We returned to Portsmouth to carry on where we left off the previous day. We started off with a visit to the Royal Marines Museum, which is included in the entrance ticket to Portsmouth Docks but situated a short way from the dockyard itself. It was thundering as we arrived and we didn’t quite make it inside before the heavy rain started. The museum explains the history of the Royal Marines and gives insight into what basic training involves and what it takes to become a Royal Marine. The videos of recruits stories as they undertook their training are quite touching and enlightening. We spent the whole morning there and had lunch in the Quartermaster’s Kitchen before making our way to Portsmouth Docks.
On arrival at the docks we visited HMS Warrior, the first armour-plated iron-hulled warship. Warrior propelled by steam power as well as being fully rigged for sail. The evolution of this type of warship led to Warrior becoming obsolete just a decade after she had been launched.
After Warrior we visited the Museum of the Royal Navy before returning to Winchester for our evening meal. We returned to La Place, the food was not quite as good as our previous visit but the atmosphere and experience was much better.
Aha! So your normal place is up and running again. Good. I would like to meet the Duke of York.
You will have to wait a little longer for that, we didn’t meet him on our travels around Winchester
I love visiting old ships!
They have a sort of elegance about them don’t they?
You did a fair bit of travelling to do Portsmouth twice, must have been worth seeing.
Portsmouth is worth seeing with its variety of museums and the views of the docks. It is a 40-45 minute journey from Winchester which was our base. We had planned two days there and knew we probably needed more. We needed more, but those exhibits will still be there the next time we are able to visit.