Following prolonged closure since the COVID-19 virus took hold, we were delighted to hear that we would be able to re-open our doors. We are currently considering the procedures we must follow to minimise risk to our volunteers and visitors, but owing to a temporarily reduced workforce, we have taken the decision not to open during weekends as is our normal practice.
Instead, from August 2020 we invite past and present members of the Royal Navy and their families to contact us to make pre-arranged appointments for small groups on weekdays only.We also intend to meet commitments made to welcome groups which have already booked visits and we plan to extend the period of weekday opening from October into November. From April 2021, we expect to return to normal opening days and times when we would open on bank holidays and weekends from 11am to 5pm from Good Friday through until October.
We receive many enquiries from families about relatives who served at HMS Ganges Naval Training School at Shotley Gate which closed in 1976. Our official photographic collection is available to view online and more recently, we introduced an ‘unofficial’ collection called P-base which, thanks to some of our former ‘lads’, has been building to provide a more interactive approach. We were pleased and surprised to learn that there has been a recent spike in viewing, spiralling from 3,000 max P-base watchers a day to 18,410. It should be remembered that our trainees went on to serve the Royal Navy around the world.
We have to celebrate the joint efforts of our amazing volunteers, David Rye, Dickie Doyle and Jim Worlding, who work relentlessly behind the scenes to keep the Ganges pictorial memories alive, and who have now been rewarded with this amazing increase in viewers. Former lads and their families can now take a look, free of charge, to find loved ones and even contribute themselves to our records. Visit: pbase.com/hmsgangesmuseum.
You can also send your own Ganges related photos with as much detail as possible (year of entry, name, division, recruitment, etc.) to:
ryedavid@outlook.com / jim.worlding@ntlworld.com.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Shotley Marina, Shotley Gate IP9 1QJ
01473 788315 / www.hmsgangesmuseum.com
Facebook: The HMS Ganges Museum