Handy Don 11,983 #7301 Posted Saturday at 04:06 PM (edited) On 10/11/2024 at 7:46 AM, Mickwhitt said: HMS Victory is high on my list but the Mary Rose is our main attraction. A couple of years ago we took the ferry from Portsmouth to Caen. On the way out of the harbor we passed very close by the docked HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier (with a couple of very protective looking security boats in between). Quite the impressive sight! Hope you have a terrific time in that lovely city. Edited Saturday at 05:58 PM by Handy Don 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adsm08 1,911 #7302 Posted Saturday at 05:37 PM Spent about 3 hours in the blind with the boy this morning. The most excitement we had was when a ground hog ran out of the corn. I was going to take a shot, but he ran off when I tried to get my pistol out. Then we came home and replaced the ABS unit in the wife's car. It stopped OK, and she wasn't complaining, but the pedal was not right. Now I can't even push it in to where the brakes started grabbing before. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
8ntruck 6,935 #7303 Posted Monday at 03:07 AM We are currently in our Mo. location. I've been playing brick layer on and off this week. Today is a milestone day. I've topped out the north column on our long running porch project. 2 more columns to go. About 120 bricks. Then it will be on to building a decorative beam between the top of the columns and the bottom of the roof, installing the porch ceiling, soffit, and facia boards. 4 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mickwhitt 4,505 #7304 Posted Monday at 03:45 PM Having a great time in Portsmouth. HMS Victory is outstanding, cannot believe she fought in the American war of independence as well as Trafalgar and many others. I can't imagine the hell on earth that the gun decks would be during battle. The noise, smoke, blood and sheer terror is hard for us all to understand. The different types of shot shown here makes your hair stand on end; ball, grape, cannister, bar and chain shot, all designed to damage rigging or ships timbers, but also capable of tearing a man into pieces. The place where Lord Nelson died on the lower deck of Victory, shot by a sniper from only 15 yards away. He knew he was beyond hope as soon as he was hit, but clung on until the battle was won. I was very touched standing here, such a great man and the saviour of a nation. Tomorrow it's the Mary Rose, Henry the eigths favourite ship. 2 4 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mickwhitt 4,505 #7305 Posted Tuesday at 05:57 PM Mary Rose is absolutely stunning! Archeology is hard enough on dry land, but to excavate a site under water and recover things that are 437 years old and so fragile is beyond belief. The museum itself is a marvel of engineering, to think they planned so far into the future. Raising her was only the start of it. Conserving and then displaying her to the standard they have is astonishing. There were a fair few American accents around and a guy we saw was obviously ex Navy and very proud of his experience over here while serving. Went on a harbour tour and saw HMS Queen Elizabeth, one of our new carriers. Jeez it's big! Then completely by chance the arctic survey ship Sir David Attenborough was in port. This is the one that they asked the public to name, the power if the Internet saw the stupid name Boaty McBoatface voted for. Thankfully the owners declined and gave it a roper name instead. Tomorrow it is the submarine museum and the museum of Naval explosions! Yay... 3 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mickwhitt 4,505 #7306 Posted Wednesday at 05:20 PM Well, it's the end of our Portsmouth odyssey. Couple more museums ticked off and the Nelson gallery where we saw a lot more about the great man. There are many portraits of him but all quite different, some painted to make him look more physical, or more heroic etc. But they have done research and come up with a wax work that is about the best rendition of him at the time just before his death. He was tiny, well compared to me he was. 5 feet five inches and pretty skinny from all the diseases and injuries he suffered from. I'm six feet two and I wonder what Nelson would have thought of the 18" shell I'm standing in front of. Probably would not have liked the thought of killing at such long range, no honour in it. The final one is a 15 inch gun breech, my God I cannot imagine this thing being fired. It's impressive but so depressing that we drive ourselves to make bigger and better ways to kill each other. Back home tomorrow, via the model engineering fair in Warwick where I can pick up some materials and tools for my primary hobby. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
