1950's (From 1954)
A group of like minded divers ,from the Reading area, got together in 1953
and formed a diving club. After a few meeting in Watlington House
with Oscar Gugen from BSAC HQ, it was decided to
become a BSAC branch in 1954/55. A committee was formed of
Geoffrey Von Hoven, John Bradley and John Fobester.
This was later expanded to include F.B.Danise,
H.E.Walford , G.Sherman and the first diving Officer
'Mac Clabby who did the job until 1959. The Reading
Branch (28) was officially announced on 7th November
1955 with the first wet session being held in
the Arthur Hills pool on a Friday.
During the summer of 1957 Geoffery Von Hoven and
his wife Gillian were involved in the formation of a
club in Oxford, with a friend 'Jack Blake' who become chairman
of the Oxford BSAC but often dived with the Reading
Branch into the 60's.
Geoffrey Von Hoven (First Hon President of Branch)
1957 saw the first official Reading BSAC open water dive at Ufton Nervet.
The total membership was seventeen and not all had
suits.
'First club dive to 237ft'
Also in 1957 George Cooke and Geoffrey Von Hoven
dived near St Raphhael getting an endorsement in
their log books of 237ft. Their dive leader was Andre
Portlatine who was one of Cousteau's Lieutenants).
George noted that he now knew what the 'Narcs' was
Acquired 6 x 165 cu ft BOC cylinders and manifold,
used as a bank, which were stored in various members
garages and barns. Air was difficult to get and
cylinders came as large (40cu ft) and medium (25 cu
ft). This bank weighed 1000lbs with each cylinder
being 5 ft long.
In 1958 membership was up to 30 mainly boosted by the
Cousteau film 'Silent World' being shown at the Odeon cinema
in Reading. This year also saw the inaugural issue of
the branch magazine 'GLUG'.
In the later 50's the Branch was heavily involved in aiding the Kennet & Avon Canal Association in
clearing and restoring the Burghfield and Garston
Locks.
The HQ of the club was considered to be the 'Curzon'
club in the Oxford Road until it moved to the Salisbury Club in
Kings Road which was more convenient after the pool
meetings.
1960's
Many new inland dive sites including: Mytchett,
Burghfield, Ufton Nervet, Molly Miller Lake and the
Thames. Monthly film night was introduced covering
all watersports.
In 1962 Reading BSAC were one of 16 Branches who
attended the World Underwater Congress in London
with the star being Cousteau.
Above: George Cooke in his home made sub
Divers were winched down 80 ft in the Basing
House well in search of treasure supposedly put down
there by the Royalists in the civil war. A number of
small arms as well as plenty of rubble was
recovered.
1946 saw the introduction of the 'bonds' in order
to raise money for a compressor. The £200 raised
plus a further £200 grant enabled the Branch to
purchase its own portable 'Bernard' compressor which remained
in use for at least nine years.
As the result of surveying a wreck in Penberth
Cove at Lands End, the Branch won the Triton Trophy
and were awarded a Wardell & Davenport proton
magnetometer.
The first boat was purchased in 1967. It was an
RFD PB16 inflatable with a 40hp Evinrude outboard
which was later replaced with a 'pull start' 55
which claimed many fingers. It
had its first outing at the Man-O-War Cove BBQ which
became the first of many.
The crutch belongs to Doug Robertson, the then DO
who had had a skiing accident.
1969 saw the cracks in the organisation with over
40 divers turning up as Chesil in order to dive in
the one inflatable. At this point the membership was
over 100.
In 1969 the Branch has its first trip to the 'Lizard' at
Easter, a location which has been re-visited every
Easter since.
1970's
1970 saw the move from the Arthur Hills pool to the
then new Reading Central pool. This had a noticeable
improvement in the standard of training which had been
limited to a depth of 5' 6".
'We are the champions' by winning the Heinke
Trophy in 1972. Our submission included Expeditions
to Islay, Salvaging flying boats, Organising Inter
branch quiz's, and running a Southern Region event
for all Southern Branches.
Branch Committee and the Trophy
A 'Supporters club' was formed in 1971. Its function
was to raise funds by organising events. The money
raised was given to the Branch in order to purchase
capital equipment. It raised over £1000 which was used
to purchase three boats and two Johnson 35 outboards.
The Supporters club was limited to 200 members with a
subscription fee of £15 per month. Every quarter
there was a draw for £50 as well as the annual draw
of £500.
Another highlight of 1971 was the discovery of the
Henley Sword Scabbard by Fred Clarke. It was found to
be over 2000 years old an now has pride of place in
Reading Museum (With a picture of Fred as shown above)
Another breakthrough 'The
launch of George Cooke's new sub'
The then DO 'Brian Jones' who worked freelance as an
underwater photographer filmed the event for BBC's
Blue Peter.
1971 saw the first club expedition to Malta where all
the boats and equipment were taken causing some chaos
on the aircraft..
In 1972 the Branch had its first expedition to the Red
Sea. Other diving expeditions that year included: Hebrides,
Shetlands, Channel Islands.
Top of the Pops 'Pans People' helping us promote the
annual charity Thames Swim
Reading BSAC is now one of the largest and most
active Branches of the BSAC
One of the Branch members (George McFerson)
builds a new boat which has its first dive outing to
the Isle of Wight with 14 divers.
"Our own Facilities"
1979 sees The move to Kings Meadow using £2000
of club money as well as a £2000 grant from the
Sports Council. The ten year lease included the provision
for the branch to make the pool operational for
diver training. The following is an extract from an
article that appeared in the 'Southfed' magazine at
the time. The
Southern Federation of Sub-aqua clubs consisted of
20 dive clubs in the south.
""One of the largest grants of 1978 in
the Southern Sports Council area was towards the
conversion of an old swimming pool into a regional
training centre ,with lecture rooms, compressors,
and a bar. Here John Cobb of Reading BSAC gives an
outline of the project.
Some clubs dive, some clubs booze, and some clubs
fester. Reading BSAC is an exception: not only does
it do all three but it takes on winter projects such
as the refurbishment of the 'Kings Meadow' swimming
pool.
Kings Meadow is the original Reading Municipal
swimming pool built for the 'Ladies' with the gentleman's
pool (now demolished) located the other side of
Reading bridge. Constructed of red brick at the turn
of the century it is 25yds long pool enclosed by a
30ft wall with overhanging eaves over the encircling
changing cubicles. Along one side are the
various offices and old laundry rooms and in the
other corner the purification plant was added later
in the life of the pool. Reading Borough Council
have let Kings Meadow to the Reading Branch of the
BSAC on an initial seven year lease and it is now
being transformed into the best inland in the country
with the use of much energy and hard work by club
members.
The project splits naturally into three parts:
provision of a compressor facility, construction of
the club room, Lecture rooms, committee room and
showers and finally the cleaning and
re-commissioning of the swimming pool itself.
At the same time as obtaining the lease Reading
BSAC bought three surplus compressors from BOC together
with all the pipework, bottle bank, pressure switches,
motors, filters and drying columns. These are being
installed beside the purification plant. Two
compressors have been installed and can deliver 6 cfm
at up to 1000 bars although they have been limited to
250 bars so they should last for some time. The
compressed air is passed through the oil traps and
drying columns and enters a 5000 cubic foot receiving bank of six cylinders.
The bottles are connected to a
charging manifold beside the pool.
The club room is being built around the attractive
octagonal main office of the pool . The bar ,now
almost complete, will measure about 40 ft by 30 ft and
has windows looking out onto the pool. Above the club
room is an octagonal committee room about 20 ft across.
Either side of the bar will be the two lecture rooms ,
shower rooms , loo's and stowage are which when
finished will give tremendous facilities.
It is hoped that most of the project will be
finished by the end of 1979.The final stage of the
work will be the re-commissioning of the swimming pool
itself. The pool is cracked and is currently being
filled with water that has seeped from the nearby Thames. The
pool will be pumped dry , cleaned and
re-filled to a level above the Thames. The
purification plant needs to be overhauled and then the
pool can once be used again. (Provided the club can
afford the high cost of chemicals). This work should be
complete be the end of 1980
As the work progresses the club becomes a more
attractive place to hold functions. With the indoor
facilities completed we look forward to hosting the
Southern Federation meetings with the pool being made
available a little later. ""
1980's
As in most years the Thames swim was held providing
funds for charities such as Guide dogs for the blind,
Swanage lifeboat and the Diving diseases research
centre in Plymouth.
 
