Random thoughts and photos of my journey through life…
Filed under Heritage, Holidays, Winchester 2014
…18 November 1781
The 74-gun battleship Warrior is ready for launching in Portsmouth Dockyard. The completed hull is supported by a few last shores, while alongside, men are preparing the ropes that will secure her to the dock.
The traditional flags are flying from short poles where eventually her masts will be placed. These include the distinctive [...]
4 Comments CherryPie on Feb 4th 2015
Filed under Heritage, Holidays, Winchester 2014
The Waverley is the last seagoing Paddle Steamer in the World. Built on the Clyde in 1947 to replace the original Waverley that sunk off Dunkirk in 1940. The Waverley was originally built to sail only between Craigendorran & Arrochar in West Scotland.
Paddle Steamer Waverley, built almost 70 years ago, is the world’s last sea-going paddle [...]
14 Comments CherryPie on Jan 30th 2015
Filed under Holidays, Winchester 2014
HMS Dragon is a Type 45 air defence destroyer. When I visited Portsmouth Dockyard last September she was being refitted prior to her current deployment in the South Atlantic.
Less than a year after she returned from operations in the Gulf and Eastern Mediterranean the Type 45 destroyer will take over from HMS Iron Duke to [...]
10 Comments CherryPie on Jan 29th 2015
Filed under Heritage, Holidays, Winchester 2014
HMS M.33 is a 1915 Coastal Bombardment Vessel, one of only two British warships to survive from the First World War.
She saw action in the Mediterranean between 1915 and 1918, supporting troop landings and evacuations at Gallipoli in 1915. Then in 1919, she played a part in the Russian Civil War covering the withdrawal of [...]
8 Comments CherryPie on Jan 27th 2015
Filed under Art, Heritage, Holidays, Winchester 2014
Wyllie shows the Victory at sunset on the evening of 21 October. She is very badly damaged after the heavy cannonade she endured during the approach to battle.
Nelson’s flag flies half-mast, as a sign of mourning. And the lights of the cabin windows (middle row) are dark. This was the first indication to many in [...]
12 Comments CherryPie on Jan 24th 2015
Filed under Heritage, Holidays, Winchester 2014
On 7 May 1765 a magnificent new ship of the line was floated out of the Old Single Dock in Chatham’s Royal Dockyard. She was HMS Victory, a first-rate battleship and the largest and most up-to-date ship in King George III’s Royal Navy. In the years to come, over and unusually long service, she would [...]
16 Comments CherryPie on Jan 23rd 2015
Filed under Art, Heritage, Holidays, Winchester 2014
This quarter-scale replica of The Victory’s Original Figurehead was carved by Trevor Ellis.
When first launched the Victory had a most elaborate figurehead. It symbolised the many victories that Britain had won all over the world in 1759. In the centre is a bust of King George the Third.
On the starboard side (first photo) is a [...]
6 Comments CherryPie on Jan 22nd 2015
