We’ve found a cannon

We’ve found a cannon

by Jack Scoltock
Impact Coleraine, 2004, ISBN 780948154386, £5.50
This is the pioneering tale of the discovery of the Trinidad Valencers of the Spanish Armada of 1588 in Kinnigoe bay Co Donegal. It is a tale of research, diving with an objective and much hard slog being overtaken by incredible luck on a simple training dive. Can you imagine being part of the group taking divers to ten metres on some of their early dives and returning a result like this? It is also a lesson for the divers who know that the best diving is in shallow water. The excitement is palpable in the description of the diving. The team and their story are well documented for posterity – something missed in the display of the artefacts that they discovered. Their behaviour was irreproachable and their guiding objective was that the material was national heritage to be preserved for posterity. This is what scuba diving is about It is a great story and makes a good read.

reviewed by Eddie Bourke