Tag Archives: hampshire

Spinnaker Tower

A long time ago, as part of the redevelopment of the harbour at Portsmouth, a tower was built. It is alongside the Gunwharf Quays development and rises above the waterfront providing a view across to the Isle of Wight and back to the South Downs. The tower is shaped like a spinnaker from a yacht and so it is named Spinnaker Tower. I have seen the tower on numerous occasions when taking the ferry from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight. However, I had never actually been up it.

On this trip, we had a lot of time to explore Portsmouth and I decided to go up the tower as part of the visit. There are three visitor levels. The main level is the lowest of the three (but still a decent height). It has the most space and includes a glass floor section to allow you to look directly down. The next level up is a little smaller and has a café. The top level is smaller still and doesn’t really provide much the first level doesn’t have. The windows are also angled in steeply which makes them more problematic for photography.

The view across the whole of the dockyard including the Victory and Mary Rose was great (although one is indoors and the other is currently under covers) and you could see across the Solent or back towards the city. I really enjoy elevated viewing locations so this was a great place for me to spy on the world around me.

Army Flying Museum

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Our vacation in the UK wasn’t about aviation exploits but, if an opportunity presents itself, it would be churlish not to follow up. I had made arrangements to visit my friend Paul while I was in Hampshire and, halfway between us is Middle Wallop, home of Army aviation in the UK and also a museum. I guess that would be a good place to meet up.

The museum isn’t large but it has recently gone through some refurbishment and it is definitely a good place to spend a couple of hours. Army aviation has a strong rotary element to it but there has also been plenty of fixed wing activity. The collection is a good reflection of both. I will save one exhibit for a separate post but there are plenty of others. The Lynx was a big part of the Army’s fleet for many years and the example that they have in the first hangar is actually a development airframe that has been restored. The three windows on the cabin door are the most conspicuous identification item. There is another operational Lynx in the second hangar too.

A selection of Austers are included in the displays. There is also a Scout (with a second one on the grass by the parking lot). An Agusta 109 is tucked away too. This example was in service with Argentina in the Falklands and was co-opted by the UK forces when they took control. It was used for support to the SAS along with a second example. They ended up buying two more so I guess they worked well. The Beaver was also used extensively with one sitting outside too. The Alouette had a career with the Army but was not as widely used. It is still displayed, though. There are some old types reflecting the early days or military aviation too.

The only thing that confused me was the name. I have seen it called the Army Flying Museum (on the wall) and the Museum of Army Aviation. I wonder which it really is!

Winchester Cathedral

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First stop on our vacation was Winchester. It has been quite a while since I was last there and I didn’t remember much about it. The cathedral is the center of the city of old and we had a stroll around to see it. Later, Nancy took a visit inside but I never got around to doing that. Instead, I have to make do with some shots of the exterior of the cathedral. It will reappear in another post before too long, though.

HMS Warrior

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Continuing a theme from some recent posts with preserved Royal Navy ships, I add another part of the Portsmouth historic dockyard. HMS Warrior was the world’s first iron hulled warship. See served a reasonable career as a warship but, as was the case in those days, technology moved on fast and she was gradually relegated to lesser duties. Eventually she became a hulk for storage and then a floating oil jetty. Restoration was undertaken in Hartlepool in the 80s and she was opened to the public in Portsmouth in 1987.

I have not ever visited her. I moved away from the area around the time she arrived and, while I have been back there more recently, I didn’t include her as part of the visit. I have photographed her from a distance though. Writing this has made me think that I need to visit at some point. With Victory and Mary Rose in the same area, you might get a bit “shipped out” but I shall have to give it a go some time.

Old Victory Shot

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I was searching through my archive looking for some ship shots and the keyword search threw up a few extras that were separate from what I was after. It included some shots of HMS Victory. Victory is one of the most famous warships in the UK. She was the flagship of Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar and he died on her deck as the battle was won. She survived after her main career was over and sat afloat at Portsmouth for many years before being restored and put on display in a dry dock in the navy base.

I have been on board a few times over the years. I have some old photos from the film days that I took and also some aerial shots of her and thought I might share them here. I understand that she has recently undergone a further restoration. The hull had been sagging around the supports underneath and so she has been repaired and the support system modified. It is also now possible to go under the hull as part of the visit. This is something I would like to try when I next have time during a visit to the UK.

Royal Navy Warships at Portsmouth

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My aerial photo searches brought me to some shots of the Royal Navy’s dockyard at Portsmouth. One or two shots from this were used in a post about a flight I took with Pete but not very many. Flying over the home of the Royal Navy, we got to see a bunch of ships – large and small. HMS Bristol was moored for use as a training ship. I think she may have now been relieved of that duty so don’t know whether she is still around and for how long.

Plenty of frigates were moored alongside and there were surplus Type 42 destroyers at various locations too. This got me thinking about a day many years ago when we were in Portsmouth for some reason. We took a trip around the harbour in a sightseeing boat and I got a few shots of some ships then too so these are interspersed here. Now the arrival of the two carriers to the fleet would mean a good chance of getting a far larger vessel alongside. Might have to think about doing something like this again at some point when I am in the UK.

Cattle Traffic Jam in Beaulieu

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For some reason, I don’t think this made it to a post previously. Nancy and I were going through some old shots from vacations in the UK and we made a stop in Beaulieu at the beginning of a trip nearly a decade ago. (This stop included me having a nap in the car as the jet lag caught up with me.). One of the funny things of this visit was that some cattle were wandering through the middle of the village. If you have ever been to Yellowstone, you know that the bison have priority over the cars. UK cattle might not have the same weight as a bison but I assure you that the average UK motorist is not going to try their luck.

Not Sure This Bunker Would Have Survived

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Perched above the beach at Lepe in Hampshire, overlooking the Solent, is an old bunker. It is surrounded by fencing and there is signage about the purpose of the bunker. You can see the hatch to access the bunker as well as some of the vents for the space below. I’m not sure what the bunker was designed to survive. It is close to a huge oil refinery and close to the headquarters of the Royal Navy. In a shooting war, there would have been some large detonations nearby. I doubt it would have provided sufficient protection to its occupants.

Trafalgar Anchor

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If you are used to a modern shape of an anchor, particularly one for a large ship, the old style of anchors in the days of the early 1800s will be rather strange looking. They look like a giant version of the sort of anchor you would see on a small boat. This example sits on the seafront in Southsea and comes from a ship that fought in the battle of Trafalgar. It seems in pretty good shape. I wonder whether that is a feature of the materials used or the result of lots of bits of it being replaced over the years.

Building an America’s Cup Challenger

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Ineos is a name I hadn’t heard until recently. They took over the Sky cycling team and that was the first time I became aware of them. I guess that sporting achievements are something that their management are quite focused on because, while waiting to catch the ferry at Portsmouth, I got a look at the building in these photos. It is their America’s Cup challenger facility. The building looks pretty impressive and I hope that the boat that they come up with is similarly so. It would be good to see the cup make its way to the UK after all this time.