Two of the Low Wood Watersports team have discovered a new watersports passion - retrieval diving! Declan Turner and Angus Hosking spend their off-time free diving around Low Wood Bay and other Lake District lakes. They've brought some interesting and precious discoveries to the surface. Angus tells us more ...
How did your retrieval diving start?
Declan (left) and Angus (right) on the pier at Low Wood Bay with some of their finds
Declan and I started free diving together in June last year. Initially we just enjoyed seeing what we could find. If we retrieved anything like a wallet then we would try to get it back to the owner.
We could see real potential in retrieving things for anyone that had dropped things into the water when on the jetties.
Any valuables?
We’ve found a bicycle, as well as probably over 10 mobile ‘phones, all sizes and makes. We discovered a DSLR camera that was lost in 2014. We knew the date from checking the SD card and seeing the dates of when the last photos were taken. Unfortunately we still haven't found the owner, but we're trying.
Last weekend a Russian family contacted us to say that they had dropped an iphone and a pair of airpods in the lake. Needless to say, they were very grateful to have us retrieve them.
A lady contacted us to say that she had lost her reading glasses in a particular tarn. I hiked up to the tarn and, from her description of where they had fallen in, I was able to retrieve them.
We have found gold and silver rings and a few bracelets.
Most interesting find?
We have found many old bottles and coins, for example a Pepsi-cola bottle from the 1940s, a sixpence dated 1939 and an old penny from 1944.
... and the most unusual?
That has got to be the standard lamp found at the bay at Millerground. We just thought, how could that have even have got there?
Is this work, or play?
Definitely something we do in our spare time as we both work full-time at Low Wood Bay Watersports Centre in the summer season. However, before we start work we might dive for 2 hours, and after work we dive in multiple locations for as long as 3 or 4 hours at a time. If we both have a day off at the same time then we will make a day of it and meet at a location in the morning and dive in the surrounding jetties.
Anything you're still searching for?
Unfortunately there are a few things that we have not been able to find. We've been asked to recover a few different rings but the people who have dropped them aren't always sure of the exact location. This makes the search area very large. We have just invested in an underwater metal detector so we hope that this will make the difference when we're looking for things like this.
Watersports at Low Wood Bay
As well as their free diving exploits, both Angus and Declan are passionate about teaching watersports on the lake.To chat to them about their exploits, and to book a watersports lesson or craft hire, call 015394 39441.
