Grandad Peter, 71, dives in for club’s 50th
A7 1 - Y E AR- O L D grandad-of-six is still scuba diving 50 years after first stepping into his wet suit.
Peter Markham was one of the first members of the Southport Sub-Aqua Club, which is celebrating its half-century.
He joined the club in 1967 and celebrated five decades of sub-aqua action by diving on the submerged wreck of an old plane.
Peter said: “In those early years it wasn’t a case of shall we go diving next weekend? We just dived every weekend, summer or winter, regardless.
“Summer we dived in the sea and winter in lakes or quarries. I’d clocked up 600 dives before 1975.
“Money was in short supply and we came up with all sorts of ideas to raise cash, including wearing silly hats with a pound fine for anyone who turned up without one.
“We also did ‘ skinny’ dips, after a dive we’d jump in just wearing swimming trunks, which became a tradition and is something we still do today.”
The club celebrated its 50th anniversary with a special gathering of 50 divers – one for each year of its existence – who all joined Peter on a dive.
Reminiscing over his many years with the club, he said: “It was OK in summer but in winter it was always freezing.
“We had some very strange looks from fell walkers all wrapped up against the winter cold at the Blue Lagoon above Llangollen on one occasion!”
Peter also helped build the club’s first dive boat out of old aircraft fuel tanks and plywood.
He said: “We used two fuel tanks – the sort that hang under an aircraft’s wings – and a timber frame made from plywood.
“We took it for its first ‘sea trials’ in Eccleston Quarry.
“As it didn’t sink, we towed it to Trearddur Bay the following week.
“We moored it overnight ready to try it out the next day but unfortunately a Force 8 gale that night turned all our hard work and our pride and joy into matchwood scattered all over the rocks!”
Peter, who is now retired from running his heating company, said: “I just love diving. I’ve dived all over the world and seen sights very few people get to see.
“I have three daughters, One, Helen, lives in New Zealand. I go out to see two of my six grandchildren at least once a year and enjoy diving around the New Zealand coast while I’m there.
“I’ve also dived in the Red Sea, the Caribbean, the Maldives, Burma, all around the UK and lots of other places.”
He said that he enjoys seeing new divers start their training with the club, adding: “It makes me smile and I think to myself if you get even half the pleasure out of diving I have had, then they are in for a wonderful time.
“I’d recommend diving to anyone. It’s a safe hobby, providing you stick to your limits, and a wonderful way of making friendships that last a lifetime.”
To find out more about Southport Sub Aqua Club visit www.southportbsac. co.uk and to find out more about the British SubAqua Club visit www. bsac.com