Places to visit, attractions, heritage and things of interest in Hampshire, England.
Sometime ago, I posted an article about a nondescript memorial on a country lane in Hampshire to a Royal Air Force pilot who crashed and died nearby in 1940. It may not have been a very grand memorial, but it touched me that someone – unrelated to the young man – had taken the trouble […]
F/O James Tillett is still remembered Read More »
In the story of the Mary Rose, we took a brief look at the history of the famous Tudor warship, said to be a favourite of Henry VIII’s, that sank without warning on 19 July 1545, with the tragic loss of about 500 lives. Now, we hear a bit about her recovery, her treasures, what
Discovering and visiting Mary Rose Read More »
Every now and again, something takes our breath away. I thought I knew roughly what to expect when visiting the Mary Rose Museum. I broadly knew the story: the 16th century English warship, a favourite of Henry VIII’s, that sank with the tragic loss of most hands. I remembered when she was raised from the
The story of the Mary Rose Read More »
This is HMS M.33, a relic of another time – yet a time of not so very long ago – and of almost-forgotten battles. M.33 was a monitor, essentially a floating gun platform. Designed to operate in shallow waters, close to shore, she was one of almost 40 monitors ordered to be built at the
King Alfred the Great is a national hero. At least, he is to the English – though, to be fair, we have always been very generous about sharing our heroes with the rest of Britain and, at the slightest opportunity, with the rest of the world too. Yet, somehow, we have managed to mislay King
The bones of the king Read More »
The Hospital of St Cross and Almshouse of Noble Poverty, to give the institution its full name, is almost nine centuries old and said to be England’s oldest charitable body. Never heard of it? Neither had I – until reading about it in Ian Marchant’s delightful book, ‘The Longest Crawl’. This is an account of
The Hospital of St Cross Read More »
My mother would love to walk from Point along Old Portsmouth’s walls, past the Sally Port, Square Tower and above Battery Row. There was the Regency Grand Parade, scene of many ceremonial occasions in days gone by. There was the statue of Nelson, who boarded HMS Victory nearby before the Battle of Trafalgar. And below
Domus Dei, a Portuguese princess and the Blitz Read More »
The small south coast town of Gosport is an interesting, rather than a pretty, place. Optimistic residents may believe it was once known as ‘God’s port’, though the Oxford Dictionary of Place Names’ more prosaic and likely explanation is that the name derives from ‘Goose port’. What we do know is that Gosport developed as
Some corner of a foreign field that is forever Turkey Read More »
HMS Victory, flagship of Admiral Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, has been one of Portsmouth’s icons for so long, it’s easy to forget what else she represents. You could almost be forgiven for thinking she’s simply a beautiful old museum ship. So, to be clear: HMS Victory was a terrifying floating
HMS Victory, icon of empire Read More »
A recent visit to Portsmouth necessitated a walk along the seafront – really, it has to be done – and a visit to this enormous monument. The seafront was familiar from childhood and I remembered the memorial well; I might even have played within its semi-hallowed embrace and fidgetingly attended a remembrance service there. I
Finding George on Portsmouth’s Naval Memorial Read More »
This is HMS Queen Elizabeth. She and her sister ship HMS Prince of Wales are the largest warships the Royal Navy has ever had, and their home port is HM Naval Base Portsmouth, on England’s south coast. Portsmouth is well-known for its naval heritage: this is, after all, the home of Horatio Nelson’s flagship, HMS
A tour of Portsmouth Harbour Read More »
They used to build big ships on the New Forest’s tranquil, pretty, Beaulieu River. Men of war that formed part of the Royal Navy’s wooden walls, when Britannia ruled the waves: vessels 150 feet, or more, in length, with 70 menacing cannons poking through gun-ports and crewed by hundreds of officers and men; ships that
To the north of Portsmouth, on England’s south coast, is Portsdown Hill, a long chalk elevation that dominates the city and harbour 400 feet below. And on the top of Portsdown Hill, the Victorians placed five large forts – from east to west: Fort Purbrook, Fort Widley, Fort Southwick, Fort Nelson and Fort Wallington. Redoubts
The folly of Fort Nelson Read More »
The wealthy banker Lionel de Rothschild bought the Exbury Estate, in Hampshire, in 1919. In 1922, work began on creating what is now a 200 acre garden, internationally famous for its rhododendrons, azaleas, rare trees and shrubs.  Exbury Gardens are open to the public, nestle on the eastern edge of the Beaulieu River in the
Blooms and a mystery at Exbury Gardens Read More »
