Welcome to boyart Country!

Definition: boyart - a boy entered into the Royal Navy as an artificer apprentice Welcome to the official web site of OCAAA - The Old Caledonia Artificer Apprentices’ Association. Within these pages you will find information relevant to our Association and also HMS Caledonia - Rosyth’s College of Knowledge on the Hill - where the majority of our members dedicated their youth to the pursuit of engineering knowledge, alongside other more leisurely pastimes (as some of the pages reveal). We hope that you enjoy your OCAAA browsing experience, but should you be unable to find that which you seek, or experience technical problems with the site, please do not hesitate to drop Spyda an email. You’ll find an email link to him at the bottom of each page Please note that “The Tiff’s Mess” is restricted to OCAAA members only - so if you want the key to that particular door you must join the association!

HMS CALEDONIA

HMS Caledonia, high on the hill overlooking Rosyth Dockyard, in Fife Scotland. No longer a commissioned establishment of the Royal Navy, it is today in the custody of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation and known as MOD Caledonia. The establishment has changed since we learned our trades, much of our school having been demolished over the years to make it safer and also more suited to today’s requirements. We left our mark here and our alma mater left its mark on us boys no matter what other features time may change. The old adage stands. You can take the tiff out of Cale, but you can’t take the Cale out of the tiff!

YOUR DATA - AND CONSENT Following the implementation of GDPR legislation for the management and use of person identifiable data on 25 th May 2018, we have generated a consent form for OCAAA members. It is essential that all members complete and return the form at the earliest opportunity, so that we may maintain communication links with you all. The form can be obtained by clicking here.

OCAAA Reunion and AGM

Friday 6th to Sunday 8th May 2022 To mark the 40th Anniversary of OCAAA, a very special reunion will take place from Friday 6th to Monday 8th May 2020. The venue is: The Edinburgh Marriott Hotel 111 Glasgow Road, Edinburgh. EH12 8NF Tel: 0131 334 9191 This is a modern hotel with first class facilities, conveniently located near to Edinburgh Airport, with excellent transport links into the city. Our ScotRep, Lionel Fisher, has negotiated a very good package price for the weekend, with additional days available for those wishing to spend a little more time in the area. Booking for OCAAA opened on 1st May 2021 and members should make reservations for their chosen package direct with the hotel’s Events Manager. Alison Solomon, on 0131 314 7501. Plans include a visit to HMS/MOD Caledonia, which will probably be the last opportunity to visit the Caledonia site before it is put up for disposal. Transport will be laid on to take members to Caledonia on the Saturday morning. The AGM will take place on the Sunday morning, as is our historic practice. Chairman Dave Blackburn and the OCAAA Committee hope that this great gathering will bring together a large number of members, their ladies and their guests, to celebrate our Ruby Anniversary. Full details of cost and booking arrangements are contained in the Spring 2021 edition (through to Spring 2022) of the OCAAA Newsletter.