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Portsmouth excursion, 10.2.13 Report and pictures by Richard Bedford.

On February 10th, Bob and Barbara Clutson, Ray and Sheila Johnson, Lisa Crozier and I made the seven- hour rail journey to Portsmouth for a four night stay to explore some of the history and culture of this famous maritime city.

This may seem an unlikely destination for ramblers, but even on the first night Ray and his GPS were in demand when we had difficulty finding our B&B in the maze of streets near the sea-front after eating out in a local pub!

One of the anticipated attractions had been the new Mary Rose Museum, but unfortunately, numerous setbacks meant it was not yet open, something we only discovered shortly before going.

As if designed to further disappoint, we found on the first morning HMS Victory unexpectedly closed on safety grounds for several days during restoration work! Others would have
faltered, but not us! It was to prove a most interesting visit which revealed many other attractions.

HMS Warrior, the 1860 state-of-the-art Victorian ironclad battleship is a delight. Combining steam and sail power, it was the most formidable vessel of the day, yet became redundant in just ten years with the invention of the revolving gun turret!

A marvellous insight into British naval design and of equal or greater interest than the more famous Victory.

The remaining Mary Rose exhibition is still well-worthwhile and the numerous attendants showed us original and replica artefacts from Henry VIII's ill-fated flagship; it was quite an experience, for example, to handle rope from the vessel and smell the waterproof tar on it, still present after several centuries! Other must-see attractions were the Trafalgar Story, with its visual/sound display techniques explaining the build-up to Nelson's famous battle and the Royal Navy Museum of Sail, both highly informative.

Portsmouth City Museum provides a fascinating reflection of the city's social history, whilst the D-Day Museum on the sea front tells the World War II story in careful detail. A major highlight is the modern embroidery created by local artists, telling the D-Day story in a long panel based on the idea of the famous Bayeux Tapestry in France, yet 41ft longer! To describe this work of art as stunning is an understatement.

The location of our B&B near the Millennium Promenade allowed us to do the two-mile walk to the Historic Dockyard, past many historic sites and also see the huge expanse of the Solent with its numerous ferries, naval craft and merchant vessels. We also enjoyed exploring the modern Gunwharf Quays with its designer outlets, restaurants and yacht marinas, giving it more the look of a Mediterranean resort!

We walked a lot! Bob, Ray, Lisa and I took a bus to find a start-point for a walk to Fort Nelson and the Royal Armouries, well outside the city. We were a little misled by information and had to climb Portsdown Ridge before completing a 3 mile hike to the fort-but the views
over the area were well worth the effort, as was the huge fort and its contents.

In one part are the cells where WW II soldiers who had "mis-behaved" would be locked up for a short time. Their pencil-drawn graffiti on the walls has been preserved and provides a poignant
human touch to this dramatic Victorian establishment.

All told it was a most worthwhile and enjoyable change of scene and certainly a couple of us have determined to return for the completion of all the Mary Rose story in 2016!