| Product: |
Flagship Portsmouth at the Historic Dockyard |
| Date: |
31.05.05 (352 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Historic, Interesting, friendly staff
Disadvantages: low celings, Windy and exposed, Hard for wheelchairs and buggies
Portesmouth Historic dockyard is well wirth a visit with the family. You can catch a train up from the South West UK stopping off at Gun Wharf Quays shopping centre, the dockyard is a short walk up the road. The first thing you notice as you approach the yard are the tall ships of the Victory, Portsmouth is famous because of HMS Victory. This was Nelson's flag ship which fought in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. There are many other boat's to be seen in this historic dockyard which I will describe.
There’s many flagstones in the dockyard so it’s very uneven for wheel & pushchairs, there’s ramps to be used which isn’t a bad thing. The way in has two gold balls on the top, nearby is the busy harbour where P&O ferries can be seen cruising up and down the water. You can also see the ferry for the Isle of Wight & a few battle ships in dock. On entering the dockyard there is a reception area where you can get your tickets. You can buy tickets which will last you for a year, so any of the museums you don’t get round to seeing can be visited at a later date. These cost £15.50 per adult, & £12.50 for children & OAP’s. Family tickets for a year are £45. For two years (Season Ticket), it will cost about £28 adults, £23.00 for children and OAP’s. Families are £85.
‘Action Stations’ is one of the first places to visit. On the day we went it was closed as it was being used for a conference. This facility shows you how the Navy works; you can see the RN fleet pictured through two-dimensional profiled metal ships. There’s also a climbing wall which you can try, it slides upwards while you hold on for dear life; there’s a soft mat to fall on if you come off. There’s a 275 seated cinema which has one of the biggest film screens in this part of England, here you can watch the Navy in action blowing each other up! There’s also many interactive games to play to see if you have the skills for joining the Navy, there’s a flight helicopter deck, the Operations Room and many other things.
HMS Warrior
HMS Warrior pride of Queen Victoria is one of the last surviving iron clad ships made by Isembard kingdom Brunel. If you don't know who he is, he was the designer of the Clifton suspension bridge in Bristol. She joined the fleet in 1860 as part of Britain's answer to a troubled peace with France - & worries over French naval plans. Warrior could be driven by both steam & sail, her crew were about 700 men, they were:
42 officers
3 warrant officers
455 seaman and boys
3 Royal Marine officers
6 Royal Marine NCOs
118 Royal Marine artillerymen
2 chief engineers
10 engineers
66 stokers and trimmers
Open from 10am - 5pm. When you arrive at Warrior there's a long ramp which goes up to the deck, wheelchairs can access this but it can be a steep push up. Once on board there's a chairlift operated by a member of staff, something I think the original crew would have liked; although my gran had one fitted in her flat which tossed here out! The stairs are quite steep & you are reminded of being on Victory, until the tannoy goes off in your ear that is; I believe there's a fire alarm as well. You can explore the boat at your own pleasure, or hire a red telephone thingy which gives a commentary. There are staff to help if you need anything, the ship can also be hired out for weddings, sea shanty nights etc; there was an Indian wedding on board that evening. There are replica rifles & hand guns which look really genuine, the cooking facilities are sectioned off, but you can still see them. As you go down towards the bottom of the boat it gets a bit colder, there's also a ghost down here. The prison cells are very narrow, and you can go in them and close the door which is pitch dark; watch the spook isn't standing behind you! There's also a six bath tubs in a row & officers quarters.
They also have a recruiting office for all you would be sailors out there. Otherwise they could wallop you on the head with a stick, & you could join that way by waking up in the Navy; but you’ll have a sore head. Details below are:
Group Bookings - 44+023 9283 9766
Flagship Portsmouth Trust
Visitor Centre
College Road, HM Naval Base,
Portsmouth PO1 3LJ.
Phone:
44+023 9286 1512
http://www.flagship.org.uk/welcome.html
mai l@historicdockyard.co.uk
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Last comment:
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angusreid - 01.06.05 There is soooooooooo much more that you have missed out here, sucha s the Mary Rose, the Museum and much more importantly HMS Victory, of which i was a guide for a year and a half.
Maybe if you spent less time describing The Hard and the approach, it would be a lot more helpful.
Angus
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