50% Discount on Activities During Half-Term at the NDAC Chepstow

This February Half-Term we have some fantastic discounts on activities at the National Diving & Activity Centre.

For the midweek dates of the February School Half Term we are offering a 50% discount on The Wire Zip Slide and The Giant 3G Swing. This special offer runs from Monday 17^th February until Friday 21^st February 2020 (Excludes weekends, attractions open selected dates).

To take advantage of these offers please use the discount code HALFTERMFUN when booking online.

(Read more…)

Join the Ghost Fishing UK team for a weekend of diving and socials at the National Diving & Activity Centre.

Included with your ticket:

  • Saturday Social: Hog Roast & BBQ (Vegetarian options available)
  • Guest Speakers, Q&A Forum
  • Half Price Diving entry to NDAC
  • Video screenings
  • Bar, Band, raffle, auction, competitions and fundraisers
  • ‘Try Ghost Fishing’ workshops – (24 spaces, terms apply)

Full details, terms and tickets available on the Ghost Fishing UK website here »

Join the Event on Facebook »

Ticket holders receive discounted diving entry at the gate. This is extra and payable on the day.

Please bring a copy of the email receipt with you (electronic version is fine).

Please note: Tickets are non refundable.

BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW »

Date & Time

Sat 8th Feb 2020, 09:00 – Sun, 9th Feb 2020, 16:00

About Ghost Fishing

The problem of ghost fishing gear has reached public prominence over the past five years. It is a normal part of fishing that nets, shellfish traps and other equipment becomes lost. This is not a deliberate or careless act on behalf of the fishing community, simply a reality of a very harsh environment. The problem is that the lost gear continues to catch marine life. This has an undocumented effect on the local ecosystem, but is clearly undesirable in any sense. Animals are being needlessly killed.

Ghost Fishing was set up to try to remove this lost equipment from the marine environment. It is a challenging and difficult task. Ghost gear is typically entangled in reefs and wrecks, and its removal can be complicated. The technique involves attaching bags to the gear, which the diver fills with air, making them float. The divers then cut the gear free as close to the seabed as possible. Great care is needed to ensure that the diver does not become entangled with the equipment. This involves a high degree of teamwork, coordination and discipline.

Thanks to the guys at Scuba Diver Magazine we’ve a fantastic special offer for our customers.

Spend £50 at the National Diving & Activity Centre Dive Shop or on training from Scubaquest, between now and February 15th 2020, and you can claim a free ticket to GO Diving dive show.

GO Diving is a brand-new show – spearheaded by Scuba Diver Magazine and DeeperBlue.com, and implementing concepts and initiatives from the wider diving community – that is designed to be interesting and entertaining for existing divers while offering a world of possibilities to those keen to learn about all aspects of diving.

As an island nation, the UK has quality diving within a few hours commute of any household, and their goal is to get more people diving through education, inspiration, aspiration and participating!

• Listen to a talk from the legendary presenter Steve Backshall, Andy Torbet, Monty Halls, Miranda Krestovnikoff, Alex Mustard on the main stage

• See the latest gear from AP Diving, Apeks, Aqua Lung, Beuchat, Cressi, Finnsub, Fourth Element, Ocean Reef, Poseidon Diving Systems, Mares, Santi Diving Equipment, Scubapro, Shearwater, Suunto, Tusa, VSM Rebreathers, Waterproof, XDeep + MORE

• Talk training with PADI, SSI, RAID, SAA, NAUI

• Book a holiday with Scuba Travel, Dive Worldwide, Regal Dive, Aggressor Adventures, Diverse Travel, Great Escapes, Sportif

• Get information about destinations from the Bahamas, Malta, Honduras, Egypt, Grenada, Dominica, Belize tourism boards

• Try the 30m caving experience, or have a go on the new technical access to a dive site challenge (a.k.a the climbing wall)

Tickets also include FREE parking.

The GO Diving dive show takes place at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on Saturday 22nd and 23rd February.

