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Post by atillathehoneybee on Feb 7, 2024 21:51:49 GMT
Still got my Royal Navy Certificate of Service proudly displaying "PNST" in remark box. Passed Naval Swimming Test. You had to swim 100m fully clothed with sadistic PTIs hosing water at you. You then had to take off your outer overalls, tie knots in legs and arms and somehow make a crude float. If you failed naval swimming test 3 times that was you back to civvy street. Yup.. Did that at Fisgard in week 1...
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Post by frasier37 on Feb 7, 2024 22:03:29 GMT
Did my length at Hanley baths....why did they put a big pole in front of you when you were doing it always put me off It was to clear the tadpoles away to stop you swallowing them
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Post by lawrieleslie on Feb 7, 2024 22:04:35 GMT
Still got my Royal Navy Certificate of Service proudly displaying "PNST" in remark box. Passed Naval Swimming Test. You had to swim 100m fully clothed with sadistic PTIs hosing water at you. You then had to take off your outer overalls, tie knots in legs and arms and somehow make a crude float. If you failed naval swimming test 3 times that was you back to civvy street. Yup.. Did that at Fisgard in week 1... Same. Pusser didn’t want to waste any time or money training you unless you could friggin' swim.
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Post by thehartshillbadger on Feb 7, 2024 22:17:45 GMT
Mr MacPherson was fucking ace, I bumped into him the other week. Was in fine fettle. Yes Westerby was solely swimming, little short haired ginger lesbian😉 Ah yes, with the description that was her 😂😂 Good to hear Mr Macpherson is doing well. He used to love my designer football kits! Not🤣 Used to say “it’s not a bloody fashion parade!”
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Post by NassauDave on Feb 7, 2024 23:33:14 GMT
A bit random I know, but I got my cycling proficiency badge at St. Thomas's junior school.
Wore it with pride too. Proper dork me.
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Post by chuffedstokie on Feb 8, 2024 5:41:13 GMT
Cycling proficiency Green Cross code Swimming ability
We never had it so good!!.
Tools for life and that was just a few of my school chums 😉
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Post by elystokie on Feb 8, 2024 6:58:52 GMT
Yup.. Did that at Fisgard in week 1... Same. Pusser didn’t want to waste any time or money training you unless you could friggin' swim. Did ours in the first week of January, that Fisgard pool may as well have been outdoors for all the 'cover' it had, completely unheated too, wouldn't get past H+S nowadays 😄 I failed it the first go, treading water was an alien concept to me at the time. Historically, years ago, hardly anyone in the Navy could swim, I always wondered what the fuss was all about, it's not as though there's anywhere to swim to if you sink in the middle of the Atlantic 😐 The Nigerians didn't fare well, one nearly drowned after jumping in and sinking straight to the bottom (after no small amount of 'encouragement' from the PTI in charge!) luckily one of our class was a national level swimmer and fished him out.
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Post by lawrieleslie on Feb 8, 2024 7:12:51 GMT
Same. Pusser didn’t want to waste any time or money training you unless you could friggin' swim. Historically, years ago, hardly anyone in the Navy could swim, I always wondered what the fuss was all about, it's not as though there's anywhere to swim to if you sink in the middle of the Atlantic 😄 Guessing it is a throw back to the world wars when many died of drowning when their ships were sunk. It’s still a requirement in week 1 apparently.
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Post by elystokie on Feb 8, 2024 7:31:22 GMT
Historically, years ago, hardly anyone in the Navy could swim, I always wondered what the fuss was all about, it's not as though there's anywhere to swim to if you sink in the middle of the Atlantic 😄 Guessing it is a throw back to the world wars when many died of drowning when their ships were sunk. It’s still a requirement in week 1 apparently. Probably, I don't think it's good policy to make it an immediate requirement to progress with your career, I imagine it rarely comes to that tho. Judging by the lads I trained with I doubt many of the Nigerian navy that weren't trained in the UK (and at a cost of around half a million quid each I doubt there were many of them!) could swim at that time, wonder how many navies didn't/don't make it a requirement 🤔
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Post by Northy on Feb 8, 2024 7:39:03 GMT
Guessing it is a throw back to the world wars when many died of drowning when their ships were sunk. It’s still a requirement in week 1 apparently. Probably, I don't think it's good policy to make it an immediate requirement to progress with your career, I imagine it rarely comes to that tho. Judging by the lads I trained with I doubt many of the Nigerian navy that weren't trained in the UK (and at a cost of around half a million quid each I doubt there were many of them!) could swim at that time, wonder how many navies didn't/don't make it a requirement 🤔 I had similar with Kenyans, bloody useless lot but all managed to pass with 50%. On leadership course I had to take them in the Brecons in February, I didn't know teeth could chatter that loud.
