# Marine Radio School Eglantine Ave Belfast circ 1956-58



## Dunkwa (Jan 17, 2009)

Any one reading who attended the above establishment in the years shown or early 1960's.Like to hear from you.


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## Shannoner (Feb 6, 2008)

Dunkwa said:


> Any one reading who attended the above establishment in the years shown or early 1960's.Like to hear from you.


Hi Dunkwa,

I attended the Ulster Polytechnic in Jordanstown, in late 70s. A bit after your time. The Radio College in Hardcastle Street moved to the Poly when it opened in the early 70s. I have never heard of the Radio College in Eglantine Ave. Did Hardcastle Street take over from it?
There is a site for ex students of Hardcastle St. and the Poly here.

http://www.btinternet.com/~highestpub/AMERES.HTM

I haven't come across any other Belfast trained R/Os on here yet?

Regards,

Mick


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## Brian Davidson (Mar 28, 2008)

Hi Mick

I had the privilage of completing one year at Hardcastle Street before moving to Jordanstown. It was a wonderous place! Not sure when the college at Eglantine closed and moved to Hardcastle Street though. I left the Poly in 1973 when I finished the radar course.

Regards
Brian


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## Cyril Hamill (Aug 18, 2008)

I attended Hardcastle Street for PMG and Radar and left in 1962,quite a time before the school moved to Jordanstown. Eglantine Avenue was a private run establishment,not aware it combined with Hardcastle Street.Joined AEI ar sea for 3 years before direct employed with Elder Dempster leaving in January 1969 to come ashore.


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## Shannoner (Feb 6, 2008)

Hi Brian and Cyril,

The Belfast lads are starting to come out of the woodwork at last! I was at the Poly from 77 to 80, MRGC in 79 and Radar in 80.

Regards,

Mick


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## Maclochlainn (May 17, 2009)

I was at Hardcastle street 1965 thru 67. I know that Eglantine avenue was a private school but don't know when closed. I don't think it was open in 1965. Left with just my PMG2 but ended up fixing the radar anyway. Served ten years then got married. Wish I could go back.
James MacLochlainn
Derry


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## K urgess (Aug 14, 2006)

Welcome aboard from East Yorkshire, James.
I see you've found the radio room already.
Get to know the crew and have a good trip.


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## samh116 (Jun 10, 2010)

*Eglantine Avenue Marine Radio College*

Hello all
I attended the above, if memory serves me right from 1962 till 1964 and
I think it was still open for a few more years.


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## Cyril Hamill (Aug 18, 2008)

*Hardcastle Street Radio School*

So sorry to hear of the death of Stan Rowlinson,teacher and mentor at the Radio School in Belfast.He was a true gentleman and friend to us all.Our thoughts are with Ruby and family at this time


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## Penny Lunn (Dec 19, 2012)

*Seeking GLENN WETHERALL?*

I am trying to find my cousin, Glenn Wetherall, who studied radar in Belfast in the late 1950's (?) & was a radio officer in the 1960's. Last known ship was the ELIAS - after that my family lost contact with him, & I would dearly like to find him! Does anybody know him, or have any idea what he may have done next? I live in Cape Town , South Africa.


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## RayL (Apr 16, 2008)

I guess Danny Macalea could have been trained in Belfast - an Irish guy who was on the Marconi 'Radiolocator IV' radar course in Cardiff in Sep 1966 along with a lively bunch of his pals. We all lived at the Merchant Navy Hotel during the month-long course and his name sticks in my mind because we shared a room. I remember that the course instructor was quite an elderly Welsh guy with a strong personality but also a grating, resonant voice (probably a result of the **** for he was a devoted smoker).

I had my small tape recorder with me so I still have a tape of the amusing singing session that took place in our room one day, led by Danny. The guys were good enough to have done a stage act or acts


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## SignalFlag (Feb 14, 2013)

At the Marine Radio College, Eglantine Avenue 1963 - 65 then entered Grey Funnel and Gov Comms. I have retrieved from the grey matter: Senior Instructor was a Mr Brown; it was a Marconi equipped radio shack with 'Oceanspan' Tx (with no R/T), 'Reliance' emergency Tx, Atalanta Rx, 'Alert' guard Rx, 'Seaguard' auto alarm, 'Lodestone' manual D/F set with a large B/T loop aerial in the bay window and it was not secured to the deck (HSE would have a field day). There was an 'serial splitter board' which was difficult of those of us short in statue to use and a yellow dustbin - the lifeboat equipment. Our local social centres the Eglantine Arms and the Balmoral Arms. Good days.


