An initial recce of the freshwater diving group (to go with pictures in Carole’s previous post)

Carol couldn't wait for further responses from Martin Doyle of Plas y Brenin and it was a lovely day the other Friday (13th) so I accompanied her to have a recce around the Afon Lligwy at Capel Curig (the potential site of our proposed river diving training)

We were both equipped with a map each - so no worries there!

We started by the Cobden's Hotel car park (all of this assumes permission etc. to clamber across fields, through woods, along footpaths etc.) Here there is very easy access to the water, a rush of water under the footbridge into a large pool, the river then divides around an island or two, to the right the water runs fast over shallow boulders, this might be a good site to see what speed of running water we can cope with as the entry point is out of the current. Also perhaps to creep towards the bottom of a waterfall and see what it's like with a safe get-out plan – (in case it's not nice).

The water was lovely and clear all along.

We played pooh sticks to time the rate of movement of water along approx. 10m, under this footbridge we got 0.7 knots or 0.8 mph - which sounds a lot slower that it looked!!

Further upstream there were more nice pools after lots of waterfalls (short ones) with possible access across fields from the roadside - or along the footpath on the other side which would be a longer walk.

In one of these pools immediately opposite the old garage with red frontage we measured a flow of 0.65 knots or 0.75 mph (figures for these sums gleaned from Wikipedia so they must be accurate - not to mention our guesstimate of what 10 metres looks like!)

Further upstream again, the banks were part of the Forestry Commission - Bryn Engan - including some mountain biking paths through the woods. By Plas Curig (as marked on the map) there was a new FC bridge and here we found a torn dry suit wrist seal lying on the path?????!!

Opposite the Bryn Tyrch there was what we decided was a riffle bit with an area of calmer water which might be deeper.

We also went to Plas Y Brenin and looked at their canoeing pool - which also looked like a good site but might be very shallow.

Hopefully we'll get more info from PyB people about depths of the water here and there, when we do our survey of the Conwy we will include shallow waters where crawling/wading is required.

The main obvious hazards we noted along this stretch were boulders and tree branches in the water

Thoughts about techniques/equipment etc. as we went along were:

For initial recce's of sites we would need a plumb line (marked in depths) to use from bridges etc.
Ropes could be used for a number of purposes:
- a weighted line for an underwater transect (as used in underwater surveys we've done at other places)
- a line across the river on the surface to catch divers swooshing off unexpectedly in the wrong direction
- a line along a piece of bank for a diver to grab and pull along if examining a short section by a bank
Also initial or second visits - just snorkelling may be best to then decide whether SCUBA gear would be appropriate
Wheel barrows and trolleys would be useful for humping gear

If we used some sort of grapple we would need to consider what if any damage this might do to the bottom - an initial snorkel might confirm whether a grapple would be of any use anyway.

It's going to be handy to have lots of shore cover

Errr - that's it

Lig

Source to Sea – an underwater ‘travelogue’ of the River ‘Conwy’ From Llyn Conwy – Merddw confluence – Lledr confluence – Llanrwst - Conwy Estuary

Prompted by a generally expressed interest in extending our club diving possibilities in winter, and even during periods of bad weather at sea in the summer, at our last club committee meeting in November, Tristan Hatton-Ellis, Fresh Water Officer for CCW, spoke with enthusiasm about how we might informally collaborate with CCW regarding producing some interesting and, hopefully, artistic and inspiring photographs of various fresh water sites in Anglesey and Gwynedd. He talked about green fresh water sponges in Llyn Idwal, for instance, and many other unique aspects of our beautiful rivers and lakes, inspiring us with enthusiasm to go forward.

So, a couple of  Sundays ago, a group of us met in the Panton Arms at Pentraeth to chat about the possibilities of fresh water diving. With us was Nigel Milner, Fisheries Scientist, a once-member of the club, and a member of the Conwy and Clwyd Rivers Trust.

Llugwy Widens

To begin with we were considering both lakes and rivers, and Snowdonia National Parks have given us permission in principle to dive Llyn Tegid (Bala).

Across pool below Cobden bridge

However, after last night’s meeting we came away with the beginnings of an exciting project, that to our knowledge has never been done before in the UK (I stand to be corrected here…) – which is to dive the length of the River Conwy, and produce an underwater ‘travelogue’, consisting of written records, slides and videos of the various environments encountered – riffles, pools, gorges, waterfalls, tidal reaches etc., ranging from a couple of meters only to 5-10 meters deep, and the aquatic life, both plant and animal, that we hope flourishes in them. Not dissimilar to Seasearch in that aspect. On the way we’ll be learning about invasive species that are threatening native ones, how not to cross contaminate, and how to dive with and against the flow in fairly fast moving water at times. We will obviously use our well- won judgement from diving in the sea, and keep well clear of those places which look too dangerous.

View of defile under Cobdens bridge

We are now in the throes of researching everything we need to know about river diving and pulling in the experience of BSAC HQ, in the person of Jim Watson, Safety and Development Manager; old and new members of the club; and environmentalists from all corners of the two counties, this to produce an overall plan/presentation, templates for risk assessments, set up a programme of safety and skill training sessions, walk the banks, talk to angling associations and landowners, get permissions to dive, and generally get to know Afon Conwy.

We have walked the banks of Afon Lligwy in the meantime, which looked to be a suitable training site, with a wealth of information we could tap into from Plas y Brenin. Nina is setting up a template for risk assessment, both for general hazards and specific sites; Liz is working on a presentation we can use for other concerned organisations about the club and its history and activities to date, Mike is working on equipment and skills/techniques needed, Kathryn is providing us with information about biodiversity in the rivers and intertidal areas, and Nigel is helping us with general info about the Conwy and its waters, plus permissions and introductions to interested people/organisations.

Rocky section upstream of Cobdens bridge

We will hopefully come away from such a project with a wealth of new skills and experiences, and material which will serve to raise awareness both of ourselves and the general public about the largely unseen life in our rivers, the threats to that life from pollution and hazards from tipping, and how important all water is to life’s continuing existence. 

                    

Please get in touch with one of the following club members (telephone/emails available from list of club members previously updated and distributed by Helen) if you’re interested in taking part in this project, which we hope to get underway by the spring. Besides divers of varying adventurousness, we will need shore - I mean ‘bank’ – support crew, so there’s a role for everyone.

We will be calling another meeting for those of you who are interested in the next couple of weeks, and brief field trips to reconnoitre both the Lligwy and Afon are anticipated, before we take the plunge and start skills training.

Thanks

Liz Healey                       

Kathryn Birch

Mike McCann

Nina Hamilton

Carol Horne