Icicle Divers Sub Aqua Club

Name: Andrew Leng

Committee Position: Chairman

Qualifications: Dive Supervisor, Open Water Instructor

Diving since: 1985

Profile: Andrew learned to dive while living out in South Africa. He learned to dive after being inspired by James Bond movies! Andrew now sees lots of his diving through a video camera lens. His favourite dive site is the Breda, near Oban. His favourite sea creature is the octopus.

Name: Mandy "Mermaid" Buckley

Committee Position: Training Officer

Qualifications: Dive Supervisor, Open Water Instructor, AIDA 3* Freediver

Diving since: 1998

Profile: Mandy learned how to dive with PADI and has since crossed over to the dark side! She’s a Customer Service Trainer with Virgin, and when she’s not working, she’s training (our novice divers !!). She’s a veggi, and always trying to convince other divers (especially Jan) that “fish are friends, not food”. Mandy is currently in training to be the next Tanya Streeter (well…. maybe not!) She’s a Libra, her favourite dive site is anywhere deep, blue and warm and her favourite sea creatures are seahorses and mermaids.

Name: Justin "Son Of Bronze" Higginson

Committee Position: Dive Officer

Qualifications: Dive Leader, Open Water Instructor, Normoxic Trimix

Diving since: 1999

Profile: Hig was bullied into learning how to dive by his dad (Man Of Bronze, Kev). He’s a trimix diver, and a bit of a depth junkie. His regular haunt is Dorothea and his favourite sea creatures are urchins (to which he has a special attachment).

Name: Andy "Rufus Roughcut" Heslop

Committee Position: Secretary

Qualifications: Club Diver, Rescue Diver

Diving since: 2005

Profile: Andy took up diving because he has always loved being in the water, so SCUBA was the right way to go. His favourite place to dive is Scapa Flow because it was his first time in salty water! Scapa had good diving, good company and was just all round good fun! Andy comes from the "Jan School of Marine Conservation, as his favourite marine creature is the tuna fish (lightly grilled with a garlic & tomato sauce.) His favourite movie is "Scarface" because Al Pacino rules. His starsign is Libra.

Name: Tracy "Big Eyes" Ridgeway

Committee Position: Treasurer

Qualifications: Club Diver, Rescue Diver

Diving since: 2004

Profile: Tracy got forced into learning how to dive by her partner Ian. She was already a canoe instructor and needed a new challenge, and an excuse for exotic foreign holidays! Her favourite place to dive is the Red Sea and her fave critter is starfish.

Name: Richard "Bucko" Buckley

Committee Position: Equipment Officer

Qualifications: Dive Supervisor, Open Water Instructor, Normoxic Trimix

Diving since: 1999

Profile: Richard learned how to dive cause he’d wanted to since he was a kid. Like Mike, he has brass fever and can usually be found with a “marine liberation kit” attached to his belt. If there’s no chance of treasure, it’s just not worth getting wet. When he’s not diving, he spends his time getting dirty, racing MX bikes. Fave dive site is anywhere deep, dark and cold and his favourite critters are congers.

Name: Jan "Disco" Beigus

Committee Position: Member

Qualifications: Dive Supervisor, Open Water Instructor, Rebreather

Diving since:

Profile: Jan learned to dive because of all the extra meal opportunities! Why pay a restaurant for scallops and lobster when you can pay five grand for a rebreather, and catch your own. Jan is famous for his own particular style of dance moves. His fave dive site is Stoney Cove and he has a fondness for the seals at Bardsey.

Name: Tony "It's too rude!" Close

Committee Position: Member

Qualifications: Dive Leader, Open Water Instructor

Diving since: 1998

Profile: Tony keeps the club running and looks after all the organising of our memberships, committee meetings and boat insurance and stuff. He learned how to dive because it seemed like a good idea at the time. His fav dive site is the Apapa (or rather, the seabed next to it) and his fave sea creature is a nice fillet of cod.

Name: Phil "I’ll have to ask the wife" Cornwell

Committee Position: Member

Qualifications: Club Diver

Diving since: 2003

Profile: Phil has been absent from the dive club for the last 18 months or so, as he’s been having a family. He now has 60 kids. (No, really, he has three :0p). Someone really should tell him about TV (or birth control!). When he escapes being a dad, he makes pub quiz machines for a living. Phil started diving because he’d got to a stage in his career where he could finally afford to… three kids, eh : no re-breather for you for a while then ! His fave sea creatures are seals, so he loves diving at Half Tide Rock.

Name: Paul "Sicknote" Kettle

Committee Position: Member

Qualifications: Dive Leader, Rebreather

Diving since: 1989

Profile: Paul gets the award for our most determined diver! Even though he gets violently seasick in the bath, he still makes it to all the club dives on the rib! When he’s not diving, he works as a Safety & Quality Manager (so make sure you get that risk assessment for the dive site done!) Paul learned to dive cos it seemed like a good idea at the time, he found he enjoyed it and it got him out of the house. Paul doesn’t really have a favourite dive site, he enjoys the craik where ever he goes! He thinks almost all sea critters are special in their own way but has memorable moments with seals at Aberdarren and dolphins in the Red sea.

