One of Suffolk's best-known landmarks is starting to reappear after being taken down for restoration - but its most iconic role is unlikely to ever return.
The mast at the former HMS Ganges site at Shotley was dismantled for restoration last year - and now work to re-erect it has started.
But those watching as it takes shape know it will never again be used for its original use - teaching young cadets how to climb the rigging of a sailing ship.
In fact the safety rules that accompany its re-erection are light years away from the dangers faced by generations of young sailors who trained there!
As the first base of the new mast was put in place - about 30 feet tall - it was guided in by engineers in safety kit and hard hats from the basket of a large cherry-picker.
Until the mid-1970s teenage cadets were sent to scurry up the frame in traditional Navy dress uniform and felt caps.
At the very top of the 143-foot high mast was a small wooden platform where the "Button Boy" would stand 9 (or sit) and salute to complete the display.
He would stay still on the tiny platform by gripping the lightning conductor there between his knees!
The Button Boy was at the top of an 80-strong display showing how to climb the mast and astonishingly reached the top with no safety equipment at all.
There was a net at the bottom of the mast which was designed to catch anyone who fell - but thankfully it was never put to the test.
Today the idea of sending teenagers up a mast like this with no safety equipment would be dismissed as ridiculous but until Ganges closed in 1976 it was seen as a vital part of their character-building at the site.
And the difficult faced by the Button Boy was well illustrated in 1967 when Blue Peter daredevil John Noakes - who had already climbed up Nelson's Column and jumped with the Red Devils - attempted it.
He made it up to the last platform but was unable to shin up the final few feet and had to leave it to the normal Button Boy.
One visitor who did make it up to the top in 1960 was former EADT and Evening Star photographer Peter Warren.
His pictures from the top of the mast were reprinted across the country.
Former picture editor David Kindred knew him when Mr Warren was a freelance news photographer and remembers him as fearless - and someone with a very good head for heights!
The original mast was taken down last year after suffering increasing damage over the last few decades.
It is a Grade II listed structure and it was a condition of the planning permission for the Barrelman's Point development that it should be restored and returned to its original site.
That has now started with the metal base being installed - and the rest of the mast is expected to follow before the end of the year.
Developers Wavensmere Homes said they recognised the importance of the mast and it would be the centrepiece when the Parade Ground is completed at the centre of their development of the site.
The mast was taken down with the use of very long cranes and specialist engineers - and that seems certain to be the order of the day when the new mast is erected.
The days of the Button Boy may have disappeared forever thousands of Suffolk residents will be pleased to see the return of a well-known local landmark later this year.
And only one person ever died after falling from the mast - a 15-year-old cadet in 1928. He had not been part of a display, but was dared to climb up the mast by a group of friends on a Saturday night.
He lost his footing, suffered serious friction burns and fell - just missing the safety net. He died instantly but the tradition of climbing the mast continued.
There were no serious injuries recorded on or under the mast.
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