Local history

HMS Ganges mast showing damage

In 1779 HMS Ganges came into service before becoming a shore training establishment for boy entrants into the Royal Navy in 1905. It went on to become a landmark for the forces and for Suffolk, but today the once proud mast tells a very sad story.

In its early days the name HMS Ganges referred to three vessels and, after one of these was broken down in the mid 1800's, its successor arrived in Portsmouth in October 1822.

It was in 1866 HMS Ganges became the boys' training ship anchored in Falmouth harbour, before moving on to Harwich and later Shotley in 1905 where it took up a much respected position as a training base.

View of the HMS Ganges site

Between 1905 and 1976 around 150,000 recruits passed through the gates of HMS Ganges, which became known for its high standards and tough training regimes.

To accommodate the huge numbers of recruits passing through the gates in Shotley many new buildings were developed including a sports pavilion and a dental department.

The team at HMS Ganges became an established part of life in Suffolk and the recruits were regularly seen in the county and on screen.

Noakes the Button Boy

When filmer maker Herbert Wilcox was producing his 1957 film Yangtse Incident, on the River Orwell, many Ganges personnel were involved as extras and famously former Blue Peter presenter John Noakes took on the brave task of climbing the Ganges mast in 1968.

Presenter John Noakes with the Blue Peter dog Shep

Noakes is just one of many people who have retained a special place in their heart for the mast and he has great memories of when he was presented with his challenge.

"Having spent all my childhood climbing trees in Sun Woods with my best friend Eric, I thought that sounds good fun," said John.

"Next day I arrived at the gates and met the film crew and then we were taken down to the mast where I met a lot of very smart looking trainees and their boss, who explained that they climbed the mast in time to the music, and that they had a place for me so that I could shin up to the button right at the top!

"I was like the other trainees and I have to say my shirt was so stiff and tight that it felt like it had been made out of one of the sails on Shackleton's arctic trip.

"After a bit of practice climbing with the music and my opposite number it was time for the real thing and we all started to climb and I remember thinking that I couldn't possibly stop to get my breath as the lads below me would have trampled me into the rigging. 

"Finally somehow I made it to the top and stood on an iron bar and the lad who was my opposite number said 'when the music stops you just shin up the final bit of mast and stand on the button, oh and put the aerial between legs so you don't fall off'.

"I remember thinking 'if I do fall I'll be sure to grab you on the way down'.

"So I looked up at that final stretch of mast which was a bit like a rugby post with a round button on the top and launched myself upwards all the way to the top, well not quite.

Parade on the mast

"After what seemed an eternity I'd only managed to get up about 4 foot with some 10 foot still to go, so I slid back down to the iron bar and held on like mad whilst the other lad shinned up in my place. "

Recent History

On the 28 October 1976 the white ensign flag was lowered for the last time at HMS Ganges ending a proud naval presence in Shotley.

In the late 1970's the site came under private ownership and in 2009 the site is owned by developers Galliard Homes.

In June 2009 a special plaque was unveiled in Shotley to honour of those who served at HMS Ganges.

Due to the poor condition of the site and the mast itself the Ganges Association were unable to gather near the mast for health and safety reasons and the plaque was installed on the foreshore.

The HMS Ganges Association along with the Ipswich Maritime Trust work to promote better awareness of the mast and, in the case of the IMT, "to educate the people of Suffolk in all matters maritime".

Des Pawson MBE is one of the Directors of Ipswich Maritime Trust and he's hugely disappointed with the condition of the mast and the apparent lack of commitment to maintaining it.

"Well it's absolutely tragic, it's an icon of maritime history and when you think of the thousands of boy seamen who have been through Ganges here they must be turning in their graves to see the thing in the state it's in."

"The spars are broken, the ratlings gone and lines all over the place, it's obviously been left to just die."

Geoff Hartgrove is the Chair and co Director of the Ipswich Maritime Trust and has personal experience of naval life having served in the Merchant Navy.

He knows how difficult life at Ganges was for the 150,000 who trained there.

"It was a very tough naval training college here, young boys would come along and find themselves in a tough regime," said Geoff.

"The officers would train them and they would end up being very tough seaman.

"One of the things they used to do of course was climb this mast and that in itself was quite hard, especially in bad weather and they would do that on a regular basis.

HMS Ganges mast

"They had good facilities here but now of course that's all gone."

In order to maintain a mast such as the one at the former HMS Ganges regular checks are required, but it's the feeling of the Ipswich Maritime Trust that this kind of work has not been carried out for some years.

Geoff worked as a Master Rigger for many years and believes that the full extent of the structural work involved in restoring HMS Ganges could be great.

"I've done rigging on square-rigged ships and this is a very similar rig to the HMS Victory down in Portsmouth.

"It's a huge undertaking, to take that mast down and replace it or repair it, it's 142 ft in height and it weighs 24 tons.

"At the moment we've had a piece fall off the side which must weigh at least 2 1/2 tons, it's fallen down and it's a major job to put it right.

Geoff Hartgrove and Des Pawson

"The lower part of the mast is a steel tube and that's in the ground in concrete with a depth of about 20 feet.

"What we don't know is what condition that's in under the ground and that's a big stumbling block because it would be very expensive to take that out and replace it.

"We quoted to do this job around 18 years ago but we didn't do it because the specification that we provided was superior to the people who actually did do the work, and that's borne out in the fact that it hasn't lasted that long.

"If you replaced it with steel spars and a steel mast it would last a lot longer and be a lot lighter.

"You must be looking at at least £ 400,000 starting because there is a lot of crainage work to be done there.

"At the moment you can't even climb the mast because it's too dangerous so you would need at least two cranes to get it down and you'd need a firm of consultants.

"You might have to go quite a long way to find a firm who are able to do this kind of work."

To date the site developers Galliard Homes have declined all opportunites to discuss the concerns about the HMS Ganges site with BBC Suffolk.

Anger has continued to grow towards Babergh District Council who many BBC Suffolk contributors believe should be putting more pressure on the developers to begin work on the mast.

Babergh District Council have told BBC Suffolk that they are working with the developers.

"We do understand and respect the views of those who support the mast," said Mike Hammond, Deputy Chief Executive of Babergh District Council.

"The mast does generate strong emotions for people who have personal and family connections to the site and from Babergh's point of view our aim is no different to those people and we want to make sure that the future of that mast is secured.

"We've raised concerns with the site owner and urged for the mast to be repaired. We've given the site owner six months to complete the work from the date of taking the mast down to the date of reinstalling it.

"We are making it quite clear to the site owner what their responsibilities are and what we expect of them."

BBC Suffolk is continuing to gather support for the restoration and maintenance of the mast which represents an important part of a naval history, unique to Suffolk.

"It's HMS Ganges mast here at Shotley. This one is for Suffolk and it should stay here and stand proud," said Des Pawson MBE.