Name: Graham "Love-rug" Owen

Committee Position: Member

Qualifications: Club Diver

Diving since: 2006

Profile: Graham is another of our Bentley boys, he’s a sewing machine engineer, so is quite capable of running up a nice pair of curtains ! He’s a Leo, and started scuba diving because he had done a lot of snorkelling, so scuba seemed like a logical next step to take. When he’s not diving, he loves flyfishing (we’ll need to watch him with the trout at Capernwray!) He would love to go diving in the Maldives, and would love to see a leopard shark.

Name: Robert "Rod" Taylor

Committee Position: Member

Qualifications: Open Water Diver, Rescue Diver

Diving since: 2005

Profile: Rob started diving last year as a way of relaxing. After 10 years of martial arts, he needed to find a more “soothing” hobby (mmmm, does that mean he’s getting too old for the kickboxing?) Rob is a mechanic by trade (special rates for club members!!) and the works van makes the perfect dive-mobile. His fave dive site is Stoney Cove (although he’s only been once, so far!) and his fave sea creature is a ray.

Name: Mike "Rocky" Breathen

Qualifications: Dive Leader, Rebreather

Diving since: "Since Jaques was a lad"

Profile: Mike is the grandaddy of the club! He started diving back in the days when men were men, because it seemed like an exciting thing to do. He’s a self-confessed brass monkey and loves nothing better than a good ferret around (a wreck, of course!). When he’s not diving, you can find him with his head under the bonnet of the club van. Mike’s fave place to dive is Plymouth and his fave sea critter is the dogfish.

Name: John Brunsden

Qualifications: TBC

Diving since: TBC

Profile: TBC.

Name: Alison Buckley

Qualifications: TBC

Diving since: TBC

Profile: TBC.

Name: Trevor Carmen

Qualifications: Dive Supervisor

Diving since: 1982

Profile: Trevor took up diving because he wanted to visit an alien world, and NASA weren’t recruiting for astronaut at the time!! He’s a bit of a James Bond fan, so maybe some of the dive scenes were an inspiration too !! Trevor’s favourite place to dive is Japanese Gardens in Eilat, or a bit closer to home, St Abbs, because both of them have spectacular underwater life. His favourite is the Napoleon Wrasse because it is enormous, friendly, and easy to tempt with the odd hard boiled egg!! In recognition for all his hard work in supporting the dive club over the years, Trevor has been awarded an honorary life membership.

Name: Darren Chesters

Qualifications: TBC

Diving since: TBC

Profile: TBC.

Name: Jake Close

Qualifications: Open Water Diver

Diving since: 2005

Profile: Jake is currently a student, so that will explain why he feels like he does "nothing" for a living... however, his part time job is playing in a band.... so get his autograph now.. he could be the next big thing! His favorite movie is "School Of Rock", cause it's funny and cool... Jake can blame learning to dive on his dad, Tony. His favorite dive site is Capernwray, because there is loads of fish, and interesting stuff to see. His favorite marine animal is the octopus, becase they are a little bit different, and really smart and interesting

Name: Chris Doyle

Qualifications: Open Water Diver

Diving since: 2006

Profile: Chris (who’s an Aries) is a HGV driver, so he should be OK driving the club van and towing the boat! He decided to learn to dive to take on a new challenge. He hasn’t got a favourite dive site yet… but he would love to return to St Lucia with Deborah, and do some diving out there. His fav sea creatures are whales & dolphins and he’s a bit of a Quentin Tarintino fan.

Name: Pawel Golowicz

Qualifications: TBC

Diving since: TBC

Profile: TBC.

Name: John Heath

Qualifications: Club Diver

Diving since: June 2006

Profile: John is an Engineering Consultant He started diving because he has done loads of snorkelling. He always wanted to go scuba diving, but lack of time due to other interests/hobbies prevented me from training and qualifying properly. He’s now found some time, in between holidays, to finally learn! He’s pretty well travelled, and loves any where warm e.g. Red Sea, Andaman Sea, Malaysia, the Med, Florida and California. He’s snorkelled in many parts of the world and hopes to revisit some for diving when he’s retired. His fave movie is Jaws…. but he admits that it scares him even more now he’s started diving.

Name: Calico Heslop

Qualifications: TBC

Diving since: TBC

Profile: TBC.

Name: Ady Peers

Qualifications: TBC

Diving since: TBC

Profile: TBC.

Name: Ian "Hot Stuff" Russell

Qualifications: Club Diver

Diving since: 2004

Profile: Ian decided to learn to dive because he thought it would be the only place that Tracy couldn’t nag him. How wrong he was… they even argue underwater!! Ian’s experience as a canoe instructor stood him in good stead for being a member of a dive club. He loves diving in the red sea and he has a fancy for crabs.