Portsmouth Navy Dockyard & Royal Navy Base

This week, on Friday night, we departed Oxford to visit Portsmouth, a port city on England's south coast. We stayed at a Premier Inn in the village of Horndean. The staff was extra friendly and helpful. Even though the restaurant was across the car park, the manager carried our meals to our room so we could watch the Olympic opening ceremonies while we ate!

On Saturday morning, we drove the final 10 miles to the Navy Dockyard. Since we were some of the first to arrive, the queue for tickets was short and we were pleased to learn that our tickets will allow us to return for free for 12 months. This reduced the pressure to try to see everything in one day.

Directly behind the ticket office is HMS Warrior. Built in 1860, the ship was powered by sail and steam, and had iron sides that were impenetrable by cannonballs of the time. It never saw combat. Perhaps no one wanted to take it on?

We were free to wander through all of the decks. This group of costumed volunteers seemed to be new to military drill. On one of the rifle drills, the chap on the left dropped his pipe.

Matthew, pretending  to climb to the top of the rigging.

This photo shows the awesome size of the ship. This view is from the compass, near the stern and in front of the steering mechanism.

Unlike earlier fighting ships, the Warrior has only one deck of cannons; but there are many of them!

Near the Captain's cabin, we found what looks like a closet door marking the quarters of the senior Marine  on board.

We rode the harbor cruise which gave us excellent views of all of the ships. This is the stern of the Warrior. The current Royal Navy ensign (flag) is white with Saint George's cross. The Warrior flies a red ensign from the Victorian era.

The last remaining "Harrier Carrier," HMS Illustrious. Since the Harrier is not used any longer, the ship carries only helicopters and will be replaced soon by the new Queen Elizabeth class carriers.

HMS Defender, the brand new destroyer arrived in Portsmouth only 2 days earlier.
http://bfbs.com/news/uk/navys-fifth-super-warship-makes-waves-59301.html

The carrier in the rear, HMS Ark Royal, is for sale. Do any of my aviation friends want to start a partnership? We just need to find a few Harriers to purchase too.

Spinnaker Tower claims to offer the best view of the area.  We will have to see for ourselves on the next trip.

This Royal Marine band arrived from the secure navy base (background) just as we were passing the gate on our way to tea. They formed up and marched off playing a military march. I like it when we are in the right place at the right time for things like this.

The HMS Victory, used in the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Trafalgar 

Captain Matthew...

"Captain on deck!"

Admiral Nelson's cabin. Some of the furniture, including his planning table, are original. He wrote his final prayer here.  The Royal Navy still uses this room for meetings and award ceremonies. The Victory is still a commissioned ship of the Royal Navy.

This section of mast has a cannonball hole that goes all the way through it.

Even though the Victory was built 100 years before the Warrior,  the cannons and gun decks look very similar. The Victory has three gun decks.

On the upper deck in front of Admiral Nelson's cabin is a plaque marking the spot where he standing when he was shot. He died from his wound a few hours later. On an earlier trip, we saw the bullet on display in Windsor Castle.

The ship is beautifully restored and workers were repairing the port bow.

In the Action Stations area, Captain Matthew drove a destroyer and flew a helicopter simulator. The building had climbing walls and laser tag also.

We need to make a return trip to see the Mary Rose museum, the Royal Navy Museum, and some other attractions. I would also like to view the city from the Spinnaker Tower and ride the ferry to the Isle of Wight to see what there is to see there. I am glad we live in Oxford. There are many things to see and do within a short drive.

George Washington's Family Tree Weekend

Just before visiting the U.S. over the fourth of July, we learned that there is an Independence Day celebration near Banbury, England at the family home of George Washington. It is only 40 minutes from us so we visited last Saturday (yesterday).

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http://www.sulgravemanor.org.uk/

The entrance from the car park. George Washington's great, great, great, great, great grandfather, Lawrence Washington, was a wealthy wool merchant who built the Manor House of Sulgrave. George's great-grandfather emigrated to the colony of Virginia to make his fortune trading tobacco.

The spinet in the parlour. A spinet is like a harp on its side with keys.
The parlor was decorated as it might have been in the 1700s.

A painting of George Washington in the parlour.
The likeness was  poor as the artist probably  never saw the general in person.

The parlour was used for sitting and visiting.
The occupants would have purchased their tea in blocks like this one and break pieces off into their tea cups. The cups were not used for drinking the tea. The tea was poured into the saucers and slurped from there.

The kitchen was set up in typical 1700s style.
Matthew was selected to demonstrate how the spit was turned to cook meat, normally by a poor 5-6 year old.
We also learned that the poor people ate horse bread, made from beans and vegetables, and the rich people ate the white tops of the loafs; the upper crust. It was a status symbol to eat white bread!
I didn't appreciate that growing up.

The fireplace is huge. This room would be very hot to work in.

This painting, made from a live sitting, hangs in the Great Hall of the house. Everyone, family, friends, servants, and guests, all ate while sitting on benches around the large table, called  the board. The landowner sat at the head of the table and was the only person with a chair. He was the "chair" of the "board." Get it?

Compare the stars and bars of the Washington family crest with the U.S. flag - coincidence?
This also was the inspiration for the flag of the District of Columbia.

George was an officer in the Virginia Militia so he was technically an officer in the British Army before he became a "rebel" leader.

The property is still large although it is only a fraction of the original size.

The tour guide told me that the garden has not changed much in 500 years.

The manor was purchased in 1914 and restored by groups from Britain and the U.S. to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812 (which the U.S. both started and lost.)
Even though we won the revolution, American people are still sending money to England!

If you look closely, you can see sheep in the meadow. The Washington family owned much of the surrounding land and raised sheep for their woolen business.

This is the front gate from town. The manor house would have been the most posh place around for miles.

It was strange to see the American flag flying next to the Union flag.

We walked into the village to see the Washington grave marker and family pew at the local church.
Here is the entrance from Church Street.

The building is ancient but well kept. Here we are facing the north door from the pulpit.

A brief history of the church building. Many village church buildings are not open to the public during the day.
Fortunately, this one is.

The oldest portion of the church, the tower, as viewed from Magpie Road.

On Sunday, after an inspiring church service, we walked from Summertown, where we live, through the neighborhood of Jericho, to explore Port Meadow on foot. Matthew warned us about the cow pies, but I didn't expect to see so many people so close to so many animals!

Port Meadow was listed as a freemen meadow in the Domesday Book of 1086 and has never been farmed. It is still public access land today.

Matthew wasn't sure if he should pet them or hurry past. Cows are big critters.

I took many photos until they finally smiled for me.

I hope these sun bathers checked the ground carefully before laying down. The area smelled a lot like rural Wisconsin.  I wouldn't lay around here too long.

The Medley Sailing Club is active on the unusually wide section of the Thames bordering the western edge of the meadow.

Joggers, bikers, hikers, and cows.

On the west side of the river, the footpath heads north to Wolvercote. We only went as far as Binsey and stopped in at the Medley Manor Farm for some homemade raspberry ice cream - yum.

The Perch Pub in Binsey (behind yet another cow).  Note the thatch roof.

These two are so cute together.

This is the path that runs north and south through the meadow. Here, we are looking south toward Oxford while heading north toward Summertown.

All of the water attracts many ducks, geese, and swans.

The north part of the meadow is flooded from the recent heavy rain.

Back at the northeast corner of the meadow, we cross the bridge over the railroad and canal, back into civilization.
I calculated that we walked at least 6 miles.