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## spaarks (May 1, 2009)

My brother Jack Campbell, ex-RAF, attended the Eglantine Avenue school in the early to mid 50's. I was at Hardcastle Street from 1962 to 1965.


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## carledgar (May 6, 2014)

SignalFlag said:


> At the Marine Radio College, Eglantine Avenue 1963 - 65 then entered Grey Funnel and Gov Comms. I have retrieved from the grey matter: Senior Instructor was a Mr Brown; it was a Marconi equipped radio shack with 'Oceanspan' Tx (with no R/T), 'Reliance' emergency Tx, Atalanta Rx, 'Alert' guard Rx, 'Seaguard' auto alarm, 'Lodestone' manual D/F set with a large B/T loop aerial in the bay window and it was not secured to the deck (HSE would have a field day). There was an 'serial splitter board' which was difficult of those of us short in statue to use and a yellow dustbin - the lifeboat equipment. Our local social centres the Eglantine Arms and the Balmoral Arms. Good days.


===============

I attended the Marine Radio College from 1963-1965. I was an ex radio special rating from the RCN and signed onto HMS Caroline
as a radio instructor during my tenure. My winger was Joseph Walsh, ex-RAF. Mr. Brown was the main instructor as SgnalFlag(sp?) points out. There was an ex-British Rail chap called Mr Warner (Jock Warner). I accidentally blew Mr. Brown's multimeter at one point.

There was a wee ice cream shop next door and the waitress was Isabel from Finaghy - I dated her briefly but her Dad warned me off, I think

I later became a print radio and TV journalist but wrote management reports and books on cellular when it arrived, based on my RCN and Eglantine radio experience. I went back to Canada in 1965 but later lived in Northern Ireland for more than a decade in the 90s and 2000s and elsewhere in the UK for a decade or so otherwise. I spent a few years as a Canadian naval reserve diving officer, specialising in arctic diving.

The owner of the school was a wee English asthmatic who barely came up over the height of his desk - I forget his name but I imagine it's in one of my diaries

Carl E Law - [email protected]


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## samh116 (Jun 10, 2010)

carledgar said:


> ===============
> 
> 
> 
> ...


His name was Mr Mason, cannot remember his first name. But I do remember he did smoke like a chimney!

Sam Harper


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## carledgar (May 6, 2014)

samh116 said:


> His name was Mr Mason, cannot remember his first name. But I do remember he did smoke like a chimney!
> 
> Sam Harper


Dead on, Sam - indeed it was. Were we in the same class?

Carl


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## samh116 (Jun 10, 2010)

Carl
I think I was in the class before you as I left July/August '64. I do remember you though as the Canadian with US headphones whilst the rest of us made do with British army surplus bought in Smithfield market!
Some names I do remember from my class are-Ken Frost, Dave Johnston, another Johnston nicknamed "Moses"', wee Jock, Ronnie Torrance (believe he stayed on as an instructor), Flannigan, Mr Best and Reg Leeke who I am still in touch with. I wonder where the rest are.

Good days

Sam


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## carledgar (May 6, 2014)

samh116 said:


> Carl
> I think I was in the class before you as I left July/August '64. I do remember you though as the Canadian with US headphones whilst the rest of us made do with British army surplus bought in Smithfield market!
> Some names I do remember from my class are-Ken Frost, Dave Johnston, another Johnston nicknamed "Moses"', wee Jock, Ronnie Torrance (believe he stayed on as an instructor), Flannigan, Mr Best and Reg Leeke who I am still in touch with. I wonder where the rest are.
> 
> ...


Great to hear from you, Sam. I started September 1963. However, I fell in with the arts crowd at Queens and gradually drifted away to surface later as a journalist in Canada. However, when cellular emerged in the mid-80s I found our radio training and the training I'd had in the RCN, made it easy to understand the concept and I began writing articles and books in that sector.

