Britain's foremost naval
station, PORTSMOUTH occupies the bulbous peninsula of
Portsea Island, on the eastern flank of a huge, easily defended
harbour. The ancient Romans raised a fortress on the northernmost
edge of this inlet, and a small port developed during the Norman
era, but this strategic location wasn't fully exploited until
Tudor times, when Henry VII established the world's first dry
dock here and made Portsmouth a royal dockyard. It has flourished
ever since and nowadays Portsmouth is a large industrialized
city, its harbour clogged with naval frigates, ferries bound
for the continent or the Isle of Wight, and swarms of dredgers
and tugs.
Portsmouth was heavily
bombed during the last war due to its military importance and
bland tower blocks from the nadir of British architectural endeavour
now give the city an ugly profile. Only Old Portsmouth , based
around the original harbour, preserves some Georgian and a little
Tudor character. East of here is Southsea , a residential suburb
of terraces with a half-hearted resort strewn along its shingle
beach, where a mass of B&Bs face stoic naval monuments and
tawdry seaside amusements.
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