Known affectionately to regular divers as 'Gildy' or 'Gildenpit', this is where I started my formal dive training, commencing with the PADI Open Water Diver course taken in the summer of 1998. Gildenburgh lake is on the site of a former brickworks and is located near to Peterborough in the village of Eastrea. It is home to Dive In Limited and recognised as a 5 Star Career Development Centre and also regular host to the BSAC and visitors from other diving organisations.
The lake was established as a developing sanctuary for fish and plant life in 1945 when the former brickworks closed down. In January 1985 Ian and Pauline Forster, the current owners, bought the lake and 30 acres of surrounding land and have developed a full range of ancillary facilities. This inland lake offers year-round access without the problems of weather found on coastal locations. Depths vary up to 22m, a number of entries including shallow, deep water and jump bridge are available for all levels of divers. A variety of fish including mirror carp, perch, rudd, roach, eel, and pike to over 1 metre long can be found here. Visibility can be up to 10m but averages 4 to 6m depending on time of year and diver activity. Silt can be a problem, it pays to arrive early at the weekend times and get into the water before the student activity is too advanced. There are some interesting wrecks to be seen and explored, including various cars, a double decker bus, front section of a Shorts Skyvan, Jet Provost (temporarily removed during spring 2000), cabin cruiser and barge which provide a habitiat for the underwater life.
Several underwater platforms are set up in training areas help to make the transition from pool to open water easy and safe. They can also be booked by clubs and dive schools subject to availability. There is a nearby indoor heated pool used for confined water sessions of the dive courses. The air station offers both pure air and Nitrox enriched air.
There are several well equipped classrooms with modern visual aids to cater for the wide variety of courses on offer. Students also qualify for discount at the well stocked retail shop which has all the popular lines at favourable prices. This offers friendly advice together with personal support and service. For the new diver, the Rental Store offers everything to kit out visitors who haven’t yet bought their own equipment. All students who learn at Gildenburgh also benefit from favourable hire rates on all equipment after they qualify. The Servicing Centre offers service for all types of diving equipment, and testing of diving cylinders under IDEST approval.
A full syllabus of PADI courses are run regularly throughout the year. Class sizes are never too large and close personal attention is given by resident teaching staff. Additional speciality courses are also on offer to cover all aspects of training and development. Open days are held throughout the summer months and in addition, dive trips and holidays are organised by, and can be booked through Dive In.
The training is well organised and the various classrooms have been well equipped with video and more recently, PC based training aids. With PADI courses, the well structured syllabus is taken in stages to ensure comprehension and understanding before moving onto the next level. The training areas in the lake are also utilised throughout the courses to ensure practical aspects are well rehearsed and understood. Instructors are supported by Dive Masters who have also had training within Gildenburgh courses and their assistance plus a great atmosphere ensures everybody gets the most out of the training sessions leading to further qualifications.
The restaurant offers snacks, meals and drinks which are always available throughout the day from breakfast to dinner at reasonable prices. Other facilities include basic changing rooms with showers and toilets. Residential students can also stay in caravans or rooms on site or in Bed & Breakfast accomodation locally the village of Eastrea.
Full details from http://www.divein.co.ukPhoto Opportunities
The good variety of fish life and wrecks at Gildenburgh do offer some interesting photo opportunities. Bearing in mind the fact that the bottom clay silt is quite prone to being kicked up after a lot of diver activity it is worth choosing the time of day and the subject matter carefully. There is a good chance of seeing reasonable sized pike in shallow areas especially near the sunken forest and tree root areas where the smaller fry tend to congregate. The underneath and lower areas around the training platforms are also worth exploring. These areas are also surrounded by brick strewn bottom features so silt is not such a problem in the early morning. With some expert help from Steve Fern, together with the loan of some of his own photographic equipment during a recent underwater photography taster course, I managed to put together the following reasonably passable images:
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Main MenuCopyright © Graham Curran 1999, Changes last made to this page on: Sunday, July 16 2000 17:20 GMT