Pompey Saver+ issue 1

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It’s been in the pipeline for some time now and so it is very exciting to see the finished article. Our maiden issue is 36 pages, but the plan is for that to grow as we move forward.

This is the first real opportunity to say a huge ‘thank you’ to all the people and companies that have supported my vision – the advertisers, writers, designer and others who have given up their time (and contacts) to help. Without them this would never have worked.

The idea behind Saver+ is to support and promote local business, as well as celebrating the fascinating city of Portsmouth.

So don’t just take advantage of the great money-saving vouchers at the back, please also take time to read our varied articles, which include a celebration of the country’s biggest community-owned football club, a look at the effects of World War One on the city and a visit to the most haunted house in Portsmouth.

All the best,

Joe Pepler [email protected]

CONTENTS

6 FROM SOUTHSEA TO THE SOMME Bob Beech reveals the Pompey Pals’ contribution to the First World War

11 HOGAN’S RUN Local taxi driver Mick Hogan shoots from the hip

13 A BRUTAL END FOR A BRUTAL BUILDING Remembering the controversial Tricorn Centre

14 TRUST IN US Colin Farmery on Pompey’s first year as a community club

21 HAUNTED HOUSE Mark Storey takes a spooky trip to Wymering Manor

25 COFFEE BREAK Relax with our brain-teasing puzzle page

26 HMS WARRIOR Steve James explores the famous warship

29 VOUCHERS Fantastic money-saving deals

to the first ever edition of magazine!POMPEY

Welcome

Website - www.saverplusmagazines.com Publisher - Bluepitch Media www.bluepitchmedia.com [email protected]

Editor - Joe Pepler [email protected] Phone: 07881 372930 Features Editor - Neil Weld Contributors - Bob Beech, Colin Farmery, Steve James, Mark Storey

Photography - Joe Pepler, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, The News Printing: PPG www.ppgprint.co.uk Tel: 02392662232

To advertise, or if you are interested in writing or working for us, please contact Bluepitch Media Ltd: Phone: 07881 372930; email: [email protected]; web: www.bluepitchmedia.com Published by Bluepitch Media Ltd. 5 Station Road, Sharpthorne, West Sussex, RH19 4PE.

While every effort has been made by the publisher to ensure the content of this magazine is correct upon going to print, Bluepitch Media Ltd. and any individuals involved in the production of this magazine accept no responsibility for any inaccuracies, omissions and opinions expressed within. The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor.

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At the outbreak of World War One, it was clear that

Britain’s small, yet highly professional, army would

need to be quickly reinforced by volunteers.

Secretary of state for war Lord Kitchener believed that

the key to success would be overwhelming manpower

and so set about looking for ways to encourage men

of all classes to join the ranks. It

was General Sir Henry Rawlinson

who suggested that they would

be more inclined to enlist if

they knew they were going to

be accompanied by friends,

relations and work colleagues.

Across the country, thousands

of eager young men flocked

to register together in local

recruiting drives with the

promise that they would serve

alongside one another and the

popular press of the time dubbed

these ‘pals battalions’. A total of

144 Pals or Pals-type battalions

were formed.

A Pals battalion was defined as a unit raised by a local authority or private body which undertook to organise, clothe, billet and feed the recruits. The provision of weapons was the responsibility of the army. Once the War Office accepted the offer of a Pals Battalion, reimbursement for expenditure took place.

On September 3 1914, the Portsmouth Evening News reported that a public meeting would be held at the Town Hall that evening with speeches from local and national dignitaries. Such was the clamour to get in, loud speakers had to be placed outside so that everyone could hear what was happening.

Come the end of that night 100 men had enlisted into the Portsmouth Pals. Each day the Evening News published their ‘roll of honour’ of those who had joined the colours and it wasn’t long before the number reached 1,100, meaning work began on

To the

From

SOMMESouthsea

As the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War One approaches, Bob Beech remembers the Pompey

Pals battalions who fought so bravely

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the second Portsmouth Pals. The two groups were

given the official titles of the 14th & 15th Battalions

(Portsmouth) Hampshire Regiment. A third, the 16th,

was also formed, but this was a reserve battalion used

to bolster the numbers of others as required.

By the spring of 1916 the 1st and 2nd Pompey Pals had

arrived on the Western Front. On their very first day in

the trenches on April 23, 2nd Lieutenant Frank Gilbert

was killed – his death would be the first of many.