 
During the late 70's and 80's regular expeditions were
carried out to Scapa Flow mostly diving inside the
flow itself. If the boat ever needed a spare part
Lyness pier was the place to visit as shown below.
1990's
The 90's saw the introduction of different gasses into
the club with some members moving to using Nitrox as
well as Trimix.
 
1997 saw the Branches first expedition to the Northern
Isles or the Orkney's where the majority of divers
were making extensive use of Nitrox. A ships Bell was
found and offered to the owners.
The Branch itself as well as individual members
took advantage of the wreck amnesty in the 90's. This
provided an opportunity to clarify ownership as well
as supplying some museums with new items as well as
giving those requested items, back to the owners. The
porthole below was donated to the Bayword Museum in
Port Elizabeth South Africa. It was recovered by
Callum Beveridge on the wreck of the 'Mendi' off the
Isle of Wight. At the time of sinking the ship was
carrying many South African slaves.
During the 90's the branch continue to visit the Lizard
with 30 to 40 people but the launching gets easier at
Porthkerris. The number of Reading BSAC divers
visiting the Lizard at Easter has been the similar from
1966 to 2003
One of the courses attended by some branch members
in 1997 involved Marine Archeology. This was carried
out at the Lochaline Dive Centre in Scotland and
provided the opportunity to dive historic wrecks including
that of the 'Swan'. This was a Cromwellian warship
wrecked off Duart Point off Mull in 1653.
Further details of the wreck can be found on Dr
Martins web page
2000's
The new millennium and the eclipse are celebrated
by branch dives with some new equipment needed.
Carol Franssen leaves the club after making the sandwiches
every Wednesday night for the past twenty
odd years.
Historically Reading BSAC members have done the
majority of their diving in the UK despite some
expeditions aboard. The new millennium has seen travel
easier and prices reduced to a level where more trips
are now being planned aboard. As well as these trips the branch
still have major expeditions each year to Ireland, The Scillies, Scotland and Cornwall.
  
Easter 2003 sees the Branch still based at Kings
Meadow making use of its indoor facilities for Bar, Equipment
and Lectures although the branch are in communication
with the local council with regard to looking at a
more modern facility.
2004 saw the first hiring of large liveaboards
enabling any level of diver in the club to
experience the Southern Red sea.
2006
Our clubhouse 'Kings Meadow' is up for
sale so Reading BSAC sign a new lease on a building
in Palmer Park. Work has started on the building in
order to provide the facilities for a Bar,Compressor
and boat stowage.
Click here to see a
history of the Diving Officers
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