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Plymouth Nautical College .. Portland Place

116K views 239 replies 61 participants last post by  taffe65 
#1 · (Edited)
Anyone else down at Plymouth from 1970 onwards, BP or otherwise?

Days of Bill Currie as head warden; Chiefy Tozer for signals, flag break on the teaching block roof and drill on Saturday mornings; Mr Lester for GSK; Seamanship with Mr Mitchell & Captain Hyde at the Seamanship Centre down at Cattedown; Fire Courses at Ernesettle fire station ... the list goes on!

Many other Deck Cadets there from Shell, Reardon Smith, Blue Star, RFA, New Zealand Shipping .. plus a lot of Engineer cadets too.

Sparkies also did their Radio Courses at Plymouth Poly.


After the Induction Course at the main residential building (paid for by Shell), Phase 2 was spent either there again or in Merrifield Hall or Standard House.

Happy days, even though we had to wear uniform during the day, including all visits into the City Centre!
 
#2 ·
Did my all my tickets in Plymouth College (as it was then) finishing in 1974. I remember Chiefy Tozer well but I can also remember Capt Day (Planetarium) and Capt Fifield who was my saviour with his Formulae for splitting "B". I've forgotten it now (ravages of time) but it was bl**dy handy) cheers........pete
 
#4 ·
Don't recall a Capt Fifield ... but Capt Day and the Planetarium, along with the Plymouth city skyline I remember well!

A quick pint at the James Street Vaults (still there) just behind the residential block .. or a trip down to the Goodies (Good Companions) in Drakes Circus, which has now gone.
Also the Unity by the multi-storey car park .. and a trip down Union Street on a Friday night to see the MP's deal with drunken matelots at closing time!
 
#6 ·
Good old Pop Howard, would lock the doors dead on time but always leave a downstairs window open!

Standard House was handy for the station .. and for the Penny-Come-Quick pub .. which I notice now is all boarded up.

Many preferred Merrifield Hall over in Greenbank Road - only because it was next to the nurses home!!
 
#7 ·
Plymouth Nautical College

Did all my ticket studying there in the 60's. Fantastic memories. Moreby was the senior lecturer (Not the principal). Fifield was also a senior staff member. Day and Danton (of TV weather fame) also. The other names will filter back as I think about it. I think I spent more time in the Navigation Bar at the Bedford Arms drinking brown ale than I did in the tech. Another chap taught stability and had written a text book on it which we used.
 
#11 ·
Did all my ticket studying there in the 60's. Fantastic memories. Moreby was the senior lecturer (Not the principal). Fifield was also a senior staff member. Day and Danton (of TV weather fame) also. The other names will filter back as I think about it. I think I spent more time in the Navigation Bar at the Bedford Arms drinking brown ale than I did in the tech. Another chap taught stability and had written a text book on it which we used.
Think the Stability text book must have been Capt. Derret.

I was a victim of Chiefy Tozer being the only Denholms cadet that year but after his 'teaching by terror' I never had any trouble passing the exams.
We hung out at the 'Chichester' on the Barbican. Long gone now.
 
#120 · (Edited)
Yesterday's Plymouth Evening Herald had picture of those Westward day's incuding Augustus J Honeybun usually known as 'Gus Honeybun, the infernal rabbit, who continued his dratted life with TSW. One deck officer in the GX (Sailing school) told me and I don't know if it was true that just before their deck ticket exams the above lecturer told them to ask him any questions they wanted to and one replied 3 bunny hops and turn around please . He was supposed to have walked out in disgust. He wasn't known for his sense of humour.

If you google the above lecturer's name followed by TSW you will see some pictures of him along with the galleon which was the logo for Westward television.

When I worked as a sound recordist with TSW on a news crew after being an engineer with them, we used to turn up at events with a chorus of ' Have you brought Gus Honey bun with you. One day the cameraman was on form and replied No I've stuck a 12 bore up his a**e and blasted his head off. I cringed just imaging the complaint that were going to follow but nothing got said. We were supposed to behave ourselves PR wise.
 
