Stoney Cove is near Stoney Stanton in Leicestershire. The best way to get there is to get onto the M69 via the M6, then take Junction 1. Turn right along the A5, then left at the bottom of the first big hill. Follow this road through the village and out the other side. Stoney Stanton is signposted on the left. The expert area is about 35m deep. The intermediate 20 - 24m and the beginners area is 10m.

For the final time before Malta, Ivor and Peakwoman went to Stoney Cove for a days diving. The first dive was down to 30m with the intention of returning via the shot line. We decided on a mid-water descent for a change and arrived at ground level at 21m. Once we had located ourselves, we headed down the road to the 30m point. The visibility was awful so, rather than try to find the shot line mid water - we hadn't planned to go to 35m and we only had one pony cylinder between us, so would have contravened Maldives rules anyway - we decided on a change of plan and returned up the road. All went well and we were just a few minutes over our planned time but had plenty of air in reserve, surfacing after 29 minutes of diving.

For our second dive we decided to do the Cessna, partly because Peakwoman hadn't done it but mostly because the viz everywhere else was so bad. Due to the extended surface swim not many go there anyway. To find the plane go out past the 35m buoy, following the wall. Eventually you will see two yew trees growing out of the cliff face near the water line. Drop down here to about 15m where you will hit (or rather not hit) the slope. With the wall behind you, turn right and follow the line of the wall. Within a few minutes you will see the plane on the right. It is at about 20m so there is plenty of bottom time to be had. We noticed that someone had questioned Daves sexuality on the plane, but we cannot comment on the author! We also had a major booty find! Just under one of the wings, the eagle-eyed Ivor spotted what looked like a watch. It turned out to be a 200m Apexs dive watch! It must have been there for sometime as we had seen no other teams out there all day. Our return was along the wall steadily rising upwards to conserve as much air as possible. We made it back as far as the bus stop, doing our 3m stop on the shelf beneath before removing our fins and walking up the steps to exit. Our total dive time was 33 minutes. Due to the awful vis on the 6m shelf we decided not to bother with a third dive, electing to take a shower and go for burger and chips instead.

Peakwoman has far more sense than to dive in December, it is cold! Never mind, Jason Cox wanted to go in preparation for the Red Sea in January. Where else but Stoney Cove, where indeed? So, armed with diving gear and a high-altitude RAB jacket, we set off for the day, with Peakwoman along as DM. Dive 1 saw us heading to the Cessna at 21m. The viz was superb! We could clearly make out the plane from 8m down.

After a tour we set off back, staying at 21m until we reached the ledge and drop down to the 35m area, then began our steady ascent. We passed the hydrobox on the road, at which point we had reached 100 bar in our cylinders. This was the point we had planned to rise to 10m so began our ascent. Levelling out we met up with the road again and followed it to the cockpit and our first safety stop at 6m. That done we headed over to the bus stop shelf to do our 3minute/3m stop. Finally exiting at the agreed point after 32 minutes - our plan was 35 minutes, so the DM was happy!

Dive 2 was to the Stanegarth and Wessex. We dropped down to reasonable visibility and after a tour, entered the hold. A good look round and out via the steps at the far end which is a squeeze, but presents no real problems. After this, it was over the edge and off to the Wessex, which was reached in a couple of minutes. We were 18 minutes into our dive, and knowing we had 23 minutes bottom time on our plan, decided to take in the van as well as we just had time. 21 minutes into the dive and we began our ascent of the wall. Onto the 6m shelf we spent a few minutes finning over to the sub and pub, then out through the window and up to 3m. Requiring 3 minutes at this depth, we slowly finned towards the exit point - the steps at the mid-point. We surfaced at 31 minutes, again well within our 35 minute schedule. Two dives was enough. I was warm enough, but Jason was a bit chilly and the DM decided to call the dives in favour of burger and chips - no arguments from the divers, so that is exactly what we did.