So where have I been you ask... well it's a long story
I told you I was planning to go to the Pilgrimage to Winchester SCA event in England. I went. But since I was going all that way there why not does some other visiting... The plan, the minimal plan, the plan such as it was, was to leave for London on Wednesday arriving there Thursday morning, then to make my way down to Portsmouth for that afternoon and Friday. Friday evening get to Winchester for the weekend event. Sunday morning make my way to Salisbury and see the cathedral and the clock. Sunday night to London so I can catch my flight Monday morning. Home Monday evening. So much for the summary.. the days are detailed in the cuts below.
The flight over was really nice. I do fly alot, and even get upgraded to first class from time to time BUT on this trip I used flight miles to get a Business Class seat. OH My! that is so So SOOOO nice. I got there well rested and ready to go. And, one of the perks for flying business class is the chance to take a shower once you arrive. Decadence.
To get from Heathrow to Portsmouth the route is a coach to Woking and a train to Portsmouth. It was only a about a 30 minute ride to Woking. Once in Woking I got my ticket to Portsmouth on the Southwest train. A short wait on the platform and board the train for the about a hour ride. This is about the time I started wondering if the Portsmouth/Southsea station or the Portsmouth Harbor station was the one I wanted. I just kinda decided to take the train to the end and got off at the harbor. I am very glad I started my visit at the harbor. A taxi ride to the hotel is the final segment on this leg of the trip. Tonight will be spent at the Royal Beach Best Western on the edge of the Channel. I arrived about noon, checking was 3pm but they let me check in so I could drop my bag.
Thursday afternoon, so what to do next? On my plan I wanted to walk the Renesance Trail and grab a couple of geocaches. So off for a walk out in the beautiful blue sunny day. I started with a geocache at the Canoe Lake that has about 20 paddle boats that look like swans and ducks. Next is the walk along the beach front trail towards Portmouth harbor. Another geocache overlooking the beach and then a chance meeting with another group of cachers. It was a great visit and together we found the cache. I joined the Renesance trail at the "end" farthest from Old harbor so I saw it in reverse. There are some really cool things to see. I have been read many books about the Royal Navy in the early 1800s with many stories of Lord Admiral Nelson and the ships and crews of the time. Walking along the water front is bringing to life some of the stories. After about a 6KM walk I get to Old Portsmouth harbor about 4pm. I get my 6-in-1 tickets for the sights and tours of the historic Royal Navy. On Thursday I get to catch the Harbor Tour and a tour of the 1850's Sail-Steam ship HMS Warrior. The Warrior is a transitional ship. It is a square rigger with 3 masts and it has a screw driven by a steam engine. It was designed so that they propeller could be raised so that under sail it caused less drag. Amazing.
The Navy Yard closes at 5:30pm but there is still plenty of light. So what to do now. There is a regular ferry service between Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight. I decide, well why night. I take the Wightlink over to the Isle of Wight. Of course I have to try for a couple of geocaches. I got there at low tide. When the tied is out there a very very long beach there at Ryde. They have signs everywhere reminding you to pay attention that when the tide comes back in the beach disappears quickly. A nice walk, fish and chips and a couple geocaches on the Isle. The added benefit of going out there was a chance to enter Portsmouth harbor by sea. It was cool. And a great way to finish the day. Got back to the hotel about 10:30, just after it was fully dark.
Friday starts with a good English Breakfast, packing and checking out of the hotel. After leaving the bag with the hotel I catch the city bus (not doing that walk again right now) to the old harbor. First stop, the HMS Victory. I spent a lot of time wandering around the ship. I love that it is the Flag Ship of the Royal Navy and is still a commissioned ship with a captain and a crew. The ship is still about 19% of the original ship that was first built in the late 1700s. I had been aboard back in the 1996 but I had not read as many Patrick O'Brian books at that time. The chance to see what the stories describe was fantastic.
Next I walked over to see the Mary Rose Museum. They have done a lot with it since I was here last. I took lots of pictures. The carpenters tools really pretty much look the same now as they did then. They even have a guy showing stuff and letting you touch some of it, including a arrow that was recovered and a bit of the original rope. The archery stuff is well laid out. Because one of the weapons on board was archers there were lots of bows and arrows recovered. Getting a chance to look at the arrows more closely I realized that the arrows are straight shafts with the same thickness the entire length but the head is thicker than the nock end. interesting. There was a lady and a man making boarder repelling nets. I spent some time watching and talking to them about what they were doing. The result is rather attractive and obviously very strong. Strong enough to walk on. If you are interested in old cannons.. they have those too. The display about how the cannons were cast was informative. the end result of visiting the museum is that I want a long bow even more now.
The "Action Stations" your navy today exhibits are really cool. The kids were really having a good time. I wanted to play with some of the displays and activities but didnt want to wait in the lines, or for that matter look like fool. They had a climbing wall, a change to play with weapons (simulated), and all sorts of other simulated duty stations.
