08 November 2008

NAS Honours the Meridian Divers "T R Thompson" Project

Meridian Divers, Tad, Sheila & Chris were delighted to be invited to the Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) 2008 Annual Conference held on Saturday 8th November at "ACTION STATIONS" in Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard, itself the home of HMS Victory.


The Conference, supported by PADI, BSAC, SAA, English Heritage, Historic Scotland and others, had a packed Agenda with some of the leading UK and overseas archaeologists. With such an eminent and erudite line-up of speakers one might reasonably wonder why Meridian Divers were invited.


Well the answer is simple, the NAS wished to honour Meridian Diver's for their Adopt A Wreck Project (see linked blog , link top right of this page). On behalf of the NAS, Mr Ray Sutcliffe FSA read out a glowing citation on the work of Meridian Divers and the extent to which the project had traced living relatives of the Steamship T R Thompson, sunk in 1918. The citation included a special reference to the succesful use of the broadcast media which had promoted maritime heritage.


Tad , on behalf of Meridian Divers was called to the dias and presented with a Certificate and a engraved glass wine decanter. The Certificate , for 'Runners-Up' in the 2008 Adopt a Wreck Awards was all the more meaningful to Meridian Divers as it surpassed the Certificates of Merit awarded to several other impressive projects. After the presentation several members of the NAS came forward to add their personal endorsement of the Project. It was a very proud day in the history of Meridian Divers and provides some independent and authoritative support for our work. It was particularly pleasing to know that PADI Internal was a member of the Judging Panel for this year's award. The PADI web site has previously carried reports of the projects progress.
. The engraved decanter

. The base of the engraved decanter Meridian Divers would like to thank all those who have contributed to the T R Thompson Project.

8 comments:

Steve L said...

Well done all. What a lovely gesture. Since joining Meridian back in march I have been very impressed by the amount of effort that members put in on behalf of all. I feel proud to be able to be part of such a nice group of enthusiastic divers. Thanks and I look forward to many years of exciting diving with Meridian divers.

sean g said...

well said steve thanks to you all for your hard work

sheilab said...

What a proud moment for us all. I felt honoured to represent Meridian Divers at this very special occasion. I would also like to add my thanks to everyone who has been involved in the project from its outset. A pat on the back to all of you for a job well done.

Chris-P said...

Thanks Guys (& Gals)! That's as good as any endorsement from anywhere else!

Tad said...

I would like to say a big thank you to everyone past and present for their work on the project and helping to achieve this amazing success.This is only the beginning and there is a lot more work to do. I would also like to say a special thank you to Norman Jack who brought the project alive for us this year and made the T.R.Thopmson much more than just a shipwreck. The future is looking bright and with a lot of new friends in the Network there will be no limit in what can be achieved by Meridian Divers in the coming years. Finally a big thanks to Chris who managed to pull together the final submission at very short notice.

Tracey said...

Well done to all you guys and thanks to Tad, Sheila & Chris for representing Meridian Divers. Don't forget - Steve still has places available on 14 Dec diving the TRT- Ernie & I are on board

Matt said...

well done guys its nice to see/be apart of a club that thinks there is more to club diving than most others offer and its free with the credit crunch(not a cereal)its all good,clap,clap you all deserve it for all the hard work
abtw Tracey that is a blatant plug ... well done

Simon-T said...

Brings back a very special day. Well done to Tad, Chris, Ernie and Sheila. I hope one of you guys wins the brandy, should taste even better out of that lovely decanter.