Professor Bert - the death defying, pier diving stuntman

ATREASURE trove of never-before-seen photos of Southport’s past is about to go on display.

The Atkinson will open its Unseen Southport exhibit to the public thisSaturday, August 16.

Along with pictures and paintings of the town’s undiscovered past, there will also be a selection of ‘talking heads’ – videos of people from Southport sharing their memories.

One of those people is Albert Powsey whose grandfather, also named Albert Powsey, would make startling jumps from the Southport Pier.

Albert, 87, said: “I remember watching him dive when I was a schoolboy. The last time I watched him I was about 11 or 12.

“They are lovely memories for me and I am very lucky because there must be a lot of local people who have never seen anything like this.

“I remember watching and there being a huge crowd of people around. My grandfather would often dive into a small pool and people would wonder why they could not get any closer.

“I remember he would call out “are you ready, ladies and gentlemen?”.

“Then, as he was about to leap, you could hear the intake of breath as everyone gasped, almost as if they did not believe he was going to do it.

“Then he would plunge down into the water and it would splash out all around him – and that is why they couldn’t stand any closer, because they would have got soaked.”

‘Professor Bert’ was one of the pier divers who tourists during the late 19th century and early 20th century would travel miles to see.

And it seems that some of Bert’s daredevil nature rubbed off on Albert, who taught himself to swim through trial and error at the old Victorian Baths in Southport.

Albert said: “A ll my school friends could not believe that Professor Bert was my grandfather.”

The stunning pictures of the divers are to be included in The Atkinson’s new exhibit along- side other photos of Southport’s eccentric side.

There is also an exclusive book that has been painstakingly put together by the Lord Street team.

For more information visit http:// www. theatkinson. co. uk/ or call 01704 533 333.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SEFTON LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES One of the ‘professors’ leaps from Southport Pier in a death-defying stunt

A postcard sent to Miss Baker in Leeds on May 25, 1926 which mentions the pier-diving ‘professors’ in Southport. The postcard reads: ‘‘Dear Auntie, We are having a nice time. This morning we went on the Pier and saw a man dive off the end on a bicycle....