Hello Sailor! (Flagship Portsmouth at the Historic Dockyard)

Member Name: bigdgaff

Product:	Flagship Portsmouth at the Historic Dockyard
Date:	26/07/01 (147 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Plenty to look at and do

Disadvantages: Very Expensive

I went on holiday with my mum dad and brother last summer (August 2000) at the Hamble holiday centre in Southampton. It is right next to the Marina on the river Hamble. A number of people that I spoke to in the bar at the mariner who own yachts and luxury boats use this as their base from which they go for cruises to the Isle of Wight.

I will talk of our stay in Hamble another time, but for now I would like to talk of our afternoon spent at the Historic Dockyard at Portsmouth. A few opinions have already been written in this area but it is one of my favourite locations in Portsmouth.

The dockyard was a shelter for boats as far back as before the Romans came and over the years, Portsmouth became the main southern port for all kinds of shipping. In 1194, Portsmouth was given a charter and told to build its first dock. In 1495, the world’s first dry-dock was constructed in Portsmouth.

Very little of the original dockyard remains. Later stone buildings are being restored and a new walkway was being laid along the central parade when we visited so space was cramped with a large number of Asian tourists. The original dry-dock is not accessible to visitors so you will not see anything that was made before the 15th century.


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ARRIVING

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To start the trip, we had to find somewhere to park the car, as there is no parking on site. The road signs are easy to follow as foreign tourists regularly visit. You will find that the open-air car parks close to the dockyard are expensive but we paid the £3 for three hours, as we couldn’t be bothered with spending time searching for a space in the town centre that could be better spent at the dockyard. The car park we went to had a warden’s office and they watch over the cars though so we were quite happy to pay the fee in the end.

We had a five-minute walk
to the dockyard and entered the reception building. It wasn’t the busiest of days as the roped queuing system was only half used but there was still a ten-minute wait as the reception staff were trying to explain the difference between group and family pricing to the foreign tourists. We also tried to argue for a family ticket. As I said at the start, it was my mum, dad, brother and myself, so we asked for the family ticket. We were then told that we are not classed as a family as my brother and I were over 16 years old. We ended up paying £3.50 each for 4 single adult tickets.

For those that are interested, last summers prices were adult £3.50, senior citizens/students £3.00 and children £2.00. If you qualify as a family, the children are £1.00 per child.


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HMS WARRIOR

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After the disappointment of being told we were not a real family, we ambled round to the first attraction, which was the HMS Warrior. Launched in 1861, it was the largest and most powerful warship in the world. The ship is huge and there is plenty of room to walk round. It isn’t one of the most famous ships in the world so the “tourists” skip this and head for the Victory. This means that the people looking round this ship were genuinely interested and we found this a very enjoyable hour wandering and chatting to other people. We wandered around the deck before heading down the steep ladders to the deck below.

You can walk anywhere on this ship, as it is completely open. You can see the wheel ropes heading through the decks and away to the rudder. There are plenty of information plaques scattered around the ship and you can pick up a leaflet that points out the important items of interest. Unfortunately, due to the number of foreign tourists, the staff had been taken from this ship to help in the museum and Victory so we couldn̵
7;t ask any questions. Most of the people wandering round ended up going round in little groups. We found ourselves walking round with an American couple and another English family and we discussed things as we walked round.

You do need about an hour to take in everything on this ship. We were able to go right down below the waterline to the engine room and we could here the water slopping against the side. Before you get confused about the engines, the Warrior had sails and steam power, which helped it have a vast advantage over sailing ships in battle.


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HMS VICTORY

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This wasn’t the next item in line, but a guide said that there was a long queue so we decided to get in now. The reason for this is that I went to the dockyard specifically to see the Victory and we thought that we didn’t want to be to late by queuing near closing time. We queued for about twenty-minutes. We were parched as all the ice-cream stalls had run out by two-thirty so we queued in the sun with only a small Capri Sun which is all they had left. The reason that there is usually a queue is that due to health and safety regulations that are strictly enforced, only a certain number of people can be on board at any one time. As people come out of the exit, someone tells the entrance staff by walkie-talkie how many people can enter.

