17th March 2016
Find out ten things you didn’t know about Portsmouth:
Here they are, ten things you didn’t know about Portsmouth!
Portsmouth is home to the Emirates Spinnaker Tower, a towering 560ft structure weighing 30,000 tonnes! Here are some lesser-known facts about our historic, coastal city:
- Portsmouth, also known as ‘Portis Mouth’, appears on the oldest surviving map from 1360, represented by a single red-bricked building.
- Renowned author Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth and featured the city in his novel ‘Nicholas Nickleby’.
- Portsmouth has attracted other literary giants like Rudyard Kipling and H. G. Wells. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, practiced as a doctor in Southsea and wrote fiction while waiting for patients. His medical colleague was even named Dr. Watson!
- Paintings by artist Turner, previously thought to depict Venice, were revealed in 2003 to actually portray Portsmouth.
- Despite being constructed with 11,000 cubic metres of concrete, the Spinnaker Tower was designed to sway in the wind, flexing approximately 150mm at 115 metres height in high winds.
- The historic Gosport Ferry, operating since ancient times, originally used a double-ended rowing boat called a ‘Wherry’. Today, it transports up to 297 passengers between Gosport and Portsmouth.
- Lord Nelson enjoyed his final English breakfast at The George Inn in Portsmouth before departing for the HMS Victory. Unfortunately, this inn was destroyed during World War II air raids in 1940.
- Portsmouth Guildhall, opened in 1890, has hosted numerous musical legends, including The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Governor of California and ‘Terminator’ star, resided in Portsmouth in the 1960s and was a member of a Southsea gym.
- Portsmouth Football Club holds the record for the longest time as FA Cup Champions, a title prolonged by World War II, which suspended the competition for seven years following Portsmouth’s victory in 1939 against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
