Eccleston Quarry
Encyclopedia
Eccleston Quarry is a mile south of Eccleston, Lancashire
. It is also called Eccleston Delph and Eccy Delph . It is an old stone quarry that flooded. It is a popular site
for scuba diving
. Visibility is generally very poor and ropes have been strung between each underwater 'feature' to aid navigation, since traditional compass methods are all but impossible in the murky waters. Though much work has been undertaken to improve visibility in the recent past. In 2010 it has been noticed that the visibility is much improved.
and employed 12 men. From it came stone for Blackpool
Promenade, and thin split stone used as slate
s for roofing in the area. It was formerly also called Hurst House Delph and Marsden's Quarry.
A local resident said that "during World War II
a Ministry
paid a local man to run at intervals a pump to keep the quarry empty while its owner and staff were away. After the war due to official reorganization they stopped paying the local man, who therefore stopped running the pump, and over time the quarry flooded."
After it was abandoned and allowed to flood by ground water seeping in, it was an unofficial scuba diving
site for a long time. The back of the quarry was cliff standing straight out of the water, and there were no buildings except a stone hut near the entrance, and a machinery shed which was submerged when the quarry flooded. Over the years the shed's sheet-metal walls and roof rusted away, leaving its metal skeleton.
On 14 October 1979 the handless body of narcotics dealer Marty Johnstone
("Mr Asia") was discovered in the quarry by local divers. Johnstone had been murdered on the orders of his associate Terry Clark ("Mr Big"). The discovery led to an international police investigation and the breakup of the "Mr Asia" narcotics gang.http://thedelph.com/corpse.html
Around the year 2000 it was pumped dry, and over 250 cars and much rubbish were removed from it, and it was landscaped, and re-flooded, and scuba diving centre
buildings built by it, and objects were submerged for divers to dive on.
s, a light tank
, containers, a concrete tube, and a gnome garden, and a playground. As well as these there are training platforms at various depths from 3m to 9m. All are marked by surface buoy
s.
is not allowed there.
episode where a car nearly fell into water but was stopped by bushes, was filmed there.
Eccleston, Lancashire
-Mr.Asia's Murder:Christopher Marty Johnstone was a New Zealand drug trafficker. The former Takapuna Grammar pupil was dubbed "Mr Asia" by the Auckland Star newspaper in August 1978 in a series of articles by Pat Booth....
. It is also called Eccleston Delph and Eccy Delph . It is an old stone quarry that flooded. It is a popular site
Scuba diving quarry
Scuba diving quarries are depleted or abandoned rock quarries that have been allowed to fill with ground water, and rededicated to the purpose of scuba diving....
for scuba diving
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
. Visibility is generally very poor and ropes have been strung between each underwater 'feature' to aid navigation, since traditional compass methods are all but impossible in the murky waters. Though much work has been undertaken to improve visibility in the recent past. In 2010 it has been noticed that the visibility is much improved.
History
Formerly a Mr. Hurst ran it as a stone quarryQuarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
and employed 12 men. From it came stone for Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
Promenade, and thin split stone used as slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
s for roofing in the area. It was formerly also called Hurst House Delph and Marsden's Quarry.
A local resident said that "during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
a Ministry
Ministry (government department)
A ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of government public administration, sometimes led by a minister or a senior public servant, that can have responsibility for one or more departments, agencies, bureaus, commissions or other smaller executive, advisory, managerial or...
paid a local man to run at intervals a pump to keep the quarry empty while its owner and staff were away. After the war due to official reorganization they stopped paying the local man, who therefore stopped running the pump, and over time the quarry flooded."
After it was abandoned and allowed to flood by ground water seeping in, it was an unofficial scuba diving
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
site for a long time. The back of the quarry was cliff standing straight out of the water, and there were no buildings except a stone hut near the entrance, and a machinery shed which was submerged when the quarry flooded. Over the years the shed's sheet-metal walls and roof rusted away, leaving its metal skeleton.
On 14 October 1979 the handless body of narcotics dealer Marty Johnstone
Marty Johnstone
Christopher Martin "Marty" Johnstone was a New Zealand drug trafficker. The former Takapuna Grammar pupil was dubbed "Mr Asia" by the Auckland Star newspaper in August 1978 in a series of articles by Pat Booth.-Murder:...
("Mr Asia") was discovered in the quarry by local divers. Johnstone had been murdered on the orders of his associate Terry Clark ("Mr Big"). The discovery led to an international police investigation and the breakup of the "Mr Asia" narcotics gang.http://thedelph.com/corpse.html
Around the year 2000 it was pumped dry, and over 250 cars and much rubbish were removed from it, and it was landscaped, and re-flooded, and scuba diving centre
Dive center
A dive center is the base location where sports divers usually start scuba diving. Divers commonly refer to dive centers as dive shops. It is normally a shop selling diving equipment equipped with a gas compressor to fill the cylinders. Classrooms are sometimes available...
buildings built by it, and objects were submerged for divers to dive on.
Facilities
The Delph has a cafe, shop, changing facilities, swimming pool, training room, equipment hire and an air filling station.Shore facilities
There are many entry and exit points including shore entry with concrete slipways, sturdy steel deep entry points with fin friendly steps. Most have railings with chain linkages.Underwater features
There are many things for divers to explore including speedboats, a Jet Provost, armoured personnel carrierArmoured personnel carrier
An armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...
s, a light tank
Light tank
A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movement, and now primarily employed in low-intensity conflict. Early light tanks were generally armed and armored similar to an armored car, but used tracks in order to provide better cross-country mobility.The light tank was a major...
, containers, a concrete tube, and a gnome garden, and a playground. As well as these there are training platforms at various depths from 3m to 9m. All are marked by surface buoy
Buoy
A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...
s.
Underwater life
The Delph is well stocked with a large variety of fish including koi carp: bags of food can be bought to feed the fish. AnglingAngling
Angling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" . The hook is usually attached to a fishing line and the line is often attached to a fishing rod. Fishing rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook itself...
is not allowed there.
Filming
A Coronation StreetCoronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
episode where a car nearly fell into water but was stopped by bushes, was filmed there.
External links
- Eccleston Quarry
- map
- map
- map
- history
- Sturgeon at Eccleston Delph – Set of interesting images on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA prevents upload)
