Raleigh

This was my first time ever on a sleeper and even though quite daunted I knew everyone else on the train was in exactly the same position. I tried to sleep but there was just no way.

Eleven hours on what seemed to be the slowest train ever, we stopped in several sidings to let other trains through, I was sharing the cabin with someone else but he is faceless and any conversation we had was lost in the insignificance.

We pulled in to Plymouth station were we all alighted together, there were sailors and marines everywhere herding into a fleet of blue buses, the manoeuvre was done without any complication it was obviously a well rehearsed procedure. We all moved as one, there was no attempt to find baggage as it was all being thrown down a line of sailors from the baggage compartment of the train to two awaiting blue lorries, it was like watching an army of ants transferring food.

The journey from the station to what was going to be our new home took about an hour, we crossed the river Tamar by ferry and then it wasn’t long before we arrived at the gates of HMS Raleigh.

We passed white buildings with very futuristic styled windows they were three stories high and they had names over the doors. We passed old cannons, the roads had white stones lining them. We passed what I was soon to find out was the parade ground a place I grew to love! A flag flew high above the establishment I knew it was white ensign after all my father had been in the Navy before me, it didn’t quite look the same though.