More to the point. I remember Belfast was crawling with pleasant young ladies with all the dances and show bands that were innit. The Plaza, the Boom Boom room and on and on.

I believe the headphones had actually been purloined from the RCN and I hope the statute of limitations has expired.

All the best, Sam!

Carl


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## SeaObserver (Oct 18, 2011)

*Eglantine Ave Belfast circ 63/65*

I remember that unsecured B/T loop in the bay window and the yellow 'dustbin' (Salvetia??). Yes and Mr Brown, 'Wee Jock' (who I last heard was training to be school teacher), the Canadian Carl Law, and an ex RAF op who was an active Radio Ham (GI3SAC??). Consumed a little liquid in the Eglantine Arms and Balmoral Arms. I was there c1963/65, went on to the Gov Comms and Grey Funnel Reserve, then journalism and maritime historian. Splendid days before Belfast lost its course.


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## carledgar (May 6, 2014)

SeaObserver said:


> I remember that unsecured B/T loop in the bay window and the yellow 'dustbin' (Salvetia??). Yes and Mr Brown, 'Wee Jock' (who I last heard was training to be school teacher), the Canadian Carl Law, and an ex RAF op who was an active Radio Ham (GI3SAC??). Consumed a little liquid in the Eglantine Arms and Balmoral Arms. I was there c1963/65, went on to the Gov Comms and Grey Funnel Reserve, then journalism and maritime historian. Splendid days before Belfast lost its course.


The ex-RAF jock (Joseph Walsh) had been doing the sae job in the RAF that I'd (Carl Law) had been doing in the RCN. After the Marine Radio College I went back to Montreal, went to university and in 1969 became a professional journalist in joining Canadian Press (smilar to Reuts, AP and so on). Now retired and ivng near Ottawa our nation's capital.

Joe went to sea for awhile and then took a dental degree at Aberdeen and ended up as a government dentist in Bermuda where I visited him the odd time and met my first wife there - a USN officer specialising in anti-submarine warfare.

I last saw Joe in the late 90s - after Bermuda he had taken a commission in the Canadian armed forces as a dental officer and later worked in Newfoundland and labrador as a government dentist.

I took a commission in the RCN reserve during the 70s, got a diving ticket and managed to get on a diving exercise up in the arctic.

Joe hammed out of Bermuda in the early 1980s and we were both short wave listeners with those big black Panasonic portable SW receivers. good fun.


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## jim beggs (Mar 11, 2015)

Dunkwa said:


> Any one reading who attended the above establishment in the years shown or early 1960's.Like to hear from you.


I attended around 1966 until it went bankrupt an closed, we were sent to Hardcastle Street to finist the course but it was just like school and we were treated like kids so I left. Charlie Brown owned it.
Joss Skelton who is a marine technician was a year before me, he now has his own business in Belfast Docks.
I remember we spent a lot of time in the Majestic cinema just up the Lisburn Road all dressed in our Merchant Marine blazers with badges and navel scarves, we thought we were the dogs ----s.


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## carledgar (May 6, 2014)

jim beggs said:


> I attended around 1966 until it went bankrupt an closed, we were sent to Hardcastle Street to finist the course but it was just like school and we were treated like kids so I left. Charlie Brown owned it.
> Joss Skelton who is a marine technician was a year before me, he now has his own business in Belfast Docks.
> I remember we spent a lot of time in the Majestic cinema just up the Lisburn Road all dressed in our Merchant Marine blazers with badges and navel scarves, we thought we were the dogs ----s.


Is that the same Mr Brown who was shortish and affable. I seem to remember using his multimeter on the wrong setting and melting it down, much to his chagrin. I also remember that there was an ice cream shop just round the corner from Eglantine Avenue and Isabel from Finaghy was the shopgirl.

I think i dated her a couple of times but only in the best possible taste. Her Dad was bigger than I was.