In June the battalions took part in their first night

time raids on enemy trenches, near Festubert and

Ploegsteert, better known to Tommies as Plugstreet.

In the summer of 1916 both battalions were moved

to what was, up until then, a quiet section of the

front with a name that is now synonymous with the

slaughter of the Great War – the Somme.

While the 1st Battalion Hampshire Regiment took part

in the first day of the Battle of the Somme on July

1, it wasn’t until September 3 that the 14th saw full-

scale action for the first time. Going ‘over the top’ at

5.10am, 587 men rose from the trenches, supported by

machine guns and artillery, advancing steadily towards

their foe. They quickly took the German front line

and began to press on towards their next objective.

With 2/Lt Leach pushing his men forward, it wasn’t

long before the defenders rallied. The ‘C’ company

advance met heavy resistance, coming under a hail of

rifle and machine gun fire. Despite their best efforts,

they were stopped by withering fire and barbed wire

entanglements.

On their left flank, the 117th Brigades advance had also

stalled, leaving the Hampshire men exposed. There

was a determined advance by the former, but they

were checked before reaching the German wire, where

many were killed. The Pompey Pals were now on their

own in the line of captured German trenches. A heavy

artillery barrage caused many casualties among the

Pals and when the attack on their right also failed,

they formed barricades at either end of the captured

trench and fought on.

The attack on the Ancre had failed and with the

Germans still holding the high ground, they had a

perfect view of their enemy. The 14th Hampshires now

had to hold on, blocking both ends of the trench line

that they had taken while waiting for the inevitable

German onslaught. Accurate shell fire prevented

reinforcements and a fresh supply of badly needed

ammunition from reaching them. As bombs and bullets

ran short by 1pm, they were forced back through

the second line captured earlier that day, although

small pockets did manage to hold on in advanced

positions. One group under 2/Lt Bartlett held on until

late afternoon, but they too were eventually forced to

retire. Bartlett was shot and wounded as they did so

and would remain in a shell hole for the rest of the day

before managing to crawl back to British lines on the

night of September 4/5.

By the spring of 1916 the 1st and 2nd Pompey Pals had arrived on the Western Front.

Pompey Pals in the trenches

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After dark, those Pals still holding out in German trenches, many fighting with just bayonets, were ordered to withdraw and were harassed by enemy machine gun fire as they did so. What remained of the 1st Pompey Pals went back to Mailly Maillet. There had been 440 casualties from those that went over the top that morning, with the reports in official communications that they had ‘fought splendidly, hanging on stubbornly after a good attack’ proving little consolation.

Days later it was the turn of the 2nd Pals. Even before zero hour 0620, the battalion had been under heavy enemy shellfire, causing several casualties. Eventually led by seven tanks, they went storming into no-man’s land, quickly getting in among the German front lines, despite taking sustained fire from an enemy machine gun on their left flank. That was eventually put out of action by a private, who worked his way along the trench until getting close up and shooting down the entire machine gun crew.

They encountered more opposition and although this was soon quelled with a number of prisoners taken, the casualties were beginning to mount up.

The Flers trench stood between them and their

objective – the village of Flers itself – and reinforced

by men from the Royal West Kent’s, they advanced.

With tanks bearing down on them the Germans in Flers

trench turned and fled towards the town, pursued by

the Pompey men. Tanks were unreliable at this time,

however, and one by one they broke down. As they

reached the outskirts of the village a field gun hidden

in a house opened fire. This caused numerous losses

before the arrival of one of the remaining tanks dealt

with the problem by, according to the Battalion diary,

‘spitting fire from its guns’. By now three of the tanks

were out of action, but one started to trundle onto the

streets of Flers and quickly cleared them, with troops

coming up behind to mop up.

But again casualties were high. Of the 557 who had

started out, 305 were killed or wounded and many

would later die from their injuries. Among those who

didn’t make it were the Westbrook brothers, Frank

(24) and Arthur (21),

who joined the Pals

together and laid

down their lives, side-

by-side on the Somme.

We Will

Remember Them

As the Pals advanced they cleared German dugouts using smoke bombs and were soon pushing on through what was known as ‘Switch Line’.

