Introduction
HMS Ganges is by far one of the best places I have ever seen, a bit of a classic and has been done to death, but I still don’t think it was ever as popular as it should have been, maybe due to the location. It is so out of the way for a lot of people. Anyway, I thought I would do a sort of final send-off post as it is probably the last time I will go there now. Recent visit was with @Wastelandr, @JakeV50 and Chris, who isn’t on the forum.
Information & History
The history on this site has been covered numerous times, so I won’t go too in-depth.
HMS Ganges is also known as the Royal Naval Training Establishment Shotley and was a naval training base which opened in 1905. It was used to train boys for naval service up until its closure in 1976. The main reason for closure was due to the school leaving age increasing by one year, to 16. Alongside this change, changes in recruitment practices within the Royal Navy were reformed.
The site is particularly famous for its 143 ft high mast. Boys were required to climb this during ceremonies. At the top of the mast, there is a button, and during the climb, one boy was tasked to climb right to the top and press the button; they were nicknamed the button boy.
During the 1980s until 1999, the site was dedicated as a residential centre for police officers to complete basic training. Eight police forces, including Essex and Suffolk, used the facility.
The Explores
My first visit to the site was in 2018 or 2019, during the first visit I didn’t take any photos and visited at night, that was back before I started taking the hobby seriously, I used abandoned places sort of as somewhere to go. I visited again in 2019 and then various times up until 2022 where I began to take photos but only using my phone. I absolutely regret not taking my camera here and properly photographing the place back when the large hall and canteen were still standing, as it had some lovely decay and features. This part got demolished in around 2021.
There has always been active security on the site all the times I have visited, however, I was never caught until the most recent visit. I recall having to hide from them once a few years back. On the recent visit, we got caught whilst security was on patrol. He had a feeling someone was on site as we accideantlly scared a deer which ran through a Heras fence, causing a considerable amount of noise.
For the 2025 visit, we aimed to do mainly just the signal school, but we ended up doing most buildings except the signal school as we got caught while walking towards that part. We managed to do some of the officers accommodation buildings and the Officers Mess situated near the main gates. This was nice, as I hadn’t ever covered the Officers Mess so it was good to tick that off. We didn’t bother with the battery, as we had all done it before and although interesting, there isn’t much to see. The pool was sealed tight and couldn’t even get near it without the high probability of getting caught, so we gave that a miss, along with the Sports Hall building.
Photos
First are the photos from my most recent visit in April 2025. In this visit, we covered:
A small pump house near the tower featuring a small electric pump and motor setup:
Next up, we headed towards the officers & junior officers accommodation buildings and associated classrooms:
This section had been modernised and wasn’t so interesting:
More staircase shots:
Before moving on to the cluster of buildings near to the original main entrance including the officers mess, we came across this little substation. It looked quite good inside when peeping in, but unfortunately it was sealed:
Also, an old entrance to an air raid shelter, this is separate from the large battery and sits at the far end of the site, closest to Shotley Marina, from memory I think there may have been 2 in this area
The Officers Mess. I really liked this and the rooms had some fantastic decay and grand features, certainly a lot less bland than some of the other buildings on site:
The boys would’ve had their meals in the vast canteen, which has since been demolished (old photos in the final part), but the higher-ups would’ve had their meals in the hall in the above photos. Below is the kitchen area where meals were prepared:
Nearby store rooms:
CONTINUED...
HMS Ganges is by far one of the best places I have ever seen, a bit of a classic and has been done to death, but I still don’t think it was ever as popular as it should have been, maybe due to the location. It is so out of the way for a lot of people. Anyway, I thought I would do a sort of final send-off post as it is probably the last time I will go there now. Recent visit was with @Wastelandr, @JakeV50 and Chris, who isn’t on the forum.
Information & History
The history on this site has been covered numerous times, so I won’t go too in-depth.
HMS Ganges is also known as the Royal Naval Training Establishment Shotley and was a naval training base which opened in 1905. It was used to train boys for naval service up until its closure in 1976. The main reason for closure was due to the school leaving age increasing by one year, to 16. Alongside this change, changes in recruitment practices within the Royal Navy were reformed.
The site is particularly famous for its 143 ft high mast. Boys were required to climb this during ceremonies. At the top of the mast, there is a button, and during the climb, one boy was tasked to climb right to the top and press the button; they were nicknamed the button boy.
During the 1980s until 1999, the site was dedicated as a residential centre for police officers to complete basic training. Eight police forces, including Essex and Suffolk, used the facility.
The Explores
My first visit to the site was in 2018 or 2019, during the first visit I didn’t take any photos and visited at night, that was back before I started taking the hobby seriously, I used abandoned places sort of as somewhere to go. I visited again in 2019 and then various times up until 2022 where I began to take photos but only using my phone. I absolutely regret not taking my camera here and properly photographing the place back when the large hall and canteen were still standing, as it had some lovely decay and features. This part got demolished in around 2021.
There has always been active security on the site all the times I have visited, however, I was never caught until the most recent visit. I recall having to hide from them once a few years back. On the recent visit, we got caught whilst security was on patrol. He had a feeling someone was on site as we accideantlly scared a deer which ran through a Heras fence, causing a considerable amount of noise.
For the 2025 visit, we aimed to do mainly just the signal school, but we ended up doing most buildings except the signal school as we got caught while walking towards that part. We managed to do some of the officers accommodation buildings and the Officers Mess situated near the main gates. This was nice, as I hadn’t ever covered the Officers Mess so it was good to tick that off. We didn’t bother with the battery, as we had all done it before and although interesting, there isn’t much to see. The pool was sealed tight and couldn’t even get near it without the high probability of getting caught, so we gave that a miss, along with the Sports Hall building.
Photos
First are the photos from my most recent visit in April 2025. In this visit, we covered:
- The North Tower
- Officers/junior officers accommodation
- Officers mess and surrounding buildings near the main gate
A small pump house near the tower featuring a small electric pump and motor setup:
Next up, we headed towards the officers & junior officers accommodation buildings and associated classrooms:
This section had been modernised and wasn’t so interesting:
More staircase shots:
Before moving on to the cluster of buildings near to the original main entrance including the officers mess, we came across this little substation. It looked quite good inside when peeping in, but unfortunately it was sealed:
Also, an old entrance to an air raid shelter, this is separate from the large battery and sits at the far end of the site, closest to Shotley Marina, from memory I think there may have been 2 in this area
The Officers Mess. I really liked this and the rooms had some fantastic decay and grand features, certainly a lot less bland than some of the other buildings on site:
The boys would’ve had their meals in the vast canteen, which has since been demolished (old photos in the final part), but the higher-ups would’ve had their meals in the hall in the above photos. Below is the kitchen area where meals were prepared:
Nearby store rooms:
CONTINUED...
