I could live in Portsmouth. Friday afternoon was spent
driving from Manchester (considered to be in the north)
to Portsmouth (on the south coast). Manchester was in
the rear view mirror at 1530 and the tent was pitched
just outside of Portsmouth at 2100. The drive down
was only interrupted by a dinner break at the Heart
in Hand pub. The next morning was a little foggy,
but it burned off quickly. The rest of the day was
sunny with temperatures in the upper 70's and low 80's.
Portsmouth is a naval town and has been since
before Roman times. It is home to the largest
naval base in the UK. It was heavily bombed during
World War II so, it does not have the historic
buildings one would expect to find. A castle
built by Henry VIII is still standing and can still be
toured. The town's treasures are nestled in the
old dock yard and for 18.50 (roughly $37.00)
one can spend time among them.
I arrived in town a little after 0700 and found
a convenient car park (parking garage in this case)
near the old dockyard. Since nothing was open
at that hour, I spent the first three hours of the
morning exploring the town and its water front.
It is a pleasant mixture of the old and new with
plenty of green (grass and money) thrown in.
The town has a historic section and a Myrtle
Beach like section. Luckily, the historic section
dominates the water front.
The doors to the dock yard opened at 1000.
This same set of doors has been allowing
entrance since the early 1700s. Inside the gates
are the historic wonders that I wandered through
until 1730, and an operating, modern navy base
where I was encouraged not to wander by
armed security forces. The first twenty minutes
were spent waiting in queue to pay for the
season pass. Just a minute's walk outside the
door of the ticket center is where the Warrior is
berthed. This is the first UK built steel and
steam/sail ship built in 1860 in response
to a similar vessel being built in France.
It was the largest and fastest war ship of its day;
although, its day only lasted about 10 years.
During its illustrious career, it was a war ship
in active service, a war ship in reserve service,
up for auction as scrap (no takers), and part
of an oil receiving depot. Eventually, it was
beautifully restored and put on display.
It looks like it could sail out
of the harbour any time it is required to do so.
I spent 2 hours touring the ship.
Back off of the ship, I wandered back to the
ticket building, which also houses one of
three places in the immediate area to get
food. Lunch was wolfed down and I was
off to tour the HMS Victory. This is a ship
built before the US became the US (1759).
It was Nelson's flag ship at Tralfalgar and
the ship where he was wounded, died,
pickled in a cask of spirits
(rum and brandy, I think),
and transported back to England for a
hero's burial. Nelson was a hugely popular
man during his lifetime. His success in the
navy tranfsered into the private sector
where he was almost worshipped.
The ship was put into dry dock in the
1920's and lovingly restored. I spent 2
hours touring it.
The Mary Rose served England for about
35 years before she sank off the coast of
Portsmouth while Henry VIII watched
(think 1500's). It laid on the bottom of the
sea until recovery efforts succeeded in
raising a subsantial part of the port side
sometime in the 1990s ( I think!).
That portion is in the process of being
preserved, but it is housed where the
public can come in and view it. While
interesting to archeologists, I only spent about
thirty minutes in this area, then I was off to take
a harbour tour.
The harbour tour lasted a little less than an
hour. We rode by modern warships at anchor
or in dry dock, the Warrior and the Victory,
and dodged through heavy traffic.
Everyone was on the water....cruise ships from
France, ferrys to the Isle of Wight and Gosport,
tugs, private power and sailing vessels,
and jet skis....and all crammed into an area
smaller than Clark's Hill Lake's southern end
between the dam and Bussey Point. The rest
of my time in the old dock yard was spent
touring the Royal Navy museum and the Nelson museum.
I walked out of the dock yard gate at 1730 and
proceeded back to the downtown water front to
take a ride up the Spinnaker Tower. This tower
was recently completed and was over budget and
behind schedule. It may have already paid for
itself though. The tower is shaped like a
billowing sail. An elevator takes you to the
100 meter level (above the water side)
where you can stand looking out through
glass windows or stand on a glass floor to
watch folks passing beneath you.
You can then climb to the two levels above
to get a slightly different perspective of
Portsmouth and the surrounding land and sea.
I spent about forty minutes in the tower
before descending in search of dinner.
I did not have to walk far (about 100 yards)
before settling into a water side seat and
ordering a beer and dinner. This was wolfed
down just as lunch was because I had one
more stop for the day before I returned to
my tent. (Suella, you have a sister.....born in
Bulgaria, working in an Italian restaurant,
and living in England! While you are not twins,
the similarity made me look three or four times
before I convinced myself that you were not in country.)

Chichester is a small town about 30 minutes
drive from Portsmouth. It has another one
of those 1000 year old cathedrals that I mention
from time to time. When I arrived, a crowd was
gathered in front of the church and I immediately
thought they were holding Saturday evening
service. They were not. By the time I finished
walking around and photographing the exterior
of the building, the front doors opened and the
crowd started in. I followed to see the interior
and was pleasantly surprised to find out that the
UK National Youth Choir was performing that
evening. I bought a ticket, toured the inside
of the cathedral, and then settled into place
to hear a wonderful choir doing an impressive
selection of music. This is not your run of the
mill youth choir (17-20) and the music they
performed is not typically performed by people
in this age group, but they were up to the task
and there were some incredible moments
during the evening.
I arrived back at my tent about 2315,
brushed my teeth, and went to bed. No one
saw me come in that night and no one saw me
leave in the morning. I was showered, dressed,
and packed by 0630 this morning. I had a
busy day planned. My first stop was Winchester.
This was the capital city in southern England
(not London) prior to the arrival of the
Normans around 1079. Many of England's
famous kings, prior to the Norman invasion,
ruled from this city. A huge cathedral was
build on the site as far back as 600. The new
structure was started around 1080 and has
been in continuous service since its completion.
There have been many additions since the early
construction.
A lot of the old town is no longer there;
however, you can walk around and see bits
and pieces from the Roman era through today.
I spent about 3 hours walking the city,
the cathedral, and the local bishop's castle.
As I walked back to the car, I passed through a
local farmers market where I spent another hour
sampling the wares and buying stuff to eat on the
way home and later in the week. I was leaving
Winchester a lot later than anticipated,
so I cancelled plans to stop in Oxford. I will
fit that into a trip later in my stay.
I hope this finds all well where you are.
DWR