Pompey Pals waiting for the train

14th Batallion on parade

Sir

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Raw

linso

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Began: July 28 1914

Ended: November 11 1918

Also known as: The Great War

Trigger: The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

Killed: More than nine million

Military personnel: 70 million

Results: Formation of the League of Nations, break-up of German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires

Dulce et Decorum est – Wilfred Owen

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! An ecstasy of fumbling,

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling

And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime…

Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

WW1

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• The United Kingdom’s only island city

• Home to the world’s oldest dry dock

• Where the 1939 and 2008 FA Cup winners and two-time champions of England Pompey play their football

• The largest urban area in Hampshire – and the sixth largest in England

• Home to the Spinnaker Tower – the tallest accessible structure in the UK outside of London

• The 12th most densely populated place in Europe

• A naval city – a 10th of the workforce is employed at the dockyard

• The chief location for Jonathan Meades’ novel ‘Pompey’

• Home of the Great South Run – one of Europe’s most popular mass participation races

• The birthplace of Charles Dickens – generally regarded as one of the greatest novelists of all time

Let me introduce myself. My name is Mick Hogan, I’m 60-years-old and have worked as a taxi driver for Aqua Cars for 10 years. I’ve also been employed at Fratton Park as a matchday press steward for the past 27 years – so have seen all the recent ups and downs! Spending my days driving around the city leaves me well-placed to comment on issues that affect the people of Portsmouth and I promise not to pull any punches in this column.

I thought it best, given my job, to dedicate the first one to the traffic issues we face in the city, starting with the replacement of the gas mains in Copnor which is going to cause chaos for eight months. This is a road that leads to one of the only three routes out of the city and the congestion through North End is already terrible.

And I also need to make another little dig – if you’ll pardon the pun – about the number of times I’m stopped at temporary traffic lights next to a big hole in the road when there’s nobody there working on it.

It seems a shame that Portsmouth City Council, in their infinite wisdom, don’t appear to have experienced road users on the committees that decide these measures. Aquacars, for instance, have hundreds of drivers on the city’s streets every day and many of them will have useful and constructive views to share.

We have recently seen the introduction of a ‘park and ride’ system at Tipner and from what I’ve seen, it’s proving very popular. But you have to pay to use the bus service into the city and I can’t help but feel the powers that be should do more to subsidise public transport if they want to get people out of their cars.

I can’t believe that people enjoy sitting in a queue on the M275 as they make their way towards Gunwharf, so maybe the train companies should take advantage of having a station right next to the complex by offering better family rates.

The best way to solve the congestion problems in Portsmouth is for more people to get out of their cars and onto bikes, buses, trains and, of course, taxis!

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It was an example of Brutalist architecture that was celebrated for its boldness upon construction in 1966.

But there were few tears shed when the Tricorn Centre

was demolished 38 years later.

The shopping centre was built in an attempt to revitalise

the city of Portsmouth. The use of raw, exposed concrete

was certainly eye-catching and it soon won a Civic Trust

award for its ‘exciting visual composition’. Descriptions

have been less kind

since, however, and just

two years after opening

it was voted Britain’s

fourth ugliest building.

Listeners of BBC

Radio Four’s Today

programme later

named it the most hated

structure in the country

and even Prince Charles got in on the

act, calling the Tricorn ‘a mildewed

lump of elephant droppings’.

Tenants living in the centre’s flats

complained about leaky walls and

poorly constructed roofs, while the

premium store aimed at luring consumers

never materialised.

Dark, damp conditions saw the independent traders

slowly start to leave, with the last of the shops closing

in March 2002. Instead, the Tricorn became the scene of

many suicide attempts, forcing the Samaritans to install

a plaque offering their services.

The structure was not

without supporters,

although their many

attempts to get the

building listed ultimately

proved futile. Others

argued that it could be

repaired, but Portsmouth

City Council decided this

would be unfeasible.

And so the decision was

made – the Tricorn Centre

was to be demolished. Many

cheered at the removal of the

city’s eyesore, but it is only

fair to give its architect Owen

Luder the final say.

“The lynch mob has

succeeded,” he lamented.

“The Tricorn has been

judged by what it is today rather than what it could be.

Architectural heritage and Portsmouth are the losers.”

A BRUTAL END FOR PORTSMOUTH’S

BRUTAL BUILDING

10 years on from the demolition of the Tricorn Centre

Images courtesy of The News

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Using the term ‘rollercoaster’ to describe the events at

Fratton Park in the past 12 months is somewhat of an

understatement.

