BSAC London Branch
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The BSAC London Branch is the original branch No.1 of the
British Sub-Aqua Club The British Sub-Aqua Club or BSAC has been recognised since 1954 by UK Sport as the national governing body of recreational diving in the United Kingdom. The club was founded in 1953 and at its peak in the mid-1990s had over 50,000 members ...
. The branch continues as an active, member-driven club to train and undertake scuba diving within the UK and around the world. The branch is currently located in the basement of the Seymour Leisure Centre in
Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...
, central London. The branch meets weekly at 7pm on Tuesdays and retires to the Thornbury Castle nearby after training or playing
Octopush Underwater hockey (UWH), also known as Octopush in the United Kingdom, is a globally played limited-contact sport in which two teams compete to manoeuvre a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool into the opposing team's goal by propelling ...
in the swimming pool. Divers trained by the London Branch have included
Arthur C Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English list of science fiction authors, science fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. Clarke co-wrote the screenp ...
,
Kenneth More Kenneth Gilbert More (20 September 1914 – 12 July 1982) was an English actor. Initially achieving fame in the comedy ''Genevieve (film), Genevieve'' (1953), he appeared in many roles as a carefree, happy-go-lucky gent. Films from this period ...
, Lord Hailsham,
Esther Williams Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Ol ...
, Mike Brennan,
Tony Daniels Tony Daniels is a Canadian voice actor. He is well known for providing the voices of Uncle Flippy in ''JoJo's Circus'', as well as Jedite and Wiseman in the original English dub of ''Sailor Moon''. He is also known for providing the voice of G ...
,
Tim Smit Sir Timothy Bartel Smit KBE (born 25 September 1954) is a Dutch-born British businessman who jointly helped create the Lost Gardens of Heligan, and the Eden Project in Cornwall, United Kingdom. Early life Tim Smit was born in Scheveningen, ...
and Rowena Ker. The current branch chairman is Alex Soubeyrand and diving officer is Aidan Fewster.


History

The inaugural meeting of the branch was held on 15 October 1953 hosted by
Oscar Gugen Norbert Oscar Gugen (20 January 1910 – 19 March 1992) co-founded the British Sub-Aqua Club, "the largest and most successful diving club in the world", and the partnership E. T. Skinner & Co. Ltd., which became Typhoon International, "the world†...
at the Waldorf Hotel, attended by some 50 enthusiasts. The BSAC London Branch became the first branch created as a result of national recognition by the
Sports Council Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded partners, ...
of the
British Sub-Aqua Club The British Sub-Aqua Club or BSAC has been recognised since 1954 by UK Sport as the national governing body of recreational diving in the United Kingdom. The club was founded in 1953 and at its peak in the mid-1990s had over 50,000 members ...
(BSAC) in 1954, when the existing committee became the general committee of the national BSAC. By 1955 the No.1 branch had 469 members and became the pre-eminent diver training branch in London in the 1950s and 1960s with many members subsequently going on to form other branches or set up dive centres in Britain and around the world.


