A MEMORIAL in tribute to seamen from Portishead's Nautical School who lost their lives at sea has been installed in a town churchyard.
Former merchant seaman Ronnie Corbett, 65, has led the campaign to raise the funds for the memorial in memory of the 54 young men who died while training on the Bristol Training Ship BTS Formidable anchored in Portishead and at the former nautical school.
The memorial, in the shape of a compass, has now been put in pride of place at North Weston Cemetery and a special dedication service is planned for July.
BTS Formidable was initially built for the Royal Navy in 1825, but when it was no longer fit for purpose it was bought by Bristol businessman Henry Fedden who turned it into a training ship for young boys.
Mr Fedden was one of a group of people who joined forces in the late 1800s to rid the streets of Bristol and the surrounding areas of street urchins and vagabonds.
The ship was anchored off Portishead Pier and young boys from across the area who found themselves homeless or getting into trouble, were sent there.
The boys – some of whom had been abandoned by their families because they could not afford to keep them – were trained so they could enter the Royal or Merchant Navy, learning a range of seafaring skills from using a compass to tying knots.
The boys would stay on the ship until they were 16 or 17 years old and many were trained to able seaman standard.
But not all of the youngsters survived their time on BTS Formidable.
Many died from diseases such as pneumonia, while others drowned and some died after falling from the mast.
BTS Formidable started to fall into disrepair towards the end of the 1800s and it was decided to build a school ashore.
The National Nautical School – known among seamen as the stone frigate – took two years to build and opened in 1906, continuing to take boys from across the country who had got into trouble.
The Nautical School closed in 1982 after training thousands of boys and was developed into apartments and is now known as Fedden Village.
Mr Corbett was just 13 years old and living in Swansea when he was sentenced by magistrates to serve time at the nautical school.
Mr Corbett, a grandfather of four, said: "Boys from all over the country went to the nautical school, mainly for small crimes of mischief more than anything else.
"At that time, some families could not afford to look after their children so just abandoned them and they found themselves on the streets and getting into trouble."
Mr Corbett left the nautical school at the age of 15 and joined the Merchant Navy where he served for 12 years as a ship's cook and a second purser (chief steward).
He then went on to work for Bristol City Council as a scheme manager for the elderly until his retirement and now lives in Westbury-on-Trym.
In total 54 young boys who died while on the training ship or at the nautical school are buried at either St Peter's Church or North Weston Cemetery in Portishead.
Many of the graves, some of which are more than 100 years old, have started to fall into disrepair.
Mr Corbett and others who trained at the nautical school and belong to the BTS Formidable association, raised the £1,782 to pay for the permanent memorial at the ceremony.
The cash was raised from collections outside supermarkets and donations including one from local resident Blanche Morris of £500.
Cemetery operator Dignity donated the plot and the stone was given by a local quarry.
The nautical school crest features on the memorial along with an inscription which remembers the boys that died in training interred in the graveyard and in St Peter's Church as well as the boys and staff who "passed the bar" at home and in other places across the world.
Mr Corbett said: "BTS Formidable, the nautical school and the young men which trained there are an important part of Portishead's heritage and history.
"It is fantastic to see the memorial in place and we are very grateful to everyone who made donations towards the project.
"It is wonderful to have this tribute in memory of those who lost their lives and it is a real enhancement to the cemetery."
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