#9 ·
Plymouth School of Navigation

Joined 1960 after interview with Capt Johnson who sadly passed away.Capt Hughs took over as principal. Remember well Capt Fifield who looked after the Shell Cadets.Capt Day took us for Gyro Compass work,Capt Danton wrote his own seamanship book of which we all had a copy he went on to appear on the then Westward Television and later Radio Devon.Capt Gibson took us for boatwork on a ketch at Mutton Cove-he with his guitar sang the background music for an old film "Fire Down Below". Chiefy Tozer was there as well as Capt Hyde. Bumped into Capt Moreby on Paddington Station going to join the Egyptian Prince in West India Docks. I believe next year would be 150years of the School of Navigation so might be some celebration?. There is a training ketch called "Tectona" back in Plymouth I beleive it was used by Shell Cadets all those years ago. We used to have to go to the Naval Barracks at HMS Drake for drill with Navy Gunnery Instructers on the parade ground they used to take delight at putting their nose next to yours to yell at you-good old days.
 
#21 ·
Do you remember the early evening classes before dinner. One of the best the ballroom dancing with the girls from the local school.
Names I Can remember are John Ash (Shell), Tony Bray(Shell),Hamish(Shaw Savill), David? Massey(Houlders) & Robin from Soding Chipbury. All eng cadets Will have to dig out my old adress book.
Still think the wellie was hard to beat
 
#28 · (Edited)
Did all my tickets in Plymouth. Ended up living in Ivybridge and then Ugborough as it was cheaper to have a mortgage as opposed to paying for digs during my Mates ticket. Chiefy Tozer was a hoot and I can still read light and do semaphore 38 years later! Other names:- Cornish, Rich, Danton, Day, Carter.... Mainly RFA, Irish Shipping, Shell, Mobile, P&O (all 3 divisions) in my time and lodged in Merrifield Hall. Most of the Cadets had gone by the time I did Masters in the mid-80's and will never forget "splitting B".
 
#30 ·
Hi

I did my RO's ticket in Plymouth 70 to 73. My local was the Fortesque up on Mutley Plain as I was in digs localy. I had been drinking there for about 18 months,(two pints of reb barel and a castella cigar), when the landlord came into the bar (Mr Tregenna?) and said. "I hear it's your birthday, have a pint on me. How Old are you?" He did not speak to me again after I said I was 18 today. Ah the ignorance of youth!

Rgds

Stuart
 
#31 ·
As an Eng Cadet 1977 -79, the Jamie was a regular watering hole in the first year, but in the second, a few of us started using the Fortescue. The Goodies was a stop on the way to the Barbican or Union Street.
For all those that drank in the Goodies, once they'd proved how old they were, that past cannot be repeated, & the future is uncertain.
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Boa...make-way-200/story-15050887-detail/story.html
 
#32 ·
Indeed it is a sad end for the Goodies, I only used it on a Sunday night.
The regular used by myself and other Deck Cadets was the Penny-Come-Quick, or the PCQ, which was the other side of the mainline station on the roundabout. Sadly that too is now boarded up and awaiting demolition for flats I believe.

http://img2.photographersdirect.com/img/24016/wm/pd2374745.jpg

Hard to remember Union Street as it used to be .. with a railway arch over the top end, taking the line down to Millbay Docks ... now the track etc is the site of the Plymouth Pavilions & Toys-R-Us and Union Street is a shadow of its former glory, all opened up now. Many a night we went down there to see the MP's dragging drunken Matelots into the back of their Lad Rovers and taking them back to Devonport!!

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/111/288407193_bf392c2d22.jpg

Samuel Feneck, the naval outfitters was down there and I think still is!
 
#34 ·
Cannot remember exactly what was under the bridge, though pretty sure there was a cafe, a taxi firm and definitely there was a second hand clothing shop ... as I bought (& still have) a Plymouth City Transport great coat - put BP buttons on it and wore it to sea around the Scandinavian coast in winter!! A great asset to my uniform.
This would have been around 1973-74 when I was there are my first sea period away.
 
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