In August 2008 I dived the millpond immediately downstream of the former Chartham Corn Mill’s weir in Kent. Located on the Great Stour River near Canterbury, the former corn mill had been converted into some wonderful riverside properties, one of which had been purchased a year earlier by my Ashford Dive Club buddies, Chris and Svenja Powell. We had nicknamed the millpond “Svenja’s Sunpool” and on this sunny summers day it looked very inviting as Chris and I began the dive from the shallows to the side of the weir. The water had appeared remarkably clear beforehand but once underwater it proved to be only about 3 metres. And after Chris and I had stirred up the river bed, 2 metres!

The currents caused by the weir proved great fun as they first sent Chris and I downstream and then slowly pulled us back up the side of the river before gently pushing us under the weir to begin the cycle again. A pike, carp and numerous trout lurked just too far away from me to photograph but I was able to get closer to a shoal of gudgeon and a perch. After two hours underwater in a wetsuit with a water temperature of 14 to 15 degrees, not surprisingly I began to feel cold. But then with Chris and Svenjas’ home so close to the dive site I was quickly warm and dry again and enjoying a hot cup of coffee.