Portsmouth Hornpipe

We’ve just crammed quite a bit into two-and-a-half days in Portsmouth.

It was hot for most of our visit, summer school holidays and accordingly crowded, both at the historic attractions and the modern-day parts of the waterfront area.

These are interspersed, so it was interesting to walk along, one minute passing the futuristic, touristy Spinnaker Tower, the next passing by the Camber, now a small fishing port but originally the site of the first Norman settlement in the area.

Our walk continued south, past the historic fortifications of Portsmouth Harbour, the occupants being somewhat paranoid about the French. We passed the Round Tower (1426) and the Square Tower (1494) and associated fortifications, then the ruined Domus Dei Royal Garrison Church - founded as a hospice for pilgrims in 1212 - came into very photogenic sight, and from there we walked on to Clarence Pier.

The pier was first-rate tacky, crowded with tattooed people eating chips and hotdogs between amusement rides.

Just past the pier was the hovercraft landing stage. The world’s only commercial operating hovercraft service, and the only seagoing craft that requires a pilot’s licence to operate, we saw them come and go frequently as they shuttled back and forth to the Isle of Wight.

Speaking of which, we took a ferry across to the island for a day of riding around on the bus. It was a pleasant day; we sailed across to Ryde, walked to the shore via its 681-metre pier and did a quick tour of the north-east part of the island. From the slightly elevated interior the views back across to Portsmouth were magnificent; on the island there was some nice coastline and plenty of elegant-if-faded lodges.

Finally, we spent a day at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

We took a water bus across to Gosport and toured the WW2 submarine HMS Alliance, for which Sharon, claustrophobic, probably set the record internal bow-to-stern submarine sprint.

Climbing through the innards of HMS Victory was fascinating, listening to the story of the Battle of Trafalgar as we went. Not listening too intently, though, as there was a constant chance you might bump you head or trip over something.

Finally, we looked at the Mary Rose, or at least the half a Mary Rose they dug out of The Solent in the 1970’s. It looks all majestic in its dimly lighted, humidity-controlled environment, and each level of the sip is related to artefacts recovered at the same time, including the skeleton of the ship’s dog.

All in all, we had quite a busy but enjoyable few days before setting sail on our cruise.Read more