EXPERIENCING the feeling of gliding through the unknown of the deep blue seas is just one of the reasons why a scuba-diving group is still going strong after 30 years.

When Sub C Divers was formed by Brian Batley and Graham Charleson in 1980 at Howe Bridge Sports Centre, Atherton, it had two trainee divers and a snorkeller.

It has since seen membership rise to more than 45 and has trained about 700 people to scuba dive.

Equipment officer Alf Draper, aged 59, said: “Diving is exhilarating.

When you first start to dive you are nervous, but I have been diving 18 years and I still get that little bit of a buzz off it.

“The day that stops happening you should stop diving.”

One of Mr Draper’s most memorable dives with the group was to the Second World War SS Thistlegorm, which was sunk by German bomber planes in the Red Sea.

He said: “It was like being in one of the David Attenborough films. It was breathtaking.

“You had to pinch yourself.

We must have been there about 20 minutes, but it felt like seconds.”

On a dive off Sharm el Sheikh, in Egypt, Mr Draper even got close to manta rays, which are more than 7.6 metres in diameter.

He said: “Some people say to me have you seen this or seen that, and some people dive because they don’t want to watch it on TV, they want to see it. I wasn’t happy to sit in my chair.”

Each year Sub C Divers, a branch of the British Sub Aqua Club, delivers accredited training courses for beginners to experienced divers.

Sub C Divers owns a rigid inflatable boat with GPS and has equipment for beginners to use. Dives take place at least once a month and locations have included Capernwray in Carnforth, Llanberis, North Wales, Indonesia, the Maldives and Egypt.

Diving officer Michael Rickard, a cobbler, aged 53, has been a member for 26 years.

He said: “If I was to equate diving to anything it would be like flying, but without the aeroplane. You can slowly glide and drift and see all around you. It is absolutely wonderful.”

New members will undergo swim sessions and classroom theory lessons before becoming qualified by taking open water assessments.

Members at the club, which meets each Wednesday night at the sports centre, Eckersley Fold Lane, range in age from 12 to 77. People aged 12 to 16 need to be accompanied by an adult.

Call Mr Draper on 07768 840466 or Jo on 07738 534647 or visit subcdivers.co.uk for more details