Escaping south – to Southsea and Portsmouth

Those rare people who know me, know that I don’t like boats.  Or ships.  Or anything that means I have to travel on water – including ferries.  I don’t mind looking at them – just don’t even consider trying to get me on one.

So it was a bit of a surprise to my partner when he said that he wanted to go down to Southsea in Hampshire that I immediately said that I wanted to go to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.  The reason was two fold.  I wanted to see HMS Victory, and I also wanted to go to the new Mary Rose museum.  There was also the added bonus that we may see the new aircraft carrier – Queen Elizabeth, as Portsmouth is its home base.

So we agreed a date, and booked a really beautiful hotel – The Queen’s Hotel in Southsea.  My partner had been before, and raved about the building – and the outlook over the green and out to the Solent.

We travelled down, and arrived at the hotel – and I could see what he meant about the hotel.  It was something special.  As we were too early to check in, we asked if we could leave the car in the car park, and check in later.  Not an issue – so that was what we did – after nipping into the bar for a drink!

It was quiet something to behold, and I have to admit that I did feel like a country rube – gawping at the decorations.  But thankfully, my partner realised the reason, and didn’t tease me too much – smart man.

Then we decided to walk across the green, as the hoverport was within an easy walk of the hotel. We had thought about taking the hovercraft to the Isle of Wight, but changed our mind as there was an awful lot we wanted to do – and not really much time.

But we did watch the hovercraft coming in – and I was determined to watch it leave.  My partner told me about the times that he had sat on the beach watching it come in and more to the point – leave.  I personally thought that he was daft, as the beach was all pebbles!  But I could see the attraction in a way, and what puzzled me was the Perspex screens further up the beach.

I soon found out why. The engines fired up, they sent  spray was sent all over the place – along with a few errant pebbles.  I could see the attraction of sitting on the beach when this happened, but only on a sunny day.  As it wasn’t too sunny when we were there, I was content to video the departure on my camera, as well as taking plenty of photos:

We then decided to walk to the dockyard from Southsea – as according to my partner, it wasn’t far.  I didn’t object, although in hindsight, I should have done two things.  1st – strapped my damn knee up, and 2nd – used the walking stick that I had brought with me.

As we walked, I was able to get some quite good photos of the Wightlink ferry:

As well as the Catamaran version of the ferry:

But my favourite shots were the ones that showed the Spinnaker tower:

Not that I had any intention of going anywhere near the tower – I’m not too keen on heights (nor is my partner, so we have that in common!)

The walk to the Historic Dockyard was slightly longer than it needed to be, as we ended up going via the shopping centre – Portsmouth Quays.  Not that I objected, as it meant I could get some more batteries for my camera, as someone (me) didn’t make sure that the rechargeable batteries were fully charged before I left home.  Doh.

We got to the gates of the dockyard, there was a queue.  Because the new carrier had docked on the Wednesday, security was that much tighter, and people were having their bags checked – even my little Kipling bumbag – and my camera bag.  What on earth they thought I could smuggle into the docks in my camera case is a mystery – I can’t even fit a pair of spare batteries in it when the camera is in situ!

But, it was a small price to pay, and we got in and collected the tickets.  I have to admit that my knee was really starting to hurt, but there was no way that I was going to let something as “minor” as my knee starting to feel like a gremlin was using what was left of it for scrimshaw from stopping me going around HMS Victory.

Now all the photos that I had seen showed Victory as quite a strong yellow.  But when we actually saw her “in the flesh” she was a darkish peach colour.

You could feel the engines vibrating the air, and the low rumble was audible wherever you were in the docks.

Once we’d finished dribbling over the carrier, we went on board Victory.  Now as I have said in the past, I am not very tall – and for once it was actually quite a benefit.  Simply because the beams were very low – and my partner had to spend most of his time stooped over, trying to avoid banging his head!

We explored the top deck, and I didn’t realise just how unhappy my partner was about heights until I said that I wanted to go up on the poop deck. He was more than happy to let me climb up, as it meant he didn’t have to...  I didn’t object – more chances to get some good photos!

The staterooms at the back of the quarter deck were quite something to see – I never expected there to be a wood burning stove on a wooden ship:

And I was really impressed with the leather fire buckets:

Then it was time to descend further into Victory. The conditions were somewhat primitive – hammocks slung across massive iron guns:

And not much space between the guns themselves.

Mind you, in the areas away from the guns, there wasn’t much space either:

The real surprise was when you left Victory at the bottom of the dry dock.  You got to see the original steel supports (11 of them that I could see), and the replacement computer controlled ones:

The original steel supports were placed when the ship was placed into dry dock in the early 1920s, but they had disadvantage of not allowing the ship to expand and contract the way that it would if it was on the water.  So, as a replacement, they are in the process of installing 134 adjustable supports over two levels, to allow the ship to expand and contract – much as it would do on the water, and they had yellow markers on the hull where the rest of the new supports would be in contact with the hull.

