Tag Archives: Spithead

Fort Retrospective

Some memories recently came up on Facebook from a visit we had to Spitbank Fort for my Mum’s birthday eight years ago.  I posted on the blog at the time but, looking back on it, I didn’t really give it much coverage.  These days I can get multiple posts out of an event but in those days I was a bit more brief.  Consequently, I figured a few different shots from the visit would be okay to share.

It was a great trip.  We were on the fort for a little under 24 hours.  A boat took us out in time for lunch, then we could explore the fort in the afternoon.  Drinks and dinner were served and then the evening concluded up on the top where the hot tub and fire pit were located.  Breakfast the following morning concluded things and the boat took us back to shore.

The fort only has a small number of rooms so our group had exclusive use of it for the time we were there and you really did feel like you were somewhere special.  It was not a sunny day but it was still nice enough to be out on the upper levels watching the boat traffic around Spithead.  I understand that they forts are currently up for sale so it will be interesting to see what happens to them next.

Posts in the Water – Are They for the Carrier?

I have made countless trips between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight over the course of my life.  Things change but most of the landmarks are remarkably consistent.  I was therefore quite surprised to see some very large posts that had appeared in the approaches to Portsmouth Harbour.  I knew that there had been dredging work undertaken to allow the new carriers (see this post) to enter the naval base.  I suspected that these new large posts might be connected with the same project.  Sure enough, some research after our returned confirmed that navigation lights have been installed to allow the carriers to navigate their way in.  These light are mounted on top of large posts sunk into the seabed.  They aren’t the most attractive things but I guess they do the job.