Career
Sheppard and Balcombe both worked for the Post Office as telecommunications engineers. They proved this by putting dye into the water at Swildon"s and seeing it emerge at Wookey. Various attempts were made to enter these underwater cave systems using shore-based pumped-air diving suits, without much success.
An initial dive in 1934 was unsuccessful and the first successful dive was the following year at Wookey Hole.
They returned with improved equipment and succeeded in further exploration. Sheppard constructed his own dry suit, incorporating an oxygen rebreathing system, and used this to make the first successful cave dive in Swildon"s Hole on 4 October 1936.
This amazing contraption was constructed with recycled household items, including a bicycle pump and tobacco tin. lieutenant provided the means for the pioneering exploration of Swildon"s Hole and other caves in Mendip.
The bicycle respirator is composed of several key elements: rubber mouth attachment, a flexible hosepipe, bicycle pump and tobacco tin stopper, all held together with metal clips.
lieutenant is a kind of homemade snorkel but designed to be attached to a pump to supply the air for underwater cave diving. The bicycle respirator can be seen at Wells and Mendip Museum. During his later life, Jack Sheppard was made Honorary President of the Cave Diving Group.
