So that is the brief picture, the little bits of information we have about the period between 1976 and 1997. They are only snapshots, but I thought I should remind you of what people were saying about the type of person that Mr. Park appeared to be in that period of 20 odd years.
So I am now coming to the time when Carol Park's body was found in Coniston, and as to that, we heard from Mr. Mason, the amateur diver, who had gone out with three others on Saturday the 10th of August 1997, a warm sunny day at about one o'clock. Mr. Mason went into the water. He said the visibility was about five or six metres, and he described the topography of the lake as he remembered it. He said that after about six metres from shore the depth drops to 15 metres or so. There is then a bit of a plateau of 30 to 40 metres in extent, leading to a steep bank which was almost a cliff. Beyond the cliff he said the bed is very silty. On the shore side the bed is more solid. He said they were not looking for anything in particular at all. However, they did tend to find materials from time to time at the bottom of the lake when they dived there. After about 16 minutes from entering the water, they came across a bag near the edge of the cliff. They were not surprised at the find, but were interested in it. It was not particularly unusual they thought, until its contents were revealed. He said that his fellow divers do recover items from the lake as part of their hobby. He noted the depth of some 24 metres or so. Mr. Mason thought initially it was rock. As he got closer to it, it was clear that it was a bag. He thought initially it was a sail bag or possibly a motor, and he could see that one end of the bag was tied up by a draw cord. It was tightly packed with what seemed to be two ropes. He tried to lift it, but it would not budge. He recorded the depth and time as 24.6 metres and sixteen minutes into the dive.