Guides
Knacker Hole at Beadnell
A good small stuff dive, with a very short walk and easy access. It can be a bit busy during warm weather with open water training!!!
{mosmap lat='55.5543'|lon='-1.6269' }
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Latest Photographs
Part of a shoal of lesser sandeels (Ammodytes tobianus) there are huge bait balls of this foodstuff through the summer, some of which are attacked from above and below. These fish were quite happy to stay relatively close, they obviously didn't see a diver as a threat.
Engine parts sticking out of the sand, I assume these held on the cylinders........
Kelp (Family laminariales) does tend to be quite a long lived plant with the stem above say the first twenty centimeters quite a safe place for a plant to grow without the risk of sea-urchins 'browsing' you away. In this case dulse and other sea-weed encases the stem, making an eco-system up in the water column!
Debris all around and most unidentifiable, in this case it's looks a bit like the trunion end of a cannon, which obviously it can't be. On reflection the end of a mast?
I think this is a nav-light arrangement on a small 'sold' mast assembly
A scenic of the bow, due to the previous salvage operation it has 'snapped' and fallen away from centre to left of the photograph
All turned and time to polish!
The pile of anchor chain, this has obviously just dropped straight out of the locker and forms a big two meter square lump in a gully
Skylights rather than portholes but it would be nice.....wouldn't it!?!
A shot of the sea-bed in about twenty five meters off the Harcarrs, its all flat rock, small gravel beds and short drop offs.
After the propellor the next 'lump' is a set of bollards
Same guy and those orange dry-gloves didn't half reflect the light!
The rock face on 'The Hopper', its a straight drop into about 18m of water, with little or no weed, only a little kelp near the top of the face and then some filter feeders lower down. A lovely little site!
A Common Whelk (Nucella lapillus), this one had a chiton (Polyplcophora) along for the ride!
A valve identification plate, interestingly this one has raised lettering rather than details stamped in. This means that it must have been cast, a rather strange and expensive way to make simple ID plates!
A high altitude gun, you would have needed some 'minerals' to be operating this even with the aeroplanes and airships of the period!
Huge shaols of Coalfish (Pollachius virens), these were bigger boys and had chased awy the smaller baitfish. They were probably waiting to ambush any fish swept over the top of the wreck when the tide got going properly.
One of my regular buddies, Hud coming out at the bottom, to be greeted with a flash!
Typical geology, the surfaces are covered in Dead mans fingers (Alcyonium digitatum), the bottom being small vertical faces, rocks and large boulders....all very scenic and pretty in good vis!
I have never seen this particular species of Starfish (Echioderm) here in the North East although they are common in warm water further south or on the West Coast. Apparently this species is quite ancient.....
A small shellfish, probably some type of oyster. I took this photograph as I have never seen one before and thought it may be a 'foreign invader', it isn't!
A typical north east wreck dive, plates, boilers n bits. In this case probably Jan Van Ryswyck although a few vessels have foundered so the bits are somehwhat mixed!
Feedin' the wrasse!!
In this case Ballan Wrasse (Labrus bergylta) on a smashed edible sea urchin (Echinus esculentus), don't try this at home kids.
If you look down into the heavily salvaged engine space you can see the prop shaft, the hole down is about 20m to the inverted deck, quite a drop.....
The anchor chain, you can see a link here, is wrapped around the vessel and with the shot-line tied at one side it really is 'difficult to loose the line and have to do a blue water ascent.
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