Derelict Bases

http://www.urbandesertion.com/
then look for the Royal Arthur link then cry or laugh
I have one for Ganges too which I will post later 8O
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Here is the Ganges link

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/croydonso/hmsganges.html

cheers
Graybags

 

Having done both Ganges ( as a trainee back in 76 ) and Royal Arthur as a Killick and as a PO on leadership course, then as an instructor for Killicks courses (Mr Perry's syndicate ) I had good memories of both, right up until the time I was kicked out of Royal Arthur because I had a "personality clash" with (yes you guessed it) a two and a half ringer WAFU. NO WONDER I HAVE A DOWNER ON ABOUT WAFU's. Hey! loved Ganges breaking the ice in the wet trainer before freezing my bits off plugging holes. Not to mention the cough and spasm (cliff and cassem) run at Royal Arthur. Carrying that barrel uo the first hill was really fun!!!!!

 

Nice to see some Ganges pics - from the link above - and how fun it is to have the feeling that my 'modem' had gone back to the 9.6kbit one I once had....... 560kb for a 4"x2" picture!!!! (the page is still loading as I post this).

 

Still loading......

 

Here is another Ganges Link
Where are the short and long covered ways ?

www.zyworld.com/HMSECHO/shotley/gangespicpage.htm
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My grandfather worked at a naval propellant factory called Caerwent.He said most of it was built underground.It is now derelict having been last used by the americans.Does anybody have any details of this site?

 

At the risk of being 'zapped', the LCW and SCW in the pictures on the link aren't actually there, but..........
in the second picture the SCW starts just below the base of the mast and leads off to the bottom right corner, while the LCW starts from a point at the bottom of the pic, just left of centre, about 60yds down the road (or 'quarterdeck') from the mast and ran parallel to the SCW.
It looks like the entire Trogs' accommodation and most other buildings surrounding it - e.g. laundry, gyms, chapels, 'foreshore' - has gone. Can't see any architectural value in the rest of the place, with the possible exception of the Signal Tower, so maybe it will all eventually get flattened.

 

Oh how we loved faith hope & charity (ask any real T.R.O.G.)

 

Cant believe Royal Arthur! Saying that I really could not remember lots about it because of Flamin joes anyway!

 

Yeah, Royal Arthur and the barrel ...... bloody heavy and crippling. But what a choice of PLT's. I remember supporting a fellow classmate with his PLT, Telegraph poles with parallel stranded wires to "Shimey" across. I only succeeded because a bunch of Officers were watching and I heard the instructor say, "He'll easily get across being a submariner". My legs, arms and hands were cold, stretched and lacerated from the stranded wire. Perhaps if I wore ear muffs, I would have failed that PLT !

 

Royal Arthur, i remember it well when i went it was six weeks, you were supposed to do it before you got your buttons, no leading hands course then,and if you had your buttons for three years or more you were excused it. So i didnt have to do it, but over drinks i was talked into doing it,so i did it.had a great time, totally unfit,we ran up hills my car couldnt climb, and if i was asked to do it again my answer would be a deinite NO.Tho i really did enjoy it.

 

THIS BASE WAS USED AS A PROPELLANT FACTORY IE CORDITE IN THE 40s IT GAS ITS OWN RAILWAY AND OVER 1000 BUILDINGS THE AMERICANS THEN TOOK IT OVER AS A AMMO DUMP FOR THEIR THEATRE OF WAR PROGRAMME IN THE 80s/90s WHICH SUPPLIED THE FIRST GULF WAR WITH OVER 80,000 TONS OF MUNITIONS IT WAS DECOMMISIONED IN ABOUT 95 AND WAS HANDED BACK TO THE BRITISH ARMY WHERE AS OF TODAY ITS USED AS A BACKDOOR TRAINING AREA FOR THE SPECIAL FORCES.IVE BEEN ON EXCERCISE HERE MANY TIMES AND IT IS ONE OF THE BEST TRAINING AREAS I KNOW OF - SOME OF THE BUILDINGS STILL SMELL OF SULPHUR EVEN THOUGH THERES NO WINDOWS OR DOORS IN THEM BUT LIFTING GEAR IS STILL EVIDENT IN SOME BUILDINGS-HOPE THIS HELPS

 

Graybags - Royal Arthur brings back some good memories ... and one or two painful ones. Thanks for passing on the link.

 

Planning permission for housing has been granted. The mast is a listed building, but I get the impression they are waiting for it to fall down so they will not have to worry about it, or any of the health and saftey issues when the houses get built and kids appear.

Nutty

 

Latest Pics


www.derelictplaces.co.uk/gallery/browseimages.php?c=8

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Blackops,thank you for your post.My grand father used to say that most of the Caerwent complex was underground.I dont know if your training takes you down there?Perhaps they are the legendary mines of a snack meal that comes in a plastic pot that have been recently shown on television.

 

IVE JUST COME BACK FROM AN EXCERCISE THERE AND I WONDER IF THE UNDERGROUND COMPLEX HE REFERS TO WAS THE FACT THAT MOST OF THE BUILDINGS ARE ABOVE GROUND BUT THEY ARE COVERED IN TONS OF SOIL AND THEN GRASSED OVER SO THAT FROM THE AIR THEY ARE INVISIBLE AS IVE NEVER BEEN "UNDERGROUND" BUT THEN AGAIN WE ONLY TRAIN ON PRE DESIGNATED AREAS SO THERE MAY WELL BE A UNDERGROUND COMPLEX AFTER ALL WHO WOULD WANT TO BE ABOVE GROUND WITH ALL THAT ORDNANCE AROUND YOU ????

 

The buildings are protected with earth/concrete blast walls...to direct any blast upwards so giving the immpression that the site is underground.

 

Resurrecting an old thread I know but it's interesting so who cares?
More from HMS Ganges, fairly recent too - being dated 17th September 06, follow the link if you're at all interested...
HMS Ganges photos