NOSTALGIA: Plea to old HMS Ganges boys

Over the years I have written a lot about the boys' training establishment HMS Ganges at Shotley Point near Ipswich.
By The Newsroom
Published 26th Jul 2018, 12:14 BST
Updated 26th Jul 2018, 12:19 BST
Under threat - the HMS Ganges museum.Under threat - the HMS Ganges museum.
Under threat - the HMS Ganges museum.

I know there are still many ex-Ganges boys in this area from the e-mails and letters I receive.

The youngest former boy would now be 57, the establishment having closed in 1976 after Margaret Thatcher put the school leaving age up to 16.

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I have received a disturbing e-mail from Rod Grudge with some disappointing news.

He says: '˜Having returned from my yearly pilgrimage I must ask you to inform former boys that the museum is in jeopardy of closing as the developers who own the site want to build flats all along the ''old foreshore'' as we knew it. 

'˜Also, the mast has deteriorated to such a degree that an application has been made to remove it completely. I have always believed this to be a Grade II listed structure. 

'In the Portsmouth area there must be hundreds of ex-Ganges boys so could you advise them to make a visit before it is all lost for ever, more's the pity!'

Related topics:NostalgiaIpswichMargaret ThatcherPortsmouth