I have been spending a fair bit of time in the city of Portsmouth on the south coast of England. I have been working down there and my daughter is at the university. We were down there again for the Easter weekend and the weather smiled on us. You may have seen that we did the local parkrun on Saturday.
On Friday we made a return visit to the historic dockyards. Last time we saw the Mary Rose Tudor warship. We bought tickets that last a year as there was more to see.
First up was HMS Warrior which was a Victorian 'ironclad' steam ship. You would not know it now, but she (all ships are female) spent fifty years as a refuelling dock in Wales before being restored to original condition. We have been on board before, but she is still impressive. You can explore all the decks and there were actors playing crew-members who would answer any questions.
This is where the stokers would have fed the engine with coal. I expect it was a really noisy, hot and dirty place back then. You can see a coal barrow hanging from the ceiling rails.
There are various memorials around the docks and this is of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott who is a distant relative of mine.
We did not go on Nelson's Victory, but there is a museum with items from it. Upstairs is a collection of figureheads and this barge that was used by Charles II and later carried Nelson's coffin through London.
The current Navy docks are just next door, so there is some visible security with armed guards on patrol. One of the new aircraft carriers was moored up.
Dinner was at Otaku Japanese restaurant where I have dined several times. We walked past the guildhall where my daughter attended a rock festival the nextday.
Saturday was spent in Winchester that I posted about previously.
We had a walk on Sunday morning before meeting my daughter for lunch. A common feature of British seafronts is the shelter where you can watch the waves as the rain comes down. This one has probably been there a while.
Further along is Southsea Castle that was built by Henry VIII to defend his main port. It has been adapted over the years and was still in use by the military during World War II. The lighthouse is a recent addition, just 200 years ago. We had never been in, but you can walk in for free. There was a video about the history in one of the vaults that probably held gunpowder.
Some of the old cannons have been put back on the battlements. You can see it can rotate to cover a wide area. I think the pivot point is actually an old cannon. What you cannot see are the new sea defences that are being built just below to stop the castle and town from being washed away or flooded. There is an active brewery in the castle whose beers I have sampled as well as a small museum.
We will be back in Portsmouth soon and there are still things to explore. We have yet to go in the D-Day Museum which has an original WWII landing craft. That is for another day.