*Terms and conditions apply, visit the Go Diving website to claim your tickets »

Dear Path Supporters,

Due to an Autumnal Flurry the numbers of people supporting this petition rose to 6,207 signatures today.

There has been a lot of progress since the last update in the Spring 2019; Greenways were busy clearing and repairing the disused railway line from the National Diving and Activity Centre to the Tidenham Tunnel in September, please read all the detail here.

The planning application for the extension of the Wye Valley Greenway to Wyedean school has just been registered. It is P/1735/19/FUL. The full document is on the website.

Planning Application for Shared Use Path to Wye Dean School »

Please log your comments in supporting the application and also mention how important it will be to have the routes passing through the planned housing developments, to make the whole route traffic free, so that FoDDC are aware of that in pressing for 106 contributions.

We have had confirmation from Barrett Homes that the new Wye Link Bridge crossing from the Mabey development to Sedbury has been noted on their Index Plan in accordance with the Active Travel Map and Welsh Assembly Government Active Travel Policy.

There will be another fund raising Performance to follow on from the Flamenco Fiesta in 2017 called St Patrick’s Dance (NDAC) on 14th March 2020.

For more live information please follow our facebook page:

A to B Connecting Communities Facebook Page »

Thank you for your continued support and please continue to share this petition link as there are still plenty of people who haven’t signed it: friends and family.

An Irish Dance performance at the National Diving & Activity Centre in celebration of Ireland and St Patrick to raise funds for the Wye Valley Shared Use Path.

The St Patrick’s Day Dance event takes place on Saturday 14th March 2020 from 7pm at Chepstow’s National Diving & Activity Centre.

Includes authentic food and drink, dance and singing performances, raffle and auction.

An evening not to be missed!

• Join the Facebook event »

• Tickets are £15-£25 and available here »

Programme for St Patrick’s Dance

• Irish Dance Routine walkabout and Line Dancing performance

• Presentation about the Wye Valley and Wye Dean School planning applications by David Judd on behalf of Greenways. (Caroline Lovett and John Grimshaw)

• Including satellite video footage of the whole proposed Wander Wye Route.

• Singing performance by local choir. (details to be confirmed)

• Irish Food and Drink: choice of potato cakes and Irish Apple cake with Guinness to accompany!

• Auction/Raffle (prizes to be confirmed)

• Irish music by great local Acoustic Duo Bertie and Jonny accompanied by Irish singer Lucian.

• Double Measure with singer Sue Skinner from Treblemakers

• Time for a dance!

• Finale

Find out more about the Wye Valley Shared Use Path here »

Words by Jennifer Goslin BA BSc OCDEA
A-B Connecting Communities
Images from Chepstow to Tintern Shared Use Path Facebook post

Greenways and Cycleroutes Limited organised a volunteer work camp from 13 to 22 September 2019 based at the National Diving and Activity Centre at Tidenham, near Chepstow.

Their aim was to repair a bridge and to install and replace boundary fencing on the former railway line between Chepstow and Tintern to sustain momentum while they await planning permission and full funding to complete a walking and cycling route between the National Diving & Activity Centre and Tintern. This will form part of the overall safe route; the Wander Wye from the Severn Bridge to Monmouth proposed by A-B Connecting Communities who provided a grant in June of £5000 to Greenways.

• 91 volunteers put in 235 working days. 61 were day visitors, and 30 stayed overnight in tents and vans and chalets. And what a difference was made.

• Refurbishing the Bishton Lane bridge over the railway line – relocating the piers on newly cast concrete foundations transforming the structure.

• The fallen rocks were collected and rebuilt the wingwalls, repointing them with lime putty and with much help from BT, wire brushed and repainted the piers.

• The field fence was repaired between the railway land and the Gloucestershire Way and replaced the railway fences above the sheer drop of the retaining walls in the Wye Valley gorge.

• The vegetation was cut through at the former Tidenham station to create a laurel arbour with windows, and safety parapets installed to the bridge over the A48, where others had hacked back the brambles.