We walked round ourselves as the guides were tied up with two tourist groups and we didn’t want to wait and join the next tour as the people wait spoke little English. We were OK though because there are guides scattered throughout the ship to answer questions from passers by. You can have a pamphlet to guide you round but they were rather expensive so we declined.

I found the tour of the Victory a disappointment. After the freedom of the Warrior, the victory tour consists of a single roped walkway and
you can’t stop for long at a certain item, as the group behind wants to move on. The whole thing felt like a production line churning people in at one end and out at the other. You would be well advised to find a quiet time to visit the Victory to fully appreciate it.


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MARY ROSE

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Directly from the exit of the Victory is the Mary Rose Hall. This is basically a single room with a tunnel round the edge. The room contains the few remaining parts of the Mary Rose. The timbers are being constantly sprayed with a wax solution that over time will drive the water out and take its place. This is because any sudden change may destroy the remains forever.

As you enter, you are given a rudimentary radio unit that you hold to your ear like a mobile phone. As you enter the tunnel, the radio receives a loop play recording so you have to wait for the loop to restart to understand what is going on. As you walk along the tunnel, you pick up a new loop, which tells you what you can see through each window in the tunnel.

The whole thing takes about twenty-minutes to complete but can take longer if you have to fight your way past foreigners to see through the windows.

Near the entrance was the Mary Rose museum, but it was closed during the week of our stay.


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ROYAL NAVAL MUSEUM

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After leaving the Mary Rose exhibit, we headed back to pick up on the normal route. The museum is on two floors and contains many interesting exhibits. This part is very blurred in my memory as the guides were telling us that the dockyard was closing soon. The museum takes you through the history of the dockyard from before Nelson’s time through to the Second World War. There are many models and displays in the sections and I fo
und what I was able to see very interesting. If I go back in the future, I will update my review of the museum.


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SHOPS AND RESTAURANT

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There are four main shops in the dockyard. Near the entrance are three shops, The Mary Rose Shop, The Bosun’s bookshop and The Purser’s Store. At the Naval Museum, there is another shop. If you are going to buy something and have the time to spare, check all the shops, as they stock some duplicate items and I have found that the prices sometimes vary between shops. The shops near the exit gate are more expensive than the shop near the back where the Victory is.

There is a licensed restaurant called the “Tradewinds”. It has a self-service area and you take your tray to a cashpoint to pay. They serve hot and cold meals as well as sandwiches and snacks. They are very highly priced though and I would recommend taking a packed lunch. When I visited, I think it was about £3.00 each for two sandwiches and a Medium coke (they use similar cups to McDonalds except you get to press the buttons on the dispensing machines).

Be careful what you buy in the shops. Buy sensible items as the prices of general trinkets and gift items have been hiked up to fleece the foreigners who don’t know any better. The books are good but many of them can be bought in general bookstores at cheaper prices. The shops in the dockyard use the cover prices.


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CONCLUSION

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All in all, I enjoyed the afternoon that we spent here. To get round everything without rushing though, you should aim to arrive at about 10:30 to 11:00. This gives you plenty of time to wander.

My favourite part of the dockyard by far is the HMS Warrior. Simply due to the freedom to go anywhere o
n board and take as much time as you need. I would recommend this ship to anyone and I ask you not to skip it in favour of looking round the Victory.

The day cost us a total of around £30 for four adults including the parking along the road (the car was still there when we got back too). Of course, gifts and other shopping will add to that cost. I bought some models of the Victory and another boat as well as some prints and a couple of books. This came to about £50 that you will think is a lot of money (which it is), but I think the items were worth it as I have a keen interest in naval history.

If you ever go to Portsmouth, I would recommend that you visit the dockyard, as it is quite a nice experience. There just isn’t enough to make you go back a second time though (Not at that price anyway).

The price I have listed is an average for one person for entry and something to eat.

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