I fleetingly remember the excitement shown by my mother, an ex-writer wren, when HMS Warrior came to town in 1987. I seem to recall Warrior tea-towels, place settings, mugs and key rings being given to us for birthdays, at Christmas and well, at every opportunity. So truth be told, I never really wanted to hear any…
Tag: England
The best view of The Solent: Portsdown Hill
I would suggest to any Portsmouth visitor that they should first drive up to Portsdown Hill to gain an unbeatable vista over the city and the Solent. Obviously it’s best when the weather is clement but that view is intriguing for me (and most locals) in any weather system. To orientate you, on the left hand…
The alternative Nelson’s column
When you come from a major naval port like Portsmouth, you can’t help but be aware of the daring exploits of the ‘senior service’ – as my mother (a former Wren) always referred to the Royal Navy – and Lord Horatio Nelson. Though from childhood, I knew of Nelson’s various memorials dotted around the city and…
Pawprint Series: Queen’s Inclosure
When you move to the country and have a faithful Hound to walk, fellow dog walkers immediately tell you of their preferred routes and one is quite close to me – Queen’s Inclosure. It’s an Inclosure rather than an Enclosure so the signs tell me and was probably named in honour of Queen Victoria. It…
Singular Statues: #11 Sir John Betjeman
It was only when reading coverage of Martin Jennings’ recent statue of Charles Dickens, just unveiled, that I recalled that I have seen his work – and admired it – before. It’s at St Pancras International and it’s a statue dedicated to Sir John Betjeman who was instrumental in the fight to save Sir John…
Singular Statues: #10 The Mudlarks
My mother grew up on The Hard – her grandmother ran her own pub there – now sadly gone, destroyed in WWII. She told me about the poor of Portsea and I seem to remember her telling me stories about the Mudlarks. She didn’t consider them “the poor” – she considered them her kith and…
A Londoner’s tip
If you are in old London town, wandering around the Trafalgar Square / Strand area, then why not check out The Cafe in The Crypt at St Martin-in-the-Fields for a quick cuppa or something a little more substantial? With the entrance next door to the venerable church itself, beneath a contemporary structure, I watch people walk…
The Pickwick Bicycle Club
My introduction to The Pickwick Bicycle Club came as a result of the unveiling of the UK’s first statue to honour the novelist Charles Dickens, in the city of his birth, Portsmouth. Cycling in from stage right, weaving their way through bollards, chairs and pedestrians were a bevy of five or six cyclists – some…
Singular Statues: #9 Charles Dickens Unveilled
It was a truly British occasion – 7th February 2014. A few ladies and gentlemen were dressed in Victorian attire and suddenly, through the Guildhall precinct on what can still be termed Commercial Road, came a team of penny farthing cyclists weaving through the pedestrians (The Pickwick Bicycle Club) – all to a backdrop of…
A Dickens of a thing …
I started this A3Traveller blog with a post on Charles Dickens for we share a common birthdate, so it seemed somewhat appropriate, especially given he is a local lad made good. It’s wonderful to hear therefore that a statue to this literary master will be unveiled in the city of his birth at Portsmouth’s Guildhall Square…
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