The early years

In 1959 there were 503 aqualung dives, 251 snorkel, 57 oxygen and 25 helmet dives. In 1960 the branch used an air compressor at
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dairy and by 1961 there were 784 aqualung dives, 12 oxygen and 14 helmet dives. See the Timeline of underwater technology and
Scuba set A scuba set, originally just scuba, is any breathing apparatus that is entirely carried by an underwater diving, underwater diver and provides the diver with breathing gas at the ambient pressure. ''Scuba'' is an anacronym for self-contained un ...
for more on the development of diving technologies. The first sea dive the branch organised was to Bognor Regis. By the late 1950s and early 1960s the club was diving regularly in the UK at Arlesey Quarry, Laughing Waters, Stoney Cove, Chesil Beach, Kimmeridge Ledges, Anglesey, Portland Harbour, Newton Ferrers, Stoke, Durdle Door, Weymouth, Salcombe and Plymouth. The swimming and floating test in 1961 included picking weights up from the bottom of the pool and holding them up in the air. The trainee progressed to intensive snorkel lessons and tests e.g. tow an adult 50 yards, land and give artificial respiration. To be classified as a third class diver in 1961 the trainees had pool aqualung training, 3 open water dives and a skin diving test, 4 training periods assisting in the equipment room and 1 evening looking after the record book at the pool entrance. The qualification enabled a diver to act as bath marshal to maintain discipline during pool training, to give instruction to third class level and to become a full member of the club. The second class diver in 1961 had open water aqualung training which included 10 dives (5 in the open sea) deeper than 10m for a minimum of 15 minutes, free ascents from 30 ft and 50 ft, a 20 ft circular search, 4 sessions assisting with the compressor and a written exam set by the branch with a 2/6d entrance fee. A second class diver could act as a dive marshal and could endorse log books. The first class qualification in 1961 was for divers between the ages of 20 and 50. They had to have 30 dives over and above those required for second class, a bronze life saving medallion and a letter of recommendation from the club committee. The Club Med led the world in diver training in the early 1960s and was the major destination for dive holidays. Instructor qualifications were started in 1965. Before that divers could only get an "Instructor's Endorsement" between the ages of 25–50. In 1954 the branch bought a van from the
Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...
and installed seats and lockers with a carrier underneath for 6 cylinders. The van was painted with advertisements and christened ''Oscar''.


More recent times

In 1997 the branch obtained a National Lottery grant to upgrade its boats and facilities to ensure safe diving was maintained. The boat was designed specifically for the branch, (by David Marks and Nigel Summersby) and is capable of long range trips to the Channel Islands. In 2003 members of the branch, Eric Murray, Nigel Summersby and Keith Graham, joined the police team in their attempt to break the record for the
circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnaviga ...
of
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by
powerboat A motorboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine; faster examples may be called "speedboats". Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the inter ...
. The Team already held the record for circumnavigation which was just under 43 hours. In 2010 the branch merged with YDive, BSAC branch No.1028, as a result of the loss of their training facilities at the London Central YMCA. YDive had been set up in 1978 as a BSAC Special Branch and was associated with The Aquatic Club between 1982 and 1986. Peter Edmund, the Bond villain in the film
Octopussy ''Octopussy'' is a 1983 spy film and the thirteenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth to star Roger Moore as the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 agent James Bond filmography, J ...
was trained by YDive in 1981. The novelist
Timothy Mo Timothy Peter Mo (born 30December 1950) is a British Asian novelist. Born to a British mother and a Hong Kong father, Mo lived in Hong Kong until the age of 10, when he moved to Britain. Educated at Mill Hill School and St John's College, Oxfor ...
and the illustrato
Corrine Pearlman
both joined the branch in 1982 and eventually taught there for a number of years. Th
''Jonathan Crusher Award''
for the annual BSAC Branch Volunteer of the Year, was introduced in memory of Jonathan who trained and became an Advanced Instructor while at YDive before his death in 2008. Branch member Cédric Milcendeau won the award in 2011.


Current organisation

The official HQ of the branch is still Seymour Leisure Centre in
Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...
, where it has been a tenant of
Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2022. Full council meetings ...
since 1954. Due to major refurbishment of the Seymour Centre the branch has been temporarily rehomed to the Queen Mother Sports Centre in Victoria. The branch facilities include a club room complete with lots of diving kit and a
rigid-hulled inflatable boat A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull (watercraft), hull bottom joined to side-forming a ...
(complete with towing vehicle and trailer). The branch currently has 70 active members and meets weekly at 7pm on Tuesdays and retires to The Willow Walk nearby after training or playing
octopush Underwater hockey (UWH), also known as Octopush in the United Kingdom, is a globally played limited-contact sport in which two teams compete to manoeuvre a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool into the opposing team's goal by propelling ...
in the swimming pool. The branch has strong links with the
RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. Founded in 1824 ...
Tower Bridge lifeboat station, with two current members active as volunteer crew. In 2013 the branch trained 22 divers and members dived
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, the
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, Weymouth,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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, the Bay Islands and the
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.