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Post by elystokie on Feb 8, 2024 8:13:30 GMT
Probably, I don't think it's good policy to make it an immediate requirement to progress with your career, I imagine it rarely comes to that tho. Judging by the lads I trained with I doubt many of the Nigerian navy that weren't trained in the UK (and at a cost of around half a million quid each I doubt there were many of them!) could swim at that time, wonder how many navies didn't/don't make it a requirement 🤔 I had similar with Kenyans, bloody useless lot but all managed to pass with 50%. On leadership course I had to take them in the Brecons in February, I didn't know teeth could chatter that loud. Out of 12 Nigerians in our entry only one was a nightmare, the one in our class! Apparently he was the son of a prince or something similar, don't think I've met anyone more 'entitled' in my life, other Nigerians used to come over to do his kit! Had to admire his stubbornness in the face of a lot of pressure sometimes to be fair. It was cold enough for them in Cornwall, Scotland in January when we went there didn't seem to suit at all 😄
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Post by atillathehoneybee on Feb 8, 2024 11:37:15 GMT
Same. Pusser didn’t want to waste any time or money training you unless you could friggin' swim. Did ours in the first week of January, that Fisgard pool may as well have been outdoors for all the 'cover' it had, completely unheated too, wouldn't get past H+S nowadays 😄 I failed it the first go, treading water was an alien concept to me at the time. Historically, years ago, hardly anyone in the Navy could swim, I always wondered what the fuss was all about, it's not as though there's anywhere to swim to if you sink in the middle of the Atlantic 😐 The Nigerians didn't fare well, one nearly drowned after jumping in and sinking straight to the bottom (after no small amount of 'encouragement' from the PTI in charge!) luckily one of our class was a national level swimmer and fished him out. I was Jan Also...831...Last entry to go through Fisgard...I was in Frew Div.Do you remember the big concrete septic tanks we had to go through. And any slight cut or abrasion always went nasty, summat to do with contamination. I still have a Fisgard Scar 41 years later
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Post by elystokie on Feb 8, 2024 12:18:13 GMT
Did ours in the first week of January, that Fisgard pool may as well have been outdoors for all the 'cover' it had, completely unheated too, wouldn't get past H+S nowadays 😄 I failed it the first go, treading water was an alien concept to me at the time. Historically, years ago, hardly anyone in the Navy could swim, I always wondered what the fuss was all about, it's not as though there's anywhere to swim to if you sink in the middle of the Atlantic 😐 The Nigerians didn't fare well, one nearly drowned after jumping in and sinking straight to the bottom (after no small amount of 'encouragement' from the PTI in charge!) luckily one of our class was a national level swimmer and fished him out. I was Jan Also...831...Last entry to go through Fisgard...I was in Frew Div.Do you remember the big concrete septic tanks we had to go through. And any slight cut or abrasion always went nasty, summat to do with contamination. I still have a Fisgard Scar 41 years later Yeh remember the septic tanks, we chucked a mate in one on his birthday, it was iced over at the time 🥶 The medical assistant used to make us scrub our infected wounds with iodine, very strange, there'd be a group of apprentices sat in the waiting room scrubbing away with gauze, think the fucker got a weird kick out if it. Infection was most always on the shins, we put it down to the climbing ropes in the gym. I don't suppose the food helped much, it was appalling.
