Sights of Portsmouth October 2020
Anne and I enjoyed a couple of nights at the Portsmouth Dockyard Premier Inn with easy access around Portsea Island to Pompey as the UK’s only island city is nick-named. It took 75 minutes to drive across Sussex to our hotel from Haywards Heath, past our Cathedral city of Chichester into Hampshire. This Premier Inn is on the so-called Gunwharf Quays in the shadow of the Spinnaker Tower (2005). In past ages ships arriving at the port handed in their ammunition here and took it out again as they returned to conflicts across the world. The figure of Nelson is prominent on Grand Parade. A spinnaker is a type of sail that billows outward. On a recent visit to Portsmouth Anne and I ascended the 170 metre (560ft) Spinnakar Tower modelled on such a sail and capturing the maritime character of Portsmouth. It helps you view the comings and goings of ferries from France, Spain, Channel Islands and the Isle of Wight. As a vertigo sufferer I couldn’t bring myself to walk across the glass pane...