Former HMS Ganges Royal Navy training mast taken down

The Royal Navy training mast in Shotley Gate, pictured in 1936, was erected in 1907

A historic Grade II listed former Royal Navy training mast has been taken down ahead of restoration work.

HMS Ganges in Shotley Gate, Suffolk, was a land-based training centre for recruits between 1905 and 1976.

Developers Wavensmere Homes and Galliard Homes plan to build almost 300 homes on the site and include a restored mast in the development.

Former recruit John Youngman said it would be "nice to see it restored to its former glory".

A photograph of the base taken sometime in the 1950s (left), with recruits on the mast in 1937, with one recruit just about visible near the very top

John Youngman said his training at the site stood him in good stead for the rest of his life

Recruits used to climb the 143ft (44m)-high mast in formation, with the "button boy" standing on a small, circular platform at the very top, hands-free, but with his legs resting against a metal supporting bar.

BBC Blue Peter presenter John Noakes attempted to climb to the top of the mast.

Mr Youngman, who joined the navy aged 15 in 1965, said he had previously climbed up to the top of the mast but "couldn't wait to get back down".

"It's very nerve-racking," he said.

"It's very high - you get a good view though."

His fellow recruit, Phil Bridge, said it was "a sad day, because it means a lot to us", but he was looking forward to a restored mast being returned.

A pupil band from The Royal Hospital School performed at the event

The HMS Ganges Museum previously said restorers would remove the wooden part of the mast for refurbishment off site and they would then check the condition of the steel lower mast.

HMS Ganges was the name given to several Royal Navy ships from 1779 onwards, but in 1905 it was chosen for a new training base at Shotley Gate, near Ipswich, where about 500 boy recruits were stationed.

In 1907, its famous training mast was erected on the parade ground.

It is expected to take at least a year to restore the mast at the tip of the Shotley peninsula, across the water from Felixstowe and Harwich