So, back to our holidays. When we last met, we had just finished our day at the White Cliffs of Dover and Dover Castle. The next day took us, by train, to Portsmouth. Rick has a fascination for all things naval, so this was his day to explore to his heart's content. He had figured on a couple of hours of sea-faring sightseeing, and then a wander about town. We ended up spending over 4 hours just in the historic harbour area, exploring mighty ships, seeing ancient relics and generally immersing ourselves in naval lore and history. It was a wonderful way to spend the majority of the day, after which we did do a bit of a wander over to very old part of town that used to be quite notorious for its questionable services and clientele. We had a lovely mid-afternoon rest break, did some more exploring, and then caugh our train back to Brighton feeling very content.
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| Wolfie, Alfie, and Teddy enjoying their train ride to Plymouth. Having to pay for 5 tickets total is really outrageous!! |
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| The HMS Warrior, England's first steel clad war ship from 1860. Such was her power and might in that day that, even though she protected England's shores, no shot was ever fired from her. |
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| We saw many a ship's figurehead in the museums there, but seeing them on the actual ship really puts things in perspective. He does look all warrior-like, we would say! |
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| Lovely wood and brass work, but what we would like to know is... |
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| ...why exactly the princess was much pleased! |
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| Brass runners on the decks to allow the guns to be swung into action. |
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| The step on the right might give you a sense of scale of the size of the chains used aboard the ship. |
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| The kitchen is designed around this central stove. |
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| Meal time aboard. |
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| And once you finish your meal, it is off to bed, sleeping above the table at which you just ate! |
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| Meanwhile, elsewhere on the ship and higher in the ranks, dinner time takes on a whole different "flavour!" |
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| Then off to a quick relaxation in the lounge, where we are sure many cigars were smoked and drinks consumed. |
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| There are a lot of ranks on these ships, so somewhere between the two extremes shown above were those who at least had a wee cabin. |
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| HMS Victory! Not a replica of the HMS Victory, but the actual battleship upon which Admiral Nelson met his fate. Neither of us knew that it survived up until this day and that you could board it. What an exciting find!! |
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| The stern of the ship, with the Admiral's quarters. While it may look crooked, it was made this way. The craftsmanship that went into this construction - making windows that fit the angle of the stern, for example - was impressive, to say the least. What a beautiful ship. |
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| The bow of the Victory. |
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| Quarters fit for an Admiral. |
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| There is no truth to the rumour that Nelson actually slipped on this plaque on the floor and died from those injuries. |
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| The ship's kitchen, which is noticeably more "rustic" than the one aboard the Warrior. |
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| Sleeping quarters of a sort. This is the hospital bay of the ship where, it would appear, if you succumbed, they just wrapped you us in your bunk and probably tossed you overboard. |
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| Below deck - very low ceilinged. This gives you an idea of the construction involved. |
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| And now for something completely different - the Mary Rose! While it may not look like much, this was an important find, as it is one of King Henry VIII's ships, discovered underwater several decades ago. We learned that, if you should find a ship underwater, as one tends to do, you can't just bring it up and let it dry, as the wood cells are hollow and it would just collapse. What they have done here is penetrated the wood with a substance that will keep it from collapsing, all the time keeping it wet. The black tubes are now very slowly drying what is left of the ship. |
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| One side of the Mary Rose was sunk into the sand sea bed, so was preserved as the other half of it disintigrated under the pressure of tidal movements. While it is hardly "ship shape," it is fascinating to see a ship that is 470 years old that is relatively well preserved. |
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| Marking the harbour of Portsmouth is this tower, topped with viewing decks. We couldn't pass up this opportunity. |
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| The view is green, as the glass is quite thick and adds the tint. The ship in the foreground is the HMS Warrior, seen earlier in this post. Portsmouth has a huge harbour, which of course is why it is so famous. |
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| At the viewing deck, there is a section of clear glass floor over which you may walk if you take off your shoes and don't have a fear of heights. These are Bob's feet being featured in a photo taken by Bob. What a brave little soldier! |
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| And speaking of brave little soldiers, here is Rick near the edge of the viewing deck. Considering how he feels about heights, this is a major event. |
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| What better way to calm those nerves that a nice cider and a bag of crisps. That is Bulmers Cider in the Peroni glass, just so you don't think we mix our drinks! |
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| Rick enjoys he treats as he relaxes in the sunshine. |
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| The point of land where this pub is located is at the entrance to the harbour, so it was a great place to watch the comings and goings of the day. |
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| It also gave us a lovely view of the tower we had visited earlier, and some of the other harbour development. |
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| A bit of a wander later took us to this view where there is a lovely contrast between the old and new architecture. |
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| A ferry leaves the harbour, and what a rather large ferry it is! |
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| Once again enjoying the scenery on the way back to Brighton. We were happy, tired and a bit sunburned. |