Then it was off to the Mary Rose museum.  It’s along side the Victory, so it wasn’t too much of a walk.  This was a good thing in its way, as my knee felt like it was going to give way at any moment – and was refusing to bend – without major cursing on my part.

So we (or rather my partner) decided that we needed a rest – so I agreed on the principal that I could grab a coffee to take a couple of ibroprofen.  That and the fact that it meant I could have a quick look at the pictures that I had taken so far (and delete the obviously rubbish ones).

Once in the museum, there was an awful lot to read, so I freely admit skipping most of it – but there was one bit that did catch my eye before we went into the main area where Mary Rose herself is located:

Then it was into the main museum.  It was weird lighting (as the photos will show) but it was quite dramatic:

It turns out that ship is still in the cradle that she was raised in – way back in 1982.  It’s only when you see her from the side that you realise that the cradle is still there – supporting her, and that it has been tipped onto its side to display the ship as she would have been.

Then the really exciting bit was when you actually saw her without glass.  We went though a kind of airlock, and then it hit you – you were actually standing in front Mary Rose.  It was quite a surreal experience, and thankfully, the camera held up – I wasn’t sure if the batteries would last, given the amount of time the camera decided it needed the flash!

By this time, my knee was really hurting, and it must have shown on my face, as my partner said that there was no way that we were walking back, as he wasn’t very impressed with the fact that I had practically crippled myself on the walk to the docks, and walking around.  So, bless him, we got a taxi back to the hotel.  

We checked in, and he decided to go for a walk – he wanted to get a paper, and also give me chance to get some rest, and see if I could find anywhere for dinner. Well, the chance to take a rest was welcome – but my knee didn’t want to bend, meaning that it was a nightmare for me to take my socks off.  I managed – after many muttered curses, and then chilled out until my partner came back.

The decision where (and what) to eat was next, as the pair of us hadn’t really eaten during the day, and neither of us really fancied eating in the hotel.  Don’t get me wrong – it was nothing to do with the menu (or the quality of the food) – just more a case of us not wanting all the fuss of dining, and being uncomfortable with a beer on the table, instead of a glass (or bottle) of wine.

So, as he’d spotted a place that looked good, we deicide to take a walk (or in my case hobble) to the 6oz Burger Company.  I have to admit, it wasn’t much to look at, but the food…?  Wow.  It was really good, and nothing was too much trouble for the staff. 

My only regret was that I couldn’t do true justice to the food, simply because my knee was so damned painful.  But I cannot praise the house burger enough – it was really tasty, and I will happily go back for dinner again.

It wasn’t the most restful of nights for me, but that was because of my knee.  It looked like a balloon when I settled down for the night, but thankfully it did go down overnight.  Amazing what anti-inflammatory tablets can do. 

Breakfast was really good – I cannot fault that at all, a good mix of continental and cooked breakfast.  I opted for the continental breakfast as normal, and my partner went for the cooked breakfast – simply because he’s not a fan of croissant. Or a continental breakfast.  But we both agreed that the coffee was good – and it came in a proper coffee pot!

We finished breakfast, and checked out.  We decided to take the car, as we were checking out, and neither of us wanted the hassle of trying to get back to collect the car and head for home. Thankfully, there was a multi-storey car park within 300yds of the main gate, so we didn’t have far to walk if the weather was bad….  

Because of the problems I’d had with my knee the previous day, I’d strapped it up – and made damn sure that I had my walking stick with me – the fold up one that I had put in the car the day before, and not used – like an idiot.  

Again, we had to queue to go through security, but as we had the tickets already it meant that we could go into the docks.  My partner had already said that he wanted to go to the submarine museum.  I knew that I would have to get the water taxi across the harbour to get there, and had invested in a pair of seasickness bands.  But, as the first two trips were fully booked, we opted to visit one of the ships that was very close to the entrance – HMS Warrior.

This was the ship that was the cross-over point from ships like HMS Victory to the true age of iron ships – ones with coal burning engines.  Only Warrior still had her masts:

It was still an impressive ship though – even down to the massive iron doors:

It was still cramped to a certain extent, but it was a lot bigger than Victory – and my partner was quite a bit happier as it meant that he didn’t have to spend all his time ducking the beams. But it was still quite a bit of walking, and I don’t mind admitting that my knee did give me problems. 

What really surprised me were the differences in the accommodation. The officers had their own “bedrooms” instead of hammocks they way they did on Victory:

But the able seamen still had to sleep in hammocks slung across the guns, so some things hadn’t changed that much….

