On Thursday 4 July, twenty members of the Romsey Archway travelled to Portsmouth for a guided tour led by Andrew Negus, a Blue Badge Guide and Speaker. The walk started on the Hard, by the gates to the Dockyard, and finished at the Anglican Cathedral in the Old Town. Along the way, we were both educated and entertained by Andrew as he explained how the Dockyard evolved from the simple mooring for boats in the twelfth century to the Navel Base of today.

We learnt how Marc Brunel introduced the production line to manufacture ship's blocks, how the old town was laid out in a grid fashion, and the contribution of John Pound, the educational reformer. Along the route, Andrew pointed out those, small but important details that we tend to overlook, for the fire insurance plaques, why street bollards look like cannons and how Portsmouth gained the star and crescent moon, commonly associated with the Ottoman empire on its coat of arms.

The walk concluded at the Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury in the heart of the old town, founded in 1180 and not finally completed until 1991! Here the guided tour concluded with a well-deserved round of applause for Andrew, and from there we made our way back to Romsey.

Finally thanks to Sue Keith for organising the tour. Hopefully, we will complete part two of the guided walk from the Cathedral next year to learn more about the history of England's only island city.