HMS Ganges Museum — Attraction in Babergh

First of all, I have to declare an interest. Having served for 38 years in the Royal Navy and Naval Reserve, anything connected with the Navy has to be of interest. Especially as the museum is just a short ferry ride from my home. Unbelievably, entry is absolutely free and the place is run totally by volunteers, many of whom actually started naval careers as a Ganges recruit. The museum is housed in one of the few remaining buildings of the training base, where 200 'baby sailors' joined every five weeks. The vast Ganges site is now filling up with housing, the iconic mast towering over the buildings below. Every cabinet in the museum holds items of interest to anyone with Naval knowledge. A 'pusser's dirk', (seaman's knife), a bosun's call, still used on ceremonial occasions (and even for getting sailors out of bed!) and 'Blue Liners', duty-free cigarettes which you were given three special stamps to allow you to collect them each month from the NAAFI. The rum barrel reminded me that the daily 'tot' was abolished just two months before I joined the Royal Naval College Dartmouth in September 1970. The museum is extraordinary, the volunteers keen to share their memories with yours. I could have stayed for days and will return soon. Special mention must be given to a really splendid gift shop, the profits from which help keep the place open - and free. I know I'm biased, but if there is any salt in your veins,...

hi my name is neil carson, i lived in shotley gate when it was still a navy base, my father was a petty officer based there [eric richardson carson aka KIT] it would be around 1967,68,67,69, i went back down there about 2009 with my elder brother [paul] we went for a run on the motorbikes stayed there for 2 days, went to the museum, it brought back a lot of memories, the old gentlemen there were so helpfull they brought out books and photo albums at the time when we were living there,shotley gate has changed so much, we stayed at great harlings and harvey terrace,i know this is a stab in the dark back i am trying to find old friends its been over 40 years it would be nice to hear from them again, i am on...

My experience is not about the museum, but of the 12 months spent there, as a boy seaman in 1963, immediately from school. Life was very strict, as you`d expect in the forces,we had to climb the mast, about 150 feet high, very good views. If one was really a bad boy, the cane was given, across the buttocks( 2 marks crossed,2 shillings and six pence was given as a reward, but this rarely happened;the process was called Cuts of the Cane,I did not have it, coward! It certainly made a boy into a man! I have no regrets, only that places like that should be kept open for our youngsters who have trouble with the day to day...