But a year into community ownership and the signs

are at last positive – the club has finally stabilised and

can look forward to the future with confidence.

The PST-led community bid ended with a takeover

on April 19 2013, bringing to an end

four years of unprecedented on and

off-field decline.

Proud Pompey not once, but twice

found itself in administration and had

29 points deducted, thus completing

the transformation into League Two

participants from top-flight FA Cup

finalists just three years earlier.

With Guy Whittingham installed as

permanent manager and the Blues

made the bookies’ short-priced

favourites for an immediate promotion, a successful

campaign was anticipated, but football is never that

straightforward – and so it proved.

Reflecting on the past year, club chief executive Mark

Catlin still believes much progress has been made.

“If someone had said at the start of the season we’d

have gone into the final game with a good chance of

a top-10 finish and our off-field operations in as good

a shape as they have been for many years, I would

have regarded that as more than satisfactory

progress,” he said. “Of course we would have liked

to have done better on the field, but we said from the

outset our wage budget was around

mid-table and that’s more-or-less

where we’ve finished.”

However, the journey to get there

has had more twists and turns than

an Alpine pass, a fact Catlin readily

acknowledges, after the club parted

company first with Whittingham in

November and then his replacement

Richie Barker in late March.

“I still believe it was the right decision

at that time to appoint both Guy and

Richie and no-one was more upset than me when we

had to part company with both of them,” he revealed.

“For different reasons things just didn’t work out,

which happens in football and you have to quickly

move on.

Colin Farmery looks at the achievements of the Pompey Supporters’ Trust in their first year as majority shareholders of Portsmouth FC

Trust

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“The key thing was to ensure the club pulled itself clear of the relegation trapdoor, which is why we turned to Andy Awford. He knows the club inside out and precisely what was required. His results have spoken for themselves and to appoint him manager permanently was an obvious decision for the board.”

So what of the future? Catlin is optimistic the work which has taken place in the past 12 months has laid some solid foundations.

“It is ironic, after we struggled at times on the field last season, that off the field we have seen unprecedented success,” he declared. “The ‘community ethos’ we have has been welcomed by supporters and local businesses alike and the staff at the club have worked tremendously hard to ensure our objectives have been achieved.

“Our commercial revenues have exceeded budgets in almost every area and what more can I say about our fans? Selling more than 10,500 season tickets set the tone and the fact we ended the season as we started with a full house is simply incredible. It is fair to say we could have sold several thousand more tickets for the final game against Plymouth, which shows the potential this club has.

“Our average gate has consistently been roughly in the middle of the Championship, which for a League Two club which has had an, at times, indifferent season underlines how important and loyal our fans are.”

The season ticket sales campaign is now underway following the completion of the 2013/14 season and

Catlin is promising that Pompey’s aim is to improve

their performance next season.

“I am not going to be putting undue pressure on Andy

or anyone else, but the board, manager and I are all

agreed our target next season is to improve in all

in us

16 POMPEY

areas,” he explained. “Everyone is working hard to

ensure we are able to be competitive on the pitch and

the fans have a part to play in that.

“As a community club there is a very simple equation.

The more fans put into the club, whether that’s

through season tickets, merchandise, the new club

lottery or sponsorship, the more money we will have to

invest in the club.

“Increased revenues give the board options. We all know there is a need for additional investment in a range of areas, but the fans are crucial to making that strategy work.

“This season we have made great strides with our

infrastructure. We have addressed a long-standing

backlog of routine maintenance at Fratton Park, a

legacy of previous owners’ failings and there is

some substantial investment in the pitch scheduled

this summer.

“However, I believe the most significant investment

will be in the new training ground. This is very much a

long-term project which means the club will eventually

have a facility worthy of a club of our standing.”

It promises to be a busy summer at Fratton Park, but

Catlin is looking forward to the challenge.

“Almost as soon as the final ball was kicked we rolled

out our season ticket campaign, which we hope fans

will back in the same numbers they did last season

and there will be a host of negotiations going on

over player contracts,” he explained. “The pre-season

programme has almost been finalised and we will be

releasing details of that soon. There will be a couple

of friendlies at Fratton Park, including a game against

Bournemouth on July 29.

“Running a club is an all year round affair and there

will be no let up. Our fans deserve the best and they

can rest assured we will be doing all we can to give

Andy the resources to continue the journey we have

started to get Pompey back where we belong.”

