HALF A CENTURY OF MEMORIES (Mollie Coleman February 2007)

Mollie Coleman took a trip down 'Memory Lane' recently to recall aspects of her life in Old Portsmouth from 1957 when she and her husband together with their four children moved here from Wickham.

No 4 BROAD STREET (Keith Feltham February 2007)

No 4 Broad Street was the home of my grandparents and where my grandfather, George Feltham, had his boat-building business, G.A. Feltham and Sons, in the workshop behind the house. .

OLD PORTSMOUTH'S HISTORIC FORTIFICATIONS - A Brief History (Keith Feltham September 2006)

In the 14th century simple defences in the form of earthworks and moats were constructed to protect the town against attacks from the French during the Hundred Years War. No vestige of these early works remains and the fortifications were improved, altered and developed through the following centuries.

Further hostilities with France in the 15th century resulted in the construction of a tower, the precursor of the Round Tower, for the protection of the harbour entrance. This tower was erected on a spit of land (known as 'Point') which was outside the town. It was rebuilt in the time of Queen Elizabeth I and increased in height in the 19th century.

BUCKINGHAM HOUSE: A brief history (Keith Feltham)

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There are proposals to convert Buckingham House, on the High Street, into a small historic house hotel. Restoration is badly needed to preserve the character and features of this important building, which dates from the 16th century, and a new use for the property will facilitate this work and bring it back to life.

THE ROYAL GARRISON CHURCH (Keith Feltham)

The Royal Garrison Church in Penny Street, Old Portsmouth might appear to be a ruin, but it surprises and delights those visitors who venture through the Nave and beyond the glass doors into the Chancel. Although the Nave lost its roof and contents through fire in the Blitz of 1941, the Chancel is still intact and its splendour gives an indication of how the Church would have looked before the bombing in World War II.

GUNWHARF GATE (Keith Feltham)

Gunwharf Gate, the district bounded by Warblington Street, Gunwharf Road and St George's Road, often seems to be ignored when considered in the context of Old Portsmouth, no doubt because it is an entirely new development. However, it is an integral part of the historic town, and was contained within the fortifications before they were demolished at the end of the 19th century. It is the one area which has seen more change than any other being almost completely cleared and redeveloped on two separate occasions. Until the early part of the 20th century there was a number of notable buildings on the site including the Colewort Barracks, constructed originally in 1694 as a hospital for the garrison before becoming a barracks . The name colewort derives from a type of cabbage which was purported to have been grown in this area; certainly the early maps indicate that, in the 16th century, fields occupied the land that has now become Gunwharf Gate and could well have been used for growing vegetables.

THE SPINNAKER TOWER: Pride of Portsmouth? (Keith Feltham)

Portsmouth is blessed with Portsdown Hill on the north side of the City, from which a splendid of Portsea Island and the surrounding terrain can be obtained and various landmarks identified. In the past it was easy to locate Old Portsmouth by the two tall power-station chimneys, but these were demolished in the 1980s and so we didn't have an easily recognised feature which could be seen from 'The Hill'. This has now changed with the completion of the Spinnaker Tower which, although not actually in Old Portsmouth, is sufficiently close by to direct one's gaze in the right direction.

ADMIRAL LORD NELSON ON THE MOVE (Diane Villar)

In Old Portsmouth Admiral Lord Nelson has been given a new sea view by moving his bronze statue, by Brooke Hitch, from its original site in Pembroke Gardens, where he spent the last 54 years, to Grand Parade. Here he has his back to the 11th century Royal Garrison Church (known as Domus Dei and where one of the choir stalls is dedicated to him) and he can see over the Saluting Platform to the entrance of the harbour.