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September 11, 2020
Hampshire Traveler
Winchester, part 1
September 11, 2020 in England ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
For this staycation we travel to a part of the country that neither Helen nor I know well - Hampshire. En route to our apartment in Gosport, we stop off for the day in the cathedral city of Winchester. It is steeped in history, being the start of the Pilgrim's Way to Canterbury, and well worthy of a longer stay in the future.

We start at the Statue of King Alfred the Great and proceed along the High Street past the Guildhall (1871 and built in the Gothic Revival Style) to the 15th century Buttercross Monument. There are many beautiful old buildings around us we continue up to Westgate and the medieval Winchester Castle - only the Great Hall (13th century) remains now. It houses the "Winchester Round Table" as well as a statue of Queen Victoria and has a lovely medieval style garden next to it.Read more
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Hampshire Traveler
Winchester, part 2
September 11, 2020 in England ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Winchester Cathedral is is one of the largest cathedrals in Europe and founded originally in 642. Jane Austen is buried here, amongst many others. It is a magnificent place and has a beautiful quire as well as a Holy Hole into which pilgrims would crawl to be next to the bones of Saint Swithin. Beautiful mortuary chests are positioned along the top of the quire. We visited the interesting Kings and Scribes exhibition that was on.

We visited the tiny St Swithun-upon-Kingsgate Church literally above an arch in a road and proceeded past The Pilgrim's School to the remains of Wolvesey Castle for a visit. Then a nice walk along the River Itchen with the playing fields of Winchester College on one side of us. Crossing the road, with views of St Catherine's Hill on the other side, the walk finished at the Hospital of St Cross and its Almhouse - the oldest in the UK.

A great place.Read more
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Hampshire Traveler
Gosport; Waterfront Trail - part 1
September 12, 2020 in England ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
We walk to the southern end of the Waterfront Trail to start at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum. The centrepiece is HMS Alliiance, an A-class long-range submarine built for service in the Far East and then modified for Cold War duties. Passing one-way through it, we see the cramped accommodation (reminiscent of overnight on Indian trains!), eating spaces, toilets, densely packed control room with periscope and, finally, the torpedo compartment. A fantastic experience! Next was Holland 1, the Royal Navy's first submarine, and midget submarines, including Turtle, a replica of the first submersible ever used in combat (in 1755 against the Royal Navy during the American Civil War).

We then walk over the Haslar Bridge and past the Haslar Marina, Gosport's moat and ramparts (1803), the colourful Harbour and Seaward Towers (blocks of flats) to the Haslar Millennium Pier, where there are views of Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and Harbour with the incredible Spinacre Tower dominating the skyline.

At the Falkland Gardens next to Gosport Ferry, we see the Tide Clock and the HMS Prince of Wales, the Royal Navy's newest aircraft carrier.Read more
TravelerIndian bunks more spacious and some room to stow luggage too!
9/13/20Reply
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Hampshire Traveler
Gosport; Waterfront Trail - part 2
September 12, 2020 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
We continue past Gosport Marina and up to the Royal Clarence Yard, which was built in 1827 as a premier naval victualling establishment. Closed in 1994, the site with its large purpose built granary, bakery, slaughterhouse etc buildings (Grade II listed) is now undergoing major refurbishment for modern living and commercial / leisure use. The large Ceremonial Gate and accompanying Flagstaff Green are still as they were.

We cross the Millenium Bridge over Forton Lake (actually a tidal creek) to Priddy's Hard, a heritage area of Gosport which was an 18th century Ordnance Depot for weapons, explosives and other stores; a fitting place for the Explosion Museum of Naval Firepower, our final destination at the north end of the Waterfront Trail. The Grand Magazine, a Grade I listed building, used to hold 4,000 barrels of gunpowder, but now shows a video of the site's history. The exhibition tells the story of the people who worked there and the weapons they made. Very interssting, with lots of guns and missiles (including Exocet) on display.Read more
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Hampshire Traveler
Gosport Borough
September 13, 2020 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
After a short drive to the River Alver Country Park, we are happy to be walking on grass and in the fresh air. There are several relatively short circular walks here which we combine to make a pleasant few hours of walking. The Little Woodham 17th century re-enactment village is closed blue to Covid. We carry on through the Nature Reserve and aroud Noah's Lake, where there are lots of water fowl. Down and across Junkett Bottom and Sandhill, a former refuse tip with views across The Solent to the Isle of Wight, before going through the Browndown MoD site and its gorse vegetation.

Next there was another short drive to Lee-on-the-Solent, a seafront town on the coast of The Solent with shingle beaches. Lots of people doing seaside stuff - paddling, swimming, sailing etc. The ice cream was well deserved!

Back via Stokes Bay, Clayhall to Gosport. The beers were very well deserved!Read more
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Hampshire Traveler
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard - part 1
September 14, 2020 in England ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
There is a lot to see here and it is all good. This post and the next post presents the ships at the Dockyard in historical order.