• The First Shirenewton Scouts helped to clear roots and branches from the track bed.

• A route was cut through to Sedbury Lane so we can survey the route for future planning applications, and work out how best Dean Forest Railway can recover the track.

• The Ecologists were in attendance to check that we were complying with the regulations.

No work was completed in the tunnel at all – as their Bat licence did not come through in time, so unfortunately the repairs to the walls and the planned installation of new gates will have to wait. The temporary fences were simply covered with tarpaulins to reduce airflow through the tunnel.

What happens next?

Greenways are working with Forest of Dean Council to secure the planning permission we need. The process will not be quick, as Natural England need to be sure about environmental issues. When they have planning permission we will be able to apply for grants.

There is still some finishing off to do to the pointing of the wing walls, and they are planning to set up a local volunteering group to help us to complete this.

If all goes well Greenways hope to have a further work camp in the spring for the labour intensive activities of installing lighting and bat shelters in the tunnel, installing seats and sculpture, and tidying back vegetation. In a perfect world there would have at least a mountain bike quality route open to Tintern by the summer.

Words by PC Finnegan

During September, Avon and Somerset Constabulary Underwater Search Unit hosted a National Police dive exercise at the National Diving and Activity Centre (NDAC). This was a great opportunity to work in partnership with other dive teams from around the country.

The exercise was attended by Underwater Search Units from Metropolitan Police, South Wales Police, Devon and Cornwall Police, Yorkshire and Humberside Police along with representatives from Northumbria Police, instructors from Police Scotland dive school, Health and Safety Executive and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DTSL).

The scenario was created to recover of bodies (mannequins), body parts and personal items placed around a variety of the many and diverse dive sites within the NDAC dive site. The exercise gave valuable learning for all involved and created new working partnerships, from the planning phase of the dive operation to the execution of the plans. There were also lectures at the site to Senior Investigating officers and Police Search Advisors around the roles of underwater search units along with demonstrations around new technology from DTSL.

It was an excellent sight to have 4 dive teams in the water at once, working together around multiple sites within the quarry. In the evening there was the obligatory social event, again hosted by the staff at NDAC incorporating dinner, a quiz, a well earnt beer and customary exchange of stories from the past year!

Our thanks go out to Darren and his team at NDAC for making this wonderful site available to us and assisting in the planning and implementation of an extremely successful exercise.

If you would like to host a training event or exercise at the National Diving & Activity Centre, please get in touch.

The National Diving & Activity Centre will be closed to the public for all activities from 5pm Sunday 26th January – Friday 31st January 2020.

Wigwams will be available from 4pm on Friday 31st January.

Scuba Diving and activities resume at the site on Saturday 1st February 2020.

The site will be closed for all divers and visitors; this also includes the Wire, Wigwams, all Diving and The View Cafe Bar.

The site will be back to normal opening times on Saturday 1st February 2020.

Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

Below are the 2019/20 Christmas and New Year opening times for the National Diving & Activity Centre (Read more…)

From 1st October we are operating our Winter Opening Times for Scuba Diving.

From the 1st November 2019 we will be making some changes to the opening times for Scuba Diving and the View Cafe Bar to reflect the quieter season.

Between November and the February Half-Term, we will close on Thursdays. During this time we will open Friday-Sunday.

Following the February half-term From April 1st we will return to Thursday-Sunday opening until the end of October.

We will also continue to open on Bank Holiday Mondays.

Christmas dates are assessed each year depending on how the holidays fall. We expect to release the 2020 Christmas dates in November.

NDAC Scuba Winter Opening Times 2019/2020

01 October – 31 March inclusive

Monday: CLOSED (open Bank Holidays)

Tuesday: CLOSED

Wednesday: CLOSED

Thursday*: 0930 -1700 (*Closed 1st Nov until week after Feb Half-Term April) 

Friday: 0930 -1700

Saturday: 0800 – 1700

Sunday & Bank Holidays: 0800 – 1700

Clear of water by 1600