Fans can find out more about how they can support

the new club lottery at www.pompeylottery.co.uk

Colin Farmery is the PR and communications

consultant to Portsmouth FC

Colin Farmery looks at the achievements of the Pompey Supporters’ Trust in their first year as majority shareholders of Portsmouth FC

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Wymering Manor was built by a family of persecuted Catholics in the days of the Spanish Armada and has been spooking people ever since.

Peep inside the oldest house in the city and if you’re lucky – or unlucky – you might run into a whole host of ghouls.

A choir of nuns, said to be from the Sisterhood of St Mary the Virgin, have been seen at midnight roaming across the hall while chanting to music.

There is Reckless Roddy, killed when caught trying to seduce a young bride at the manor and whose horse can be heard bolting up the lane outside by any newlyweds who visit.

The small attic bedroom is the scene of sightings of The Ghostly Nun, spotted looking down the narrow staircase with hands dripping blood.

The Lady In The Violet Dress and The Hanging Man are said to be other inhabitants and, up in the Tudor-beamed panelled room, part of the main section of the manor built in 1581 when Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne, don’t be surprised to walk in their alone but feel an unexplained hand on the shoulder.

WORDS BY MARK STOREY

THE GHOSTS OFWymering

It is not the kind of place you expect to find around the corner from the local bookies and Chinese takeaway. But down a Portsmouth street lies what is reckoned to be the most haunted building in Britain.

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“I’ve never seen anything but some people come here

and are immediately frightened,” said Andy Mason, one

of seven trustees working to restore the part-derelict

manor to its former glory.

“My 10-year-old daughter visited and saw a little girl

in a white dress looking out of a bedroom window into

the garden, without knowing anything about all the

other people who have seen the same girl around the

house too.”

Once a monastery, Wymering Manor has such a vivid

history it is perhaps not surprising so many ghost

stories have grown up around it.

Things started out in dramatic style. When Eleanor

Brewninge had the property built on Old Wymering

Lane, then in thick Hampshire countryside with just a

few farm buildings and a church for company, her

son was imprisoned in the Tower of London for his

Catholic beliefs.

Those beliefs at a time of religious upheaval meant the

family had to worship at home in secret, constructing

priest holes for members of the clergy to hide in if

their services were rumbled.

By the early 1800s the manor was the home of Harris

Bigg-Wither, the only person to propose to Jane Austen,

who accepted but changed her mind the next day.

The author’s brother, Admiral Sir Francis Austen, is

buried at St Peter & St Paul Church opposite and is

another said to haunt the Grade II Listed Building.

The streets around have a chequered past, too.

Wymering may now be filled by post-war housing, but

at the south-west corner of the house once stood a

gallows famed for hanging highwaymen who robbed

coaches on their way between Portsmouth and

Southampton.

During the Second World War the manor housed

servicemen, whose graffiti can be found in the attic. In

1959 it was leased by Portsmouth City Council to the

Youth Hostel Association but by then decline had set in.

In January last year the newly created Wymering

“People claim it’s the most haunted place in Britain. Some people won’t go in certain rooms, like the panelled room or music room, because they get a strange feeling.”

Manor Trust bought the property for a pound. But the hard work of volunteers and seven trustees, including Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt, can only go so far. Despite £50,000 in lottery money and £30,000 from the council, as well as income from ghost tours and cultural events, another £3 million is needed to get the place up to scratch.

“The house has been closed to the community for 50 years, but locally people value the place,” said Mason, 38, who has an MSc in historic building conservation. “The links are still there. I did a talk at the local school and one of the children said her grandmother had worked here. The house is so interesting and important and we want it it be at the heart of the community again.”

For more information:

email: [email protected] website: wymeringmanortrust.com twitter: @wymeringmanor facebook: /wymerningmanor.trust

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25POMPEY

WORDSEARCHCan you find all the Portsmouth landmarks hidden in the grid?

