WHAT THEY SAID
Studio:
And one of
The mast at the former HMS Ganges training centre on the Shotley peninsular was erected over a century ago and now after numerous calls to repair it, the owners of the site say they’re planning to have it restored.
Well Victoria Webb has been finding out what the royal navy centre was like in its heyday.
Victoria Webb:
Its become a symbol of HMS Ganges but with rotten wood and one end only hanging by the rigging the mast is now just a shadow of its former self.
John Garrard:
At this climb to the top the last six feet of the mast you had to shin up and you could sit on the button and hold on to the lightening conductor.
Victoria Webb:
The regime of HMS Ganges was tough, demanding and disciplined. Boys as young as 15 trained here from 1905 to 1976.
Charles McGill began his training in 1943.
Charles McGill:
The PT instructor used to say don’t walk in this gym, when you hear the whistle you fly. Very strict.
George Barnham:
We got up at twenty past six in the morning, have our shower, shave and everything, and we had to be up, run all the way up here, to have our meals there. As soon as you finished your breakfast, you came back got changed into working rig, then you then had to run up to the parade ground; its run everywhere.
Victoria Webb:
The HMS Ganges Museum is home to
memorabilia from the days of the royal naval training establishment. Within the next couple of months the original
ships figurehead which is currently being restored in
Former