October - Southsea

Sue and I set off for Portsmouth/Southsea, with the caravan, on the 4th October. We were going to Glyn's 60th birthday party in Southsea, then to Brighton, to have look around, and finally to Redhill/Banstead for the De Burgh School reunion.

Roy and Sybil, Joy and Geoff had offered to take the birthday group that was staying on the Southsea caravan site on Nelson's Last Walk along with a few asides. Here we all are assembled by Nelson's monument.

Nelson's Last Walk - On 14th September 1805, Lord Nelson took his final steps on land in Portsmouth as he prepared for his last voyage aboard HMS Victory. Here we see Roy setting the pace at the Sally Port - a narrow passage which leads through the Redoubt wall straight out onto the beach where Nelson's boats were waiting to row him to HMS Victory.




After the walk we assembled at Joy and Geoff's for lunch and a very good lunch too.

In the afternoon we went to Fort Nelson for a guided tour.

Fort Nelson was built between 1862 and 1871, the guns of the fort faced inland not towards the sea. The guns were manned by a garrison of 200 volunteers. The forts were never attacked and the French later became allies. High walls and towers were easy to knock down by siege guns and so Fort Nelson was built low with earth slopes facing the attacker, the slopes hiding guns and musketry positions.


Here I am outside Fort Nelson next to Mallet's Great Mortar.
The Crimean War of 1854 called for a mortar that could be easily transported but was of sufficient size, and therefore calibre, to lob a heavy projectile over the walls of the fortress of Sebastopol. This mortar could throw a 2400lbs projectile 1.5 miles!