back on his sofa and looked deep in thought. Well he finally said, "that is a hard question - there are so many. Peter Fox and me in the early days would spend half the dives saving each other's lives. I remember one dive with a chap from NORFAD, a man called Jerry Johnson; he was the first man to experiment with under water radio links to the surface. We looked for the Bluebird and Campbell's body. Navy divers who stopped all club diving stopped us. They found a Spitfire in the Sea around Barrow with the Pilot still in the cockpit. The Navy divers were not what they are to day, they had very little knowledge of free diving and had to ask clubs and get training from dive clubs".

"One dive we did was under the Motorway bridge over the Lune, the work men had finished the bridge and had just dumped the cement mixers over the side of the bridge into the river. So we went and had a look about, we came across an odd object so we brought it to the surface. On the bank of the river we discovered it was a German bomb. So we took it to Halton Army camp, they told us to go away and get rid of it, they did not want the thing. Even the local Policeman did not want to know. So in the end we took it back down to the river and left it next to a bridge support. If it is still there I do not know. There are one or two dives I did not enjoy but had to help the Police in looking for bodies. There was no Police Under water teams back then and club divers were asked to help locate people who had drowned. I once had to look for a 19 year old boy and a little girl. I found the boy in the river under a riverbank bend where sheep and cattle would get caught up if they fell into the river. The boy was under the bank but the girl could not be found. Her body was washed up on a sand bank a few days later in the bay.

Rob, What did you get out of diving? I had to ask, trying not to sound like a Dive Magazine interviewer. "That's easy", say's Rob, " The adventure of trying something new, the sights I have seen from British waters to Australia. The people I have met and the good company I have had over the years.

Rob the time you were learning to dive, did you think it was dangerous? "Well we did not really know any better, but the training you received was up to date for it's time. You were told all about decompression illness and the effects of pressure. You did not have too much equipment to worry about. Under water watches came along much later in my diving years and the watches were very expensive and they were the new technology of their day. We would dive and we had a rough idea when you had to come up as you could not breathe easily anymore off your valve so it must be time to make your way to the surface. You had the crudest of gauges". Rob went on to add, "You did have a few moments where the need of a buddy was very important. I recall getting to the Surface and having no air and we had a fair swim to the shore". "Peter Fox was on the surface but looking the other way, I was really tired and even shouting he did not hear me, so I used my Snorkel like a Viking horn and blew down the tube like a trumpet. It made such a trumpeting odd sound Peter span round thinking what the hell is that? He found me and together we set off to safety".

Rob recalled, the amount of initiative the club had to use. He said, " We had an old small boat that had an even smaller out board motor". " On a dive in Windermere we found an old engine that had been dumped. It was a lot big than the one we had so down we went and brought it to the surface. We stripped it down and rebuilt it and we managed to get it to work, we then adapted the motor to fit the boat and we made a small cabin over the helm and we could now get out to sea".

All the time you where diving, did you lose anyone or did anyone you know have a serious accident. Rob was quick to answer me. No not one, we had a few early scrapes, but we placed importance on our training. Stop take control. On two occasions, I suffered from claustrophobia, once in Castle ray and another time inside a wreck of a steamer in Windermere. Both times I started to panic, but the Stop and gain Control training saved the day. It is easy to fall into the trap of panic and use up your air. We tried to keep our dives simple and the more you dived the more you learnt. The trips we went on with NORFAD, you came across divers who had new things to pass on or you could pass on to them things you have tried.

Rob told me a tale of how small our world is when, he told me about a member of the club, a man called Ian Caruthers. He bought an old Preston Double Decker Bus and set of with a few others to see the world. They got as far as the Khyber Pass. They were stopped for a break, and got a large tin bath off the top of the Bus to have a clean up when they were surrounded by Arabs and one wheedling a sword. One of the chaps on the trip took out his Alpine Pickaxe and was set on defending the Bus. As the Arabs gathered round, up Popped Ian from his sleep saw what was going on Stopped and gained control. Picked up an apple, took a bite out of it and throw it at the Arabs. They thought it was a Grenade and ran off. They started the Bus and made good their escape. They came to a village near the top of the pass and asked in poor pigeon English for help, of two small boys, who looked at each other and both answered in perfect Lancashire accents what they would like to know and what were they doing in a Bus, ( or Buz as it's known in Lancashire.) from Preston. The two lads where born and bred in Preston and had come to the village to see their Grandmother.

This story might have nothing to do with diving, but it lets us have an idea of the characters that the club had. Even today we all can think of those who have been in the club or who are still in the membership who bring a bit of character to the club.

As I started to finish off my chat with Rob, I could have stayed there all day and listened to this man, now very much retired, talking about his life in the Club and what it all meant to him and his many comrades. He still has contact with a few of them still to day, like Peter Fox.

The adventures he and his friends had. The dedication they showed to get the club off the idea stage and into a club that is 40 years old, and still serving the community and letting people have the opportunity to learn to dive and open the doors to another world that only others can see on television. Over the last 40 years our club has trained so many people to dive and the club has had its members diving all over the world. The club has over the last 40 years, a proud safety record, sometimes by luck, but, we are a safe club and the last 40 years prove that. I asked Rob if he would like to pass a message to the club? Robert simply said, " I hope the club continues to go on and I hope you all continue to dive safely and you continue to serve the community and introduce others to the world of diving".

As I left Rob and his wife said to me, "If you ever want to come round and see us you are more than welcome". Do you know I think I will just do that.

I have written this with the use of notes and hope it is as acurate as possible. I would like to thank Robert and his wife for their time and hospitality.

Your man inside looking out
CHALKY