Publications

In 1958 the Diving Manual was published by the
British Sub-Aqua Club The British Sub-Aqua Club or BSAC has been recognised since 1954 by UK Sport as the national governing body of recreational diving in the United Kingdom. The club was founded in 1953 and at its peak in the mid-1990s had over 50,000 members ...
based on the original ideas of branch member Jack Atkinson (who was the first Club Diving Officer) for the Club's training programme. In 1959 the branch published the first magazine to cater for scuba-divers interested in the latest technology, dives and musings of the day. It was called ''London Diver''. In 1963 three members of the branch, Brian Hesketh, Mike Busuttilli and John Cottrell, then started the first independent diving magazine in the UK, called ''Diver''. The BSAC national magazine was called ''Triton'' for many years before being merged with ''Diver'' in March 1978 to make it commercially viable. The magazine is still published today online as ''divernet.com''


Television, Film and Press

Branch members have been involved in a number of television shows, films and publicity: * Rowena Kerr and Jim Phoenix demonstrated underwater propulsion for British Pathe in 1958. Rowena Kerr went on to star in the film Horizons Below. * In 1960 members of the branch supported an American celebrity of the day in underwater endurance, Jane Baldasare, as she attempted to be the first to swim the
English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...
underwater. Mike recalls her inexperience and unsuitability for the task; as the attempts were abandoned, he demonstrated that she was not out of air. * In 1962 the branch demonstrated rescue techniques in and out of water at a conference to address death due to asphyxia and drowning, organised by the
British Safety Council The British Safety Council, a registered charity founded by James Tye in 1957, is one of the world's leading health and safety organisations alongside the likes of Institution of Occupational Safety and Health and International Institute of Ris ...
and the BSAC. * In 1964 the branch gave a demonstration of diving at the televised opening ceremony of the Crystal Palace Sports Centre. * Mike Brennan and Egil Woxholt were part of the 1965
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
film Thunderball. * Gill Yates featured on both BBC and ITV demonstrating diving at the London Boatshow in 1965. * Ed Goldwyn produced a number of underwater documentaries for
London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00&nbs ...
during 1968. * The branch demonstrated underwater salvage techniques at the London Boatshow in 1970 for the BBC, ITV and the national newspapers. * The branch marched on Westminster on 26 February 2013 alongside Fish Fight and the Marine Conservation Society in order to maintain the pressure to protect 127 marine conservation zones. * The branch coordinated diving in various locations (
Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
,
Shetlands Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...
and
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
) on the 60th northerly parallel on the summer solstice 21 June 2013 to raise awareness for our seas and how diving can be used as a therapy for injuries. * Members of the branch supported BSAC headquarters in the handover of the national presidency from HRH Prince of Wales to HRH Duke of Cambridge on 9 July 2014, covered the
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, other television channels and various national newspapers. This event also received coverage as far away as
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.


Awards

The branch has been awarded the Heinke Trophy for doing the most to further the interests of its members and the BSAC on three separate occasions: 1959, 1966 and 1978. Branch members have won a number of awards: * Ronald Burniston won the National Open
Spearfishing Spearfishing is fishing using handheld elongated, sharp-pointed tools such as a spear, gig, or harpoon, to impale the fish in the body. It was one of the earliest fishing techniques used by mankind, and has been deployed in artisanal fishi ...
Championships in Bournemouth in 1961 for catching the biggest edible fish without the aid of an aqualung. * Dr John Betts won the
Sir Robert Atkins Sir Robert Atkyns (1620–1710) was an English Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, Member of parliament, and Speaker of the House of Lords. Early life He was the eldest son of Sir Edward Atkyns, one of the Barons of the Exchequer during the Common ...
Prize from the Institute of Sports Medicine (now the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine) in 1993 for his medical research into thermal protection by neoprene, hazards of diving during pregnancy and cold induced pulmonary oedema. Dr John Betts was also the first BSAC Medical Officer in the 1960s and set the standards for safe diving from a medical perspective. * Lionel Blandford won the
Jacques-Yves Cousteau Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful open-circuit self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA), called the A ...
Award in 1994 for his work with children. He founded the National Snorkellers Club in 1974 and through his efforts ensured 50,000 children were given the opportunity to explore life underwater.


References


External links


British Sub-Aqua ClubBSAC London No.1 Branch
{{UnderwaterDiving Underwater diving clubs Underwater diving training organizations