wreck

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CUMBRAE

The Cumbrae, sitting upright at just 8 metres, is one of those wrecks we keep coming back to. She went down in 1895, a cargo steamer from Glasgow, and today she’s just begging to be explored. You can swim right through the intact bow section, which is our favourite part, feeling the old steel close around you, and then push on to the cargo holds. They’re usually full of pollack, and we’ve often spotted a grumpy wolf fish tucked into a corner. We especially love the way the deck timbers have long gone, opening up the hull to the light and making it easy to see her ribs. The stern’s a bit broken up, but the engine room, with its single boiler, is still very much there. The prop shaft extends towards the stern, a ghostly finger pointing to where she settled. We’d suggest hitting this on a slack tide for the best visibility, which, for Northumberland, can be surprisingly good here. It’s a brilliant dive for newer wreck divers or anyone who just enjoys a relaxed bimble around history.