Cherie's Place

Portsmouth Dockyard is very large and has so many attractions that we planned to visit on more than one day. On the first visit we visited Nelson’s ship, HMS Victory, first. It was interesting and a lot more compact inside than I had imagined. Even I had to duck my head at times. I found it strange to think we were on the vessel where Nelson spent the last moments of his life.

Next we visited the Marie Rose museum which is in the dry dock next to HMS Victory. This museum is very well done, the remains of the Marie Rose are on its starboard side and the archaeological finds and information are exhibited on its port side.  It was good to have seen Victory first because it allowed me to interpret clearly what I was seeing.  The Marie Rose is currently behind perspex because she is being dried out as part of the final stages of the work undertaken to preserve her.

We then went into the museum that complimented HMS Victory. Mr C wasn’t too fussed about going upstairs, but I decided I wanted a quick look which led me to find a viewing platform looking out over the dockyards. One of the museum curators explained about the decommissioning of HMS Illustrious within Portsmouth Dockyard. She then produced a book on warships and showed us some of the ones that were currently in dock. She also pointed out a Victorian structure that covered the place where Queen Victoria alighted her train before boarding a ship to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. We were also pointed in the right direction to find W L Wyllie’s Panorama of Trafalgar which we otherwise would have missed. The painting was displayed as a ’son et lumiere’ which was an excellent way of showing it off but it also meant we couldn’t linger to study it as long as we would have liked.

I chose to take a boat ride around the harbor. It is the best way to see the ships that are docked in the port as well as other more permanent features. The tour included a commentary naming the ships and pointing out various features of interest.

It was then time to head back for our evening meal, which on this occasion was rather disappointing.  I couldn’t quite put my finger on why… After the meal we made our way towards The Bishop on the Bridge for a drink before we returned to the hotel. As we approached the main thoroughfare where the pub was situated we heard a loud crash of glass. An angry man crossed in front of us shouting ‘England Forever’.  People from the two nearby pubs rushed out to see what was going on. The man moved by and we crossed the road on our way but the man suddenly turned around and walked into the middle of the road, ranting and raving in our general direction. Mr C was all for carrying on past him towards the pub but I had other ideas. I insisted we move back out of his anger zone. By this time there were people out with brooms sweeping  up the glass which he had smashed in the middle of a busy traffic island. There was glass everywhere so I am not sure what he had thrown. The people who had been near him in one of the pubs said he had been peaceful one minute and the next he went into a rage.

When the coast was clear we made our way to The Bishop on the Bridge for a well deserved drink.

Tags: Dockyard, HMS Victory, Portsmouth, Portsmouth Dockyard, River Itchen, The Marie Rose Museum, Vacation