LAST week John Hankin recalled his teenage exploits in Weymouth when he was training as an apprentice in 1965/66.

Here he jumps forward 20 years and recalls a nostalgic visit back to the town... that ended with accusations of espionage.

BY 1985, only four of the original apprentice intake still worked for UKAEA/British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL).

The rest of us had scattered far and wide. I worked as assistant area engineer for Wigan Area Health Authority, Alan worked all over the Middle East in oil, Phil worked for British Steel in Scunthorpe and Ken for ICC in North Allerton, North Yorkshire.

Being perhaps the most nostalgic of us, I thought it a great idea to have a 20th reunion and set about canvassing everyone regarding arranging something special to mark the occasion.

It soon became apparent that there was only one real contender: Weymouth, the town that became our home for 12 months two decades before.

Nine of us made the nostalgic weekend trip in early October 1985 and as we boarded our modern-day chariot on the Friday to retrace that journey we were all filled with anticipation and excitement.

Tapes of sixties music of 1965 and 1966 were played during the journey.

The nine making the trip were Alan Greenhalgh, Ken Green, Steve Aspden, Geoff Caswell, Bill Brown, John Turner, Paul Sinclair (Griffiths), Tom Heaton and myself.

We arrived in sunny Weymouth late afternoon and after booking into our hotel we strolled down the prom and along the beach before taking a quick tour of the centre of town.

After our evening meal we enjoyed a drink or two in the local hostelries and retired reasonably early.

The first full day of our anniversary tour dawned warm and sunny and our first port of call was Egdon Hall, which we had called home all those years before.

To our delight, the building was still standing, extended by at least four new wings to become an Admiralty Research Establishment. In place of the well-tended privet hedge stood an imposing security fence with an entrance barrier worthy of any border frontier.

We stood there in solemn procession savouring the memories of those days, but eventually moved on and paused at Alf’s fish and chip shop for the sake of the faggot-and-chip lovers in the party and a quick photo.

We continued our journey to Winfrith, passing the White Horse at Osmington, taking in swordfish steaks at the Lulworth Cove Hotel, sitting outside in the lovely warm sunshine enjoying the view. From there we went to the Training School, which still seemed modern 20 years later.

Back in Weymouth after freshening up and eating, we drove to The Marquis of Granby for one drink, for old time’s sake.

Some time after the visit we were contacted by the local constabulary who wanted to know if we were spies. Some kind soul living on Lynch Lane had reported our visit and provided the registration number of our minibus to Egdon Hall and our photographing what was then an Admiralty Research Establishment.

We were somewhat concerned that our innocent action had caused a security problem but we were able to confirm our reasons for our actions and were given a stern talking-to.

Who knows, we may well return for the 50th anniversary in 2015 (only three years away) although not as sprightly I’ll bet, but we will certainly be young at heart.

Looking at Google Earth it’s unclear if Egdon Hall is still there but maybe a part of it has stood the test of time.

It would be nice to think so.