Serving drinks on Concorde, then diving a Tudor shipwreck the next day

Lesley dived for the whole period of excavation and salvage up to 1982, and is one of the unique group of divers who have witnessed first-hand the legendary ship’s ground-breaking journey from seabed to museum, in one of the most impressive and ambitious maritime archaeological projects ever recorded – it was the first underwater broadcast on the BBC and remains the world’s largest underwater excavation and raising undertaken to date.

Ian and Lesley worked for British Airways, where he was a captain and she was senior cabin crew on Concorde. Lesley became keenly interested in diving in between flights, returning from supersonic luxury air travel on one of the most iconic aircrafts of all time to explore nearly 450 year old artefacts in the depths of the Solent in her spare time.

Her personal highlights included working on the main deck, balancing on a scaffold pole to excavate the Barber Surgeon’s Cabin, and opening the surgeon’s chest to look for artefacts. With poor visibility underwater, only afterwards was she properly able to see the wooden turned jar and carved ear spoon she’d discovered. Incredibly, the jar even had a fingerprint inside from the last person who had used it.

Today Dr. Lesley Runnalls is a noted researcher in geology and maritime archaeology and has been involved in shipwreck projects in Bermuda and Mauritius, as well as undertaking significant scientific research in pollution effects on corals in the West Indies. She is one of the UK’s most celebrated female divers and has been involved in diving projects on Antigua, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Mexico, Indonesia, Maldives and Mauritius.

In 2003-05 The Mary Rose Trust returned to the wreck site in The Solent to undertake further exploration/excavations and Lesley joined the archaeological team diving on the site. These dives were funded by the MoD who were investigating the possibility of dredging a new deep water channel into Portsmouth for the new Royal Navy aircraft carriers. Lesley was a member of the team who excavated and recorded collapsed sections of the bow (front of the ship) and who raised the 10m stem and another anchor.

Lesley continues to divide her time between a love of the sea and the sky, and holds a private pilot’s licence, as a representative of the British Women’s Pilots Association and Liveryman of the Honourable Company of Air Pilots. She is also teaching her 12 year old Granddaughter Poppy to dive, with a recent trip to The British Virgin Islands. She lives near Reading, Sonning.