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Post by atillathehoneybee on Feb 8, 2024 13:21:53 GMT
Yeh remember the septic tanks, we chucked a mate in one on his birthday, it was iced over at the time 🥶 The medical assistant used to make us scrub our infected wounds with iodine, very strange, there'd be a group of apprentices sat in the waiting room scrubbing away with gauze, think the fucker got a weird kick out if it. Infection was most always on the shins, we put it down to the climbing ropes in the gym. I don't suppose the food helped much, it was appalling. I got mine on my hand, jumped over the wall by the Gas Mask testing room just after we'd been sent in...Eyes were fucked and I misjudged the height.
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Post by elystokie on Feb 8, 2024 14:04:46 GMT
Yeh remember the septic tanks, we chucked a mate in one on his birthday, it was iced over at the time 🥶 The medical assistant used to make us scrub our infected wounds with iodine, very strange, there'd be a group of apprentices sat in the waiting room scrubbing away with gauze, think the fucker got a weird kick out if it. Infection was most always on the shins, we put it down to the climbing ropes in the gym. I don't suppose the food helped much, it was appalling. I got mine on my hand, jumped over the wall by the Gas Mask testing room just after we'd been sent in...Eyes were fucked and I misjudged the height. Apparently a lad on the West side got Legionnaire's disease whilst we were there. I gather that the civvies on the catering side got busted for flogging food meant for us to their mates in shops in Torpoint, no wonder the meals were shit.
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Post by atillathehoneybee on Feb 8, 2024 15:36:29 GMT
I got mine on my hand, jumped over the wall by the Gas Mask testing room just after we'd been sent in...Eyes were fucked and I misjudged the height. Apparently a lad on the West side got Legionnaire's disease whilst we were there. I gather that the civvies on the catering side got busted for flogging food meant for us to their mates in shops in Torpoint, no wonder the meals were shit. Harbour Lights...What a place...
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Post by middleoftheboothen on Feb 8, 2024 16:19:17 GMT
My mate (who grew up in Chesterton) insists that the 'brick' that he had to fetch was a lump of this fair city's finest soap-block resin. Takes a bath bong to a different level.
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Post by Vadiation_Ribe on Feb 8, 2024 16:38:39 GMT
I remember the length but might've bricked it too much to get the brick.
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Post by elystokie on Feb 8, 2024 17:09:35 GMT
Apparently a lad on the West side got Legionnaire's disease whilst we were there. I gather that the civvies on the catering side got busted for flogging food meant for us to their mates in shops in Torpoint, no wonder the meals were shit. Harbour Lights...What a place... Think I went in once, that was ample.
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Post by atillathehoneybee on Feb 8, 2024 19:31:00 GMT
Harbour Lights...What a place... Think I went in once, that was ample. I only went once....( A Week)
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Post by elystokie on Feb 8, 2024 20:13:40 GMT
Think I went in once, that was ample. I only went once....( A Week) We tended to frequent the strip and then Munro's nightclub, mainly students, not as crowded with Jack 🙂
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Post by musik on Feb 8, 2024 20:20:13 GMT
No
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Post by lawrieleslie on Feb 9, 2024 8:36:11 GMT
Yeh remember the septic tanks, we chucked a mate in one on his birthday, it was iced over at the time 🥶 The medical assistant used to make us scrub our infected wounds with iodine, very strange, there'd be a group of apprentices sat in the waiting room scrubbing away with gauze, think the fucker got a weird kick out if it. Infection was most always on the shins, we put it down to the climbing ropes in the gym. I don't suppose the food helped much, it was appalling. I got mine on my hand, jumped over the wall by the Gas Mask testing room just after we'd been sent in...Eyes were fucked and I misjudged the height. Was in Fisgard in 69 and then the food was bad and never enough. Then one day mod plod turned up suddenly one morning when we were in the dining room eating breakfast. They marched out 3 civvies in hand cuffs. Apparently they’d been running a racket pilfering and reselling food to local Torpoint businesses. No wonder we were always starving with the NAAFI making a killing as we all poured in at morning stand easy for food.
