Archive

March 2006 - 'A world beneath the water'

...but then, there aren't many places like Capernwray. Although all those things are there, along with a decrepit VW Beetle and a pair of helicopters, you're unlikely to ever see them.
The relics are now home to shoals of fish in the flooded Jackdaw Quarry at Capernwray near Carnforth. Along with a collection of boats, a cannon and a family of gnomes, they have all been wrecked and now lie beneath the water for divers to investigate. In the ten years since the diving centre opened, new attractions have been brought and sunk and the venue is now one of the UK 's finest.

Fish food is on sale in the dive shop and there are plenty of takers, with the growing populations of perch, carp, trout, roach and sturgeon adding to the underwater experience. But what they make of Shergar and Lord Lucan, two fibre glass horses previously on display at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, is anyone's guess.
The quarry was first dug in the late 1700s to provide stone for the nearby Lancaster Canal and last century limestone was again removed from the site when the M6 was extended.

After quarrying stopped, the natural springs filled the quarry and the water and these days more than 35,000 people a year pull on their dry suits and flippers to explore the wrecks and underwater flora and fauna.

Underwater photogrphy supplied by Steve 'Smudge' Bateman - Pro Scuba -
click here for details