On a day of uncertain weather conditions, two minibuses of members of the Friends set off, initially to Portchester Castle. Whilst the castle was originally a Saxon fortification, the Norman keep was added in the 12th century. It housed several thousand prisoners of war from the Napoleonic wars some of whom carved graffiti, still to be seen today, in some of the walls. Now run by English Heritage, the castle displays were very well presented and, of course, the views from the 100ft high keep, looked across the span of the Solent.
St Mary’s church in the corner of the castle, is of Norman origin and remains an active part of the community. The tea room whilst small, serves home-made food and many of the group enjoyed their mid-morning refreshment there. The graveyard has to be one of the best kept and maintained and includes a number of gravestones from the Commonwealth Wargraves Commission.
The next stop for the group was a climb (in a minibus!) up Portsdown Hill to Fort Nelson which is part of the Royal Armouries. The Fort, as well as others in the area, was built in the 1860s to protect the city and area of Portsmouth from the French. Whilst there was no invasion, it was used in the First World War as a holding fort for soldiers and later as an ammunition store for anti-aircraft funds along the south coast during the Second World War. The number of cannons on display is incredible and again, depictions of the life of the Fort, how it was built (by navvies) and the reasons for it were clearly displayed. It was possible to walk down one of the underground tunnels and emerge on to the Parade. Suffice to say that towards the end of the afternoon, one of number dropped into a chair claiming to be ‘cannoned out’.
Again, refreshments in the airy café were available and very competently served and, the weather remained kind if a little breezy, but given the group was on the coast, not too much of a surprise.
The group returned to Romsey having had a thoroughly enjoyable day immersed in some remarkable parts of our history – a day well spent.