A diving instructor has ambitious plans to get city slickers back to nature – by turning three Victorian reservoirs into an outdoor water centre.

Garry Hudson has acquired the reservoirs, at a remote site on Baildon Moor, and hopes to encourage inner-city schools and people with disabilities to use them for water sports.

Mr Hudson plans to create a centre where people can fish, use kayaks and pedalos and learn to scuba dive.

Eventually, he plans to set up a nature trail, donkey sanctuary and a heritage centre explaining the history of the area.

Mr Hudson, who owns Duck and Dive in Shipley, said: “I want to set this up as a social enterprise to get young people in Bradford, some who may have never been out on the moor, to come and spend some time in the fresh air and on the water.

“It will get them to experience what is great about the area.”

The reservoirs, on a 3.5-acre site, were built in the 1850s to get fresh water to Baildon. The village had one of the highest death rates in the country because of water-borne diseases and up to 25 households would use the same toilet. But the area soon became notorious for attracting trouble.

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