I will admit to having a moment of envy – the massive stove:

It was bigger than my 208, and higher as well.  The heat that it would have kicked out would have been immense, but it did have to cook for the entire crew…

Despite the fact that the ship had coal fired engines, it still relied on sail as well, so that meant that the ship had to have a sail manufacturing area – where they could keep the cloth clean(er) than it would have been if it had been stored out in the open areas of the ship:

One thing that did surprise me was the display of knot work:

I know this is a traditional craft within the Royal Navy, but it was nice to see it displayed on board a ship that would have used it.

The engine rooms were right in the depths of the ship (as you would expect) and the heat from the furnaces would have been incredible.  The museum had mocked up two of the furnaces so that visitors got an idea of what they would look like when they were in use:

The thing that really made it plain that this was a steam powered ship was the speed indicator:

 

As well as the slate that gave all the information on the status of the boilers:

The other thing that did make me smile was the quartermaster’s store.  The sign showed what sort of rations the sailors could expect:

Even down to the rat / mouse on the cheese wheel:

Then it was time for a break before we caught the water taxi across to the submarine museum.  I have to admit, I wasn’t too keen on the idea, but as my partner wanted to go, I agreed on the grounds that I wouldn’t have to sit at the back and could concentrate on keeping my stomach contents where they belonged.

The trip across wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be – but I suspect this was because I was listening to the commentary from the pilot – he was cracking jokes the whole time.  As we got to the submarine museum, we were the last ones off, and I heard one of the crew saying that they needed to get a bucket of water, as someone had been sick.  I have to admit thinking that I was glad I’d not been down the back, as that would have started me off!

The submarine (HMS Astute) was quite spectacular – and because of the internal size there was a time slot allocated to each visitor. So, while we were waiting for the slot, I took the chance to grab a couple of photos:

Once on board, it became apparent just how cramped the submarine really was:

 Thankfully, I don’t suffer from claustrophobia too much, but it was still disconcerting at times:

The kitchen area was tiny – yet the chef still managed to feed the 42 man crew:

The one thing that did make me smile (and I admit I thought it was an urban myth) was the fact that they kept the cases of beer in the torpedo tubes. This was confirmed by one of the volunteers, who was a retired submariner, and he admitted that it was the only place to keep the beer, as the space on the submarine was so limited.

Then it was time to leave HMS Astute, and wait for the water taxi back.  For once, me having my walking stick proved beneficial in more than one way.  There were more people than spaces on the water taxi, and then next one wouldn’t be available for another hour, meaning that we would run the risk of missing out on the harbour tour that I wanted to do.

Because the lady who was in charge of the visitors took pity on my (and my partner) it meant that we could get a place on the taxi.  And this time, I was determined to sit at the back, as I wanted to make sure that I was ok with the movement of the boat *before* going on the harbour tour that lasted ¾ of an hour.

The commentary was good again (the little bit that I could hear over the roar of the engines), and I was more than happy snapping pictures all the way back to the dockyard.

I wasn’t even the slightest bit queasy when we went across the wash of another boat – this time, it was the Solent Cat, taking visitors back to Portsmouth from the Isle of Wight:

So that pretty much confirmed that I was going on the harbour tour.  We queued up, and it was a mad(ish) dash to get the best place.  Me being determined climbed up onto the top deck – right next to the bridge, as this meant that I could bag a corner to hang on to, and take clear pictures of the things that really interested me – like the new aircraft carrier.

We pulled out of the harbour, and I got my first look at the new carrier – without anything in the way.  

There was a really heavy police presence – and they were armed.  I knew that the security would be high, but physically seeing the police launch with the armed officers on it really brought it home to me.

There were quite a few warships in harbour (don’t recall the names – I was too interested in taking photos) and it was amazing to see them as close as we did:

 But the best bit (for me) was being able to see the carrier:

And I didn’t realise just how close the carrier actually was to the Mary Rose Museum and HMS Victory:

All in all, it was well worth the money spent on the seasick bands – they worked like a charm.  Either that or it was sheer bloody mindedness on my part. 

Would I go back?  Yes – without hesitation. The hotel was brilliant, and the dockyard?  I wish I had gone a long time ago, but I guess that it was the right time for me to go.

The only thing that I was disappointed about was the fact that my knee tried to self destruct, and did make it difficult for me at times.  But my partner was a real angel, and made sure that I was ok – and even told me off a couple of times for over doing things, and causing even more pain to myself.  The mere fact that we got to see the new carrier was just the icing on the cake for the pair of us.  I would have liked more time down there, and we’ve made plans to go back at a later date.

Guess I’d better call this quits – I need to get some sleep.

Back when I get chance.

Karen

Our dreams, won’t die
If you remember them each day
Sweet dreams, blue sky
They’re gonna take you all the way
I believe, in you, no lie
Your dreams, won’t die
Your dreams won’t die