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Post by atillathehoneybee on Feb 9, 2024 11:36:01 GMT
I got mine on my hand, jumped over the wall by the Gas Mask testing room just after we'd been sent in...Eyes were fucked and I misjudged the height. Was in Fisgard in 69 and then the food was bad and never enough. Then one day mod plod turned up suddenly one morning when we were in the dining room eating breakfast. They marched out 3 civvies in hand cuffs. Apparently they’d been running a racket pilfering and reselling food to local Torpoint businesses. No wonder we were always starving with the NAAFI making a killing as we all poured in at morning stand easy for food. We were the final Entry through Fisgard, so in our final term we were the only ones there, so all catering went over to Raleigh, what a difference in quality and quantity, way better...
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Post by elystokie on Feb 9, 2024 12:32:31 GMT
Was in Fisgard in 69 and then the food was bad and never enough. Then one day mod plod turned up suddenly one morning when we were in the dining room eating breakfast. They marched out 3 civvies in hand cuffs. Apparently they’d been running a racket pilfering and reselling food to local Torpoint businesses. No wonder we were always starving with the NAAFI making a killing as we all poured in at morning stand easy for food. We were the final Entry through Fisgard, so in our final term we were the only ones there, so all catering went over to Raleigh, what a difference in quality and quantity, way better... When we went to Caledonia the difference was stark, we didn't even have to buy our own tomato ketchup! At the first meal I went to at Fisgard I was in the queue just behind a mate who'd 'recatted' from stoker so he'd previously spent some time out in the real Navy. As he looked at the food on offer he just said "fucking hell, what's this shit" which drew a hostile 'anti-tiff' comment from the young chef behind the counter, at this my mate reached across, grabbed him around the neck, yanked him over the counter and explained, in no uncertain terms, where he was going wrong in life 😄
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Post by atillathehoneybee on Feb 9, 2024 12:44:08 GMT
We were the final Entry through Fisgard, so in our final term we were the only ones there, so all catering went over to Raleigh, what a difference in quality and quantity, way better... When we went to Caledonia the difference was stark, we didn't even have to buy our own tomato ketchup! At the first meal I went to at Fisgard I was in the queue just behind a mate who'd 'recatted' from stoker so he'd previously spent some time out in the real Navy. As he looked at the food on offer he just said "fucking hell, what's this shit" which drew a hostile 'anti-tiff' comment from the young chef behind the counter, at this my mate reached across, grabbed him around the neck, yanked him over the counter and explained, in no uncertain terms, where he was going wrong in life 😄 You did tell me...What year did you join Fisgard...I joined Jan 83
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Post by tommycarlsberg on Feb 9, 2024 12:51:01 GMT
I tried to find the clip of Tom Wilkinson in The Full Monty saying 'he got a stiffy' during swimming at school but couldn't find it.
Alas, enjoy this great scene anyway.
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Post by elystokie on Feb 9, 2024 12:54:43 GMT
When we went to Caledonia the difference was stark, we didn't even have to buy our own tomato ketchup! At the first meal I went to at Fisgard I was in the queue just behind a mate who'd 'recatted' from stoker so he'd previously spent some time out in the real Navy. As he looked at the food on offer he just said "fucking hell, what's this shit" which drew a hostile 'anti-tiff' comment from the young chef behind the counter, at this my mate reached across, grabbed him around the neck, yanked him over the counter and explained, in no uncertain terms, where he was going wrong in life 😄 You did tell me...What year did you join Fisgard...I joined Jan 83 I was in the 801 entry.
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Post by atillathehoneybee on Feb 9, 2024 13:21:18 GMT
You did tell me...What year did you join Fisgard...I joined Jan 83 I was in the 801 entry. If you go on Google Maps you can zoom around Fisgard, the only building from back then is the Gym Hall... All the billets, the workshop, and classrooms all gone.
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Post by elystokie on Feb 9, 2024 14:30:48 GMT
If you go on Google Maps you can zoom around Fisgard, the only building from back then is the Gym Hall... All the billets, the workshop, and classrooms all gone. I visited one of the relatives in Newton Abbot with my lad around 15 years ago and had a day out around there, quite nostalgic getting the Torpoint ferry for the first time in about 30 years, it was just an industrial estate pretty much, went to Scraesdon Fort and down to Looe also.
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