Thanks for your note, Jim. Can never have too much nostalgia for those good old days

Carl


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## Penny Lunn (Dec 19, 2012)

Hi chaps - I am still trying to trace my cousin GLENN WETHERALL who would have been at the radio school at the end of the 50's, then was a radio officer in the 60's/70's, then we lost track...heard recently that he may be in New Zealand(?). Any news at all would be so appreciated - [email protected] - I live in Cape Town.


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## spaarks (May 1, 2009)

*Glenn Wetherall*



Penny Lunn said:


> I am trying to find my cousin, Glenn Wetherall, who studied radar in Belfast in the late 1950's (?) & was a radio officer in the 1960's. Last known ship was the ELIAS - after that my family lost contact with him, & I would dearly like to find him! Does anybody know him, or have any idea what he may have done next? I live in Cape Town , South Africa.


Hi Penny
I think Glenn was in my PMG/Radar class at Hardcastle Street in 1962 to 1964. That's all the info I have. You might try contact AMERES - THE ASSOCIATION OF MARINE ELECTRONICS AND RADIO EX STUDENTS. http://www.ameres.org.uk/
The founder of AMERES was the late principal of the school Stan Rowlinson, who kept detailed records and tried to keep track of ex-students. John Marquess took over the site when he passed away, and may have some of Stan's records.
The AMERES site is still up but appears dormant, though they still hold an annual reunion dinner.
It's email address is/was [email protected]
I have addresses for John Marquess: [email protected] and [email protected]
Hope your search will be successful.
regards
Denis Campbell


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## Bill Hamilton-Sturdy (Dec 16, 2013)

Ga all, I attended Eglantine Avenue late 1958 / early 1959 gaining a PMG2. Went to sea with BP directly employed in 1960 and returned in 1962 or 1963 to get my PMG1. Charlie Mason was the owner in the fifties but Charlie Brown was the owner during my second visit. Incidentally I think the latter gentleman was on my original course as a student. Left the seafaring life late 1966 and became a civil servant for the rest of my working life. The emergency/ lifeboat kit was called the Solas I believe. Grey Point fort in County Down has a large collection of old equipment which might interest anyone who lives near. 73s to all. GI1TRZ/MI0CNI.


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## Bill Hamilton-Sturdy (Dec 16, 2013)

Incidentally, I just heard yesterday, out of the blue, from Jimmy Carol who remembers me from my first course. Disgracefully I do not recall him. This through a friend of a friend if a friend of one of my brothers. Coincidence is a very strange thing at times!!


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## Bill Hamilton-Sturdy (Dec 16, 2013)

Just checked my certificate and, to my surprise, my PMG 1 was issued in May 1965......


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## spaarks (May 1, 2009)

This photo is I believe of the Marconi induction course 'graduation' sometime in the 50's. It includes my brother Jack who got his ticket at Eglantine Avenue, so may well have other Eglantine Avenue people in it.


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

Oh my god, don't they look young. We were once like that!


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## Engine Serang (Oct 15, 2012)

Where did they hire the uniforms?


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## Varley (Oct 1, 2006)

Gieves? I don't think they did boiler suits.


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## Moulder (Aug 19, 2006)

Varley said:


> Gieves? I don't think they did boiler suits.


(Applause)(LOL)


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## spongebob (Dec 11, 2007)

Ron Stringer said:


> Oh my god, don't they look young. We were once like that!


What would we give to be that young again!


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## BOB87 (Aug 31, 2019)

Hi,.. maybe not exactly what you're looking for, but I attended the MRC in Belfast,... in behind the City Hall... . Hardcastle Street I think:.... The Boss was Mr Rowlinson,.. Mr Graham, (ex Queen Elizabeth), Mr Tuff, and three others, were the Instructors. I sat the PMG and BOT Radar, as it was then...Any help?


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## Belfast Mike (Nov 22, 2005)

Hi..I attended Eglantine Avenue from 1962 to 1964. Managed to get a PMG1stClass. Joined Bencleuch January 1965. Spent 2 years with Marconi and 20 years Freelancing. Did a radar course in the poly 1975. Became great friends with Stan Rowlinson. Was a technician in Polytech for 5 years until poor health grounded me. Many of my friends have gone silent key. I would like to contact Paddy Quigley from Derry who attended college at same time. Love to hear from any old comrades.


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