One of the more moving exhibits is the original sail from the Victory that was there at Trafalger. The sail with the holes in it makes the battle more real and the displays around it really gave a feel to it. They used a clip from Master and Commander to introduce the sail. Very intense.
After a full day looking at all the stuff and taking the tours I headed to the hotel to collect my back, take the bus to the train station and the train to Winchester. Next stop the Hospital of St Cross.
to be continued.
The flight over was really nice. I do fly alot, and even get upgraded to first class from time to time BUT on this trip I used flight miles to get a Business Class seat. OH My! that is so So SOOOO nice. I got there well rested and ready to go. And, one of the perks for flying business class is the chance to take a shower once you arrive. Decadence.
To get from Heathrow to Portsmouth the route is a coach to Woking and a train to Portsmouth. It was only a about a 30 minute ride to Woking. Once in Woking I got my ticket to Portsmouth on the Southwest train. A short wait on the platform and board the train for the about a hour ride. This is about the time I started wondering if the Portsmouth/Southsea station or the Portsmouth Harbor station was the one I wanted. I just kinda decided to take the train to the end and got off at the harbor. I am very glad I started my visit at the harbor. A taxi ride to the hotel is the final segment on this leg of the trip. Tonight will be spent at the Royal Beach Best Western on the edge of the Channel. I arrived about noon, checking was 3pm but they let me check in so I could drop my bag.
Thursday afternoon, so what to do next? On my plan I wanted to walk the Renesance Trail and grab a couple of geocaches. So off for a walk out in the beautiful blue sunny day. I started with a geocache at the Canoe Lake that has about 20 paddle boats that look like swans and ducks. Next is the walk along the beach front trail towards Portmouth harbor. Another geocache overlooking the beach and then a chance meeting with another group of cachers. It was a great visit and together we found the cache. I joined the Renesance trail at the "end" farthest from Old harbor so I saw it in reverse. There are some really cool things to see. I have been read many books about the Royal Navy in the early 1800s with many stories of Lord Admiral Nelson and the ships and crews of the time. Walking along the water front is bringing to life some of the stories. After about a 6KM walk I get to Old Portsmouth harbor about 4pm. I get my 6-in-1 tickets for the sights and tours of the historic Royal Navy. On Thursday I get to catch the Harbor Tour and a tour of the 1850's Sail-Steam ship HMS Warrior. The Warrior is a transitional ship. It is a square rigger with 3 masts and it has a screw driven by a steam engine. It was designed so that they propeller could be raised so that under sail it caused less drag. Amazing.
The Navy Yard closes at 5:30pm but there is still plenty of light. So what to do now. There is a regular ferry service between Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight. I decide, well why night. I take the Wightlink over to the Isle of Wight. Of course I have to try for a couple of geocaches. I got there at low tide. When the tied is out there a very very long beach there at Ryde. They have signs everywhere reminding you to pay attention that when the tide comes back in the beach disappears quickly. A nice walk, fish and chips and a couple geocaches on the Isle. The added benefit of going out there was a chance to enter Portsmouth harbor by sea. It was cool. And a great way to finish the day. Got back to the hotel about 10:30, just after it was fully dark.
Friday starts with a good English Breakfast, packing and checking out of the hotel. After leaving the bag with the hotel I catch the city bus (not doing that walk again right now) to the old harbor. First stop, the HMS Victory. I spent a lot of time wandering around the ship. I love that it is the Flag Ship of the Royal Navy and is still a commissioned ship with a captain and a crew. The ship is still about 19% of the original ship that was first built in the late 1700s. I had been aboard back in the 1996 but I had not read as many Patrick O'Brian books at that time. The chance to see what the stories describe was fantastic.
Next I walked over to see the Mary Rose Museum. They have done a lot with it since I was here last. I took lots of pictures. The carpenters tools really pretty much look the same now as they did then. They even have a guy showing stuff and letting you touch some of it, including a arrow that was recovered and a bit of the original rope. The archery stuff is well laid out. Because one of the weapons on board was archers there were lots of bows and arrows recovered. Getting a chance to look at the arrows more closely I realized that the arrows are straight shafts with the same thickness the entire length but the head is thicker than the nock end. interesting. There was a lady and a man making boarder repelling nets. I spent some time watching and talking to them about what they were doing. The result is rather attractive and obviously very strong. Strong enough to walk on. If you are interested in old cannons.. they have those too. The display about how the cannons were cast was informative. the end result of visiting the museum is that I want a long bow even more now.
The "Action Stations" your navy today exhibits are really cool. The kids were really having a good time. I wanted to play with some of the displays and activities but didnt want to wait in the lines, or for that matter look like fool. They had a climbing wall, a change to play with weapons (simulated), and all sorts of other simulated duty stations.
One of the more moving exhibits is the original sail from the Victory that was there at Trafalger. The sail with the holes in it makes the battle more real and the displays around it really gave a feel to it. They used a clip from Master and Commander to introduce the sail. Very intense.
After a full day looking at all the stuff and taking the tours I headed to the hotel to collect my back, take the bus to the train station and the train to Winchester. Next stop the Hospital of St Cross.
to be continued.