Swanwick Mil

[blazingsaddle]

What are the married quarters like at Swanwick? How about the Sgt's Mess? Is Gosport REALLY that bad? I hear that there are some fantastic places in the area but that they are v.expensive. Is this accurate?

[B-Chops]

Unfortunately I can't answer all your questions exactly but I can give you a rough idea. I think it's a case of whether you enjoy the fast pace of life and being in a hugely populated and built up area or happy in the middle of nowhere. You're correct in assuming Gosport is awful however, there are some nice areas like any town you visit in the UK. There are the bad places and the good places, it just seems that Gosport and Fareham seem to have more than their fair share of bad places. North of the M27 is lovely bit more in the countryside but darn expensive! I looked at buying down here but too expensive for me. A couple of people have and they have lovely houses/flats in nice areas for a reasonable price. I've not heard many good things about the quarters however I believe they are not of the same quality or standard of the RAF quarters and that is the main problem with them. HMS Collingwood is just the pits and there are not many RAF people that live in, 6 in the Officers Mess, 1 in the Sgts Mess and 5 in the JR Mess and because of the shift pattern/people have their own houses elsewhere etc. not many people hang around on the weekends. However, it might be a different story when LATCC come down (more RAF living in/more people around to socialise with etc.) The Navy sack it at midday on Fri and it's a ghost town for the weekend. Since it's a training establishment aswell they all have their summer/Easter/Christmas stand downs and again very quiet on the base. Obviously we still have to hang around for the job.
Hope this is of use to you and if you have any more questions please feel free to PM me and I will endeavour to point you in the right direction for somebody to have a natter with.

B-Chops

[whowhenwhy]

There are no married quarters at Swanwick, nor a Sgt's Mess.

If you were to ask what the Sgt's Mess and married quarters are like down the road at Her Majesty's Naval Base then the answer would be - save up some money and rent elsewhere.

In all seriousness, I've not had to work there but it certainly used to be the case that of the few who lived in, it wasn't great. Although the upshot was that most lived out on excess rent. That said, there are going to be a lot of personnel moves in that direction within the next 12 months so I would hope that something has been done to sort the accn issue. Certainly the private property market is going to see huge price increases with the move of TC.

If you're already at LATCC(Mil) then V.G. should be sorting all that stuff for you - I'm sure she is!:)

[Widger]

To be fair Collingrad has now got out of the mindset that they are just a training establishment and shut everything down in August. I believe the broadcasts have also been stamped on as well.

The accomodation on site is on the whole of high quality although this is let down by some of the SNCO level quarters in Gosport, which to be honest is a $h!t***. The other option is what used to be HMS Dryad, now Southwick Park, full of Coppers and RAF adminers!:{:{:{

Won't be any worse than Uxbridge!

[blazingsaddle]

thanks for the helpful replies! How far is Southwick Park from Swanwick?

[B-Chops]

About 25 mins! Depends on the traffic! Southwick Park is slightly more out in the sticks than Collingwood but it's not a bad place, if you're into golf it is right by the golf course!! A few more RAF people at Southwick Park!