CASCADESCLARENCE PIERFRATTON PARKGUILDHALLGUNWHARFHMS VICTORYHMS WARRIOR

MARY ROSE MUSEUMROUND TOWERSOUTH PARADE PIERSOUTHSEA CASTLESOUTHSEA COMMONSPICE ISLANDSPINNAKER TOWER

PORTSMOUTH QUIZ

1 Writer Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth in what year?

2 What is the nickname of the city’s only professional football team?

3 True or False? Portsmouth is the only city in England with a greater population density than London.

4 Which king summoned a fleet and army to Portsmouth after returning from being held captive in Austria?

5 What honour was bestowed on the city in 1926?

6 Which world famous engineer was born in Portsmouth in 1806?

7 The Spinnaker Tower – intended to open in time for the millennium celebrations – was finally completed in which year?

8 Portsmouth’s two cathedrals are named after which saints?

9 Which Oscar-winning 2012 film was partly filmed in Portsmouth?

10 The Portsmouth Dreadnoughts compete in which sport?

ANSWERS: 1 1812 2 Pompey 3 True 4 Richard the Lionheart 5 City status 6 Isambard Kingdom Brunel 7 2005 8 John and Thomas 9 Les Miserables 10 American Football

POMPEYSPOT THE DIFFERENCE - Can you find all 10?

26 POMPEY

Steve James takes us on a voyage aboard HMS Warrior

There is more than one way to be a factor in the battle for naval supremacy.

While the tenacious HMS Victory is famed for its efforts at the Battle of Trafalgar under Lord Nelson and is rightly seen as a key factor in this country’s maritime history, its neighbour at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is the gentle giant that was never actually required to fire any of her cannons in battle.

To this day, HMS Warrior – Britain’s first iron-hulled armoured warship – keeps a careful eye on the comings and goings at Portsmouth Harbour from its dock more than 150 years after it was first launched.

Bloody conflict and military campaigns are no longer on the agenda for her, but back in 1860 when it was launched, Warrior was the most powerful ship in Queen Victoria’s fleet.

In truth, no blood was spilled from any aggressive action that she undertook.

But she was the ultimate deterrent that ensured the

French kept their distance and shelved any notion of invasion.

Frankly, it was no surprise they decided that it wasn’t worth their while trying their luck and it is perhaps a blessing in disguise that something so elegant was never involved in the brutality of a sea battle.

Back in the 19th century, it was the naval equivalent of an arms race that saw her built.

After the French had introduced La Gloire to spark fears of an imminent invasion, Britain hit back with Warrior in a move that was impossible to answer.

With a perceived challenge to the supremacy of the Royal Navy, the then First Lord of the Admiralty, Sir John Somerset Pakington, knew that a superior ship in terms of speed, size, armament and armour would end French hopes of victory in a battle.

At the time, Warrior was the largest warship in the world and patrolled the waters of Gibraltar and Lisbon.

But all too soon, faster ships with more armour and bigger guns came along as Warrior effectively became obsolete just a decade later. By 1871, her role changed to Coastguard and reserve services.

However, in 1883, her masts were found to be rotten and with repair costs considered too high, she was renamed Vernon III in 1904 and could not even find a buyer for scrap when put up for sale in 1924.

After falling into a state of disrepair, there appeared to be little hope of avoiding the breaker’s yard,

PORTSMOUTH’SGentleGiant

27POMPEY

having even been used as an oil jetty – hardly a fitting

use for such a magnificent ship.

Thankfully for today’s visitors to the Historic Dockyard,

someone had a grander plan for her.

Talk of restoration started in 1967, a figure of £4-8

million would bring her back to glory and in 1979, she

was towed to Hartlepool for the painstaking process.

Then, amid a flurry of activity on June 12 1987 – 58

years after she left Portsmouth – Warrior made a

triumphant return to the city and was afforded a

hero’s welcome as she took her place alongside the

collection of naval heritage that has become the envy

of ports around the globe.

While her role is now educational and even as an

entertainment and events venue, the history is there to

live and breathe for anyone who explores the decks.

No longer a threatening spectre in the background,

HMS Warrior stands proudly as a jewel in the crown

of Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard and is ready to

transport you back in time to become a Victorian sailor

– if only for a few hours.

Considering her rise, sad demise and glorious rebirth,

it is fitting that a ship that was once at the very

pinnacle of maritime technology has been restored

with such care and attention to detail for everyone to

enjoy for many years to come.

Weight: 9210 tons

Length: 428 feet (128 metres)

Maximum speed: 17.5 knots (sail and steam)

Crew: 705 at its peak

Anchors: Four – each weighing 5.6 tons.

Cannons: 36 in total

Boilers: 10, each with four furnaces to burn coal.

First captain: Arthur Cochrane

Figurehead: A Greek warrior – 12ft high and weighing three tons.

Restoration period: Five years

WARRIOR FACTS

28 POMPEY

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