Portsmouth

5 July 2008, Saturday
Portsmouth

Portsmouth is a mere 20 miles from Eastleigh, and was a must see in my list. We started as early as 7AM. The interim stop before Portsmouth was Portchester. The morning walk was destined at the Portchester Castle.

Portchester Castle is one of the best preserved Roman fortification. The castle remains are essentially the outer wall and a restructured keep. The view from the castle top is enjoyable. There is a small church within the castle walls. A walk outside along the castle walls and along the water's edge, revealed a splendid view of Portsmouth harbor.

Spinnaker tower at Portsmouth visible from Portchester Castle.

A morning jog to relish for forever................

Our next stop was at Shingle beach.

Houses facing the Sea.....

This was the perfect Beach and Yacht drawing, I used to draw as a kid.

Portsmouth has 4 miles of seafront with pebbled beaches and has been a important Naval Port.

Compared to other places, spotting a long stay was tough, finally we did; which was 10mins walk from the Historic Dockyard.

The Historic Dockyard : HMS Victory, Mary Rose, HMS Warrior 1860 and Royal Naval Museum.

HMS Warrior

HMS Monitor M33 – built in 1915.

The primary attractions here are, Lord Nelson's ship, the HMS Victory - an 18th century man-o-war. The ships are continually maintained and staffed by regular midshipmen of the Royal Navy. One is sure to enjoy the narration, touring the fine vessel and seeing how life might have been like in the Navy of 1805.

There are 8 museums in the Dockyard including the Royal Naval Museum. And one would surely enjoy all of them. Its great to know what it takes to build a ship, down to the niceties. Its such complex compared to what the National Motor Museum introduced me to.

The Sails, Uniforms, Blacksmith, Ironsmith, Mast tailor, Carpenter……

But, one thing that caught my attention in these museums is the wealth looted from our country, which are found displayed here. And some are for sale for a fortune. Precious stones, Jewellery, Gold and Sliver articles, idols et al. They shamelessly have a board saying, they originate from India.

I remember learning all these knots at School. Yet to try them out now.

The Mary Rose is a Tudor warship which sank off the coast of Southsea, near Portsmouth, in 1545, during a battle with the French. In 1982, the remains of the Mary Rose hull were hoisted from its shallow grave and moved to Portsmouth in a very complex recovery operation. The hull is now on display in a specially constructed building.

The dockyard has one of the best gift stores and range of memorabilias, offered at decent price.

Across the Hard Interchange to the Gunwarf Quays. The Gunwarf Quays has hundreds of food chains, accessory, clothing, fashion and jewellery outlet all together.

Spinnaker Tower – A striking £21 million landmark tower, rising 170m.

A busy Saturday afternoon, the city was welcoming a crew which was away at the sea for the past 2 years.