First up is The Mary Rose, a Tudor navy warship that was financed by, and completed for, King Henry VIII in 1510. It was his favourite ship and he watched from Southsea Castle as it capsized in 1545 during the Battle of the Solent. It was recovered in 1982 and, after extenive renovation, can now be seen in a display that put its many artefacts and lives of the crew members into historical context. Highly recommended. The three images show the timbers of the port side of the ship, a typical cannon and the original Mary Rose bell.

HMS Victory was completed in 1765 and best known as being Admiral Lord Nelson' s flagship during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Nelson was fatally shot, but victory over the French was already assured. An iconic site with an excellent interpretation. Once again, highly recommended.Read more
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Hampshire Traveler
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard - part 2
September 14, 2020 in England ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
HMS Warrior was launched in 1860 and was a 40-gun, steam powered iron clad warship - the most powerful of its kind in the world at the time. She never fired a shot in anger and was returned to Portsmouth in 1987 for public display to provide visitors with an insight into life on board a ship of the Victorian era with guides "of that time".

Moving forward to 1915, the HMS M.33 is one of only two Royal Navy warships to survive from the First World War and the only one from the Gallipoly Campaign. Once again, very interesting to visit.

The harbour tour afforded many views, not least that of HMS D34 which was commissioned in 2011 and saw action in the Middle East.

The HMS Queen Elizabeth was launched in 2014 and an aircraft carrier capable of carrying 60 aircraft (including helicopters). She has a Tudor rose-adorned crest - bringing us full circle from Henry VIII's Mary Rose!Read more
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Hampshire Traveler
Portsmouth - Emirates Spinnaker Tower
September 15, 2020 in England ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
Next to the ferry terminal is Gunwharf Quays, the UK's only waterfront shopping outlet and site of the iconic Emirates Spinnaker Tower. Originally a Millenium Project, a sequence of problems meant that construction did not begin until November 2001 and it did not open until October 2005!

Helen had booked afternoon tea which we enjoyed 105m above sea level. There are superb views in all directions.Read more
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Hampshire Traveler
Old Portsmouth
September 15, 2020 in England ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Leaving Gunwharf Quays, we join the Millenium Promenade which takes us through Old Portsmouth, the original medieval site of the town.

The Round Tower fortification stands at the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour and was originally wooden before being rebuilt in stone in 1490. It is easily visible from the Gosport Ferry and on its far side are the remaining parts of the city walls (the hotwalls) which connect with the Square Tower. This was built in 1494 and used as a gunpowder magazine (storage) before that was moved to Priddy's Hard on the Gosport side of the harbour. It is now used for events such as weddings and small concerts.

Further ahead is a statue of Lord Nelson looking out to sea; behind him is the Royal Garrison Church, which was originally an almhouse and hospice for Old Portsmouth.

Just up from this is the Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury,, aka Portsmouth Cathedral. Originally dedicated in 1188, the small church was extended in 1750 and had further significant changes in 1927 due its elevation to cathedral status. A true mixture of styles, it is nonetheless impressive both internally and externally.Read more
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Hampshire Traveler
Portsmouth - Seaside walk to Eastney
September 16, 2020 in England ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Our walk continues along the Milleniun Promenade to Clarence Pier and we note the three odd looking shapes out on the Solent. These are the Solent Forts, built in 1859 for military defence against potential invasion from the eastern side by the French. Also known as the Palmerston Folllies, they were never used for this purpose and are now planned as luxury hotel accommodation.

At the edge of Southsea Common stands the Portsmouth Naval Memorial. We reach Southsea Castle, which is smaller than expected! It was built in 1544 by Henry VIII, also to prevent invasion by France (and the Holy Roman Empire) due to the annulment of his marriage from Catherine of Aragon. The Mary Rose was lost in front of it.

We visit Southsea Pier and proceed further, also visiting the Rose Garden - the walls of which formerly contained Lumps Fort! We see the Sea Kale and other fauna growing in the shingle above the tidal limit.

The Millenium Promenade finishes at Eastney, but we carry on and see the now permanently closed Royal Marines Museum from the road. The Fort Cumberland pentagonsl fort is also decommissioned. We reach our end point - the Southsea Marina and the bus stop for our return journey to the Gosport Ferry.Read more
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Hampshire Traveler
Portchester Castle and Bosham
September 17, 2020 in England ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Portchester Castle has been descibed as "a Medieval Castle within a Roman Fort". It was originally built by the Romans as one of the "Forts of the Saxon Shore" in the late 3rd century to defend against Saxon pirates. The first picture shows the castle as viewed from our Portsmouth Harbour tour (it became an important port due to its location at the head of the harbour) and the second shows Helen and part of the Roman Walls (which are still almost completely intact). Portchester was developed as a castle in the 13th century, with a keep and an Inner Bailey (courtyard) in one corner, and used as a prison in the 17th and 19rh centuries, during the Anglo Dutch war and the Spanish Succession, respectively. The rest of the enclosure now has a small, local church and lots of open space within the walls.

We travel on to Chichester in West Sussex via Bosham, a beautiful coastal village on an inlet which forms part of the Chichester Harbour area. We see the Holy Trinity Church and walk round the small harbour - stunning.Read more
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Trip end
September 17, 2020