Portsmouth
| Portsmouth,Hampshire
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Contents |
Locations
The Portsmouth area includes military facilities at the following locations:
- Stamshaw
- Hilsea
- Drayton
- Paulsgrove
- Eastney
- Southsea
- Petersfield
- HMS Excellent
- HM Naval Base Portsmouth
and the main married quarter areas are:
Area Overview
Ideally situated on the south coast Portsmouth has good road connections – the A3(M) puts London only 90 minutes away and the M275/M27/A27 connects the city with Britain’s motorway network. The rail network offers direct service to London taking approximately 90 minutes, and is well connected to the UK’s major cites with connections through London or Southampton.
Children and Education
The city's post-1992 university, the University of Portsmouth, previously known as Portsmouth Polytechnic, has notable achievements in mathematics and biological sciences. Several local colleges also have the power to award HNDs, including Highbury College, the largest, which specializes in vocational education; and Portsmouth College, which offers a mixture of academic and vocational courses in the city. Additionally there are several colleges in the surrounding area, all of which offer a varying range of academic and vocational courses. Post-16 education in Portsmouth, unlike many areas, is carried at these colleges rather than at secondary schools.
In 2007 for the first time in over a decade, no school in Portsmouth was below the government's minimum standards and thus none of them was in special measures; nevertheless many still counted among the worst performing schools in the country. Charter Academy C of E VA Secondary School is, in terms of performance, one of the worst schools in the country though it has improved in recent years. Charter Academy is one of the few religious schools in the country that operates its intake policy as a standard comprehensive taking from its catchment area rather than being selective on religious background. This is the opposite of its nearby rival St Edmund's RC school. Both Admiral Lord Nelson School and Miltoncross School were built recently to meet the demand of a growing school age population.
Portsmouth's secondary schools are to undergo a major redevelopment in the next few years with three being totally demolished and rebuilt, (St Edmund's, City Boys and King Richard's) and the remainder receiving major renovation work.
There is also a cohort of independent schools within the city - the oldest, founded in 1732, is The Portsmouth Grammar School which has been rated as one of the top public schools in the country. There is also the Portsmouth High School, a member of the Girls Day School Trust, as well as Mayville College and St. John's College.
The local Montessori school is in Purbrook (which is on the outskirts of Portsmouth). It is called Rocking Horse. The number is: 02392 231588. Rocking Horse Daycare Nursery
Transport and Travel
Portsmouth has an excellent local and national public transport system, and recently extended cycle routes and footpaths makes the city easier, more environmentally friendly and safer to get round. It is also home to a ferry port. Airports such as Gatwick, Heathrow and Southampton are within easy reach, none being more than 70 miles away.
Roads There are three road links to the mainland, signposted as "Out of City" from the City Centre. These are the M275, A3 (London Road) and A2030 (Eastern Road). The M27 has a junction connecting to the M275 into Portsmouth. The A27 has a westbound exit onto the A3 (London Road) and a junction onto the A2030 (Eastern Road). The A3(M) is a short section of motorway which runs from Bedhampton north to Horndean. Be warned, the peak time traffic is a nightmare and if there's an accident on any of the three routes in, the city grinds to a halt very quickly.
The A3 links Portsmouth with London, though much traffic uses the M27 and M3 to avoid the Hindhead tunnel roadworks (due to open mid-2011). The M27, M3 and A34 provide the other major routes to the Midlands and the North of England, whilst the M27 runs into the A31 down into Dorset.
Cycling The city is connected to Route 2 of the National Cycle Network. There are numerous on-road cycle paths, and the city centre and island are flat.
Railways The city has several mainline railway stations, on two different direct South West Trains routes to London Waterloo, via Guildford and via Basingstoke. London trains are roughly every 20-30 minutes. There is also a South West Trains stopping service to Southampton Central (providing connections to Crosscountry services to Birmingham and Manchester), and a service by First Great Western to Cardiff Central via Southampton, Salisbury, Bath and Bristol. Southern also offer services to Brighton and London Victoria.
Portsmouth's stations are (in order, out of the city): Portsmouth Harbour, Portsmouth and Southsea, Fratton, Hilsea and Cosham (the last being on the mainland).
Ferries Portsmouth Harbour has passenger ferry links to Gosport and the Isle of Wight. A car ferry service to the Isle of Wight operated by Wightlink is nearby. Britain's longest-standing commercial hovercraft service, for foot passengers departs from near Clarence Pier to Ryde, Isle of Wight. A Hoverbus service connects The Hard (Portsmouth Harbour station) with the Hovercraft.
Long-haul Buses National Express run regular services from Portsmouth. Greyhound runs a direct service to London and Heathrow.
Pets
Medical and Dental
Sports and Leisure
If you are looking for sports facilities these are widely available across the City and outlying area. This includes publicly run facilities and private facilities that both offer a selection of membership schemes. For families in the Portsmouth area, HMS Temeraire is located on Burnaby Road. It houses such facilties as an olyimpic sized pool (50 Meters), a well stocked gym consisting of CV and weights equipment and a solarium and sauna. For those in Fareham, HMS Collingwood has a 25m swimming pool, CV Suite, Weights equipment and a sauna. For residents of Gosport, HMS Sultan has a gym and a weights room.
Shopping and Tourism
Portsmouth has an abundance of things to do in your spare time. It has been making history for over 800 years with its Royal Navy and Literary connections. It is home to over 28 different attractions of which many can be found in the Historic Dockyard and on the seafront at Southsea, and a variety of parks and open spaces can be found through out the city and its suburbs. Due to its transport network, there is also a wide selection of attractions within easy reach throughout the neighbouring counties.
Portsmouth city centre is in need of an overhaul and gives the impression of being rather run down. Most of the high street shops are present, though. Southsea, Fareham and Gosport town centres are small but self-sufficient. Gunwharf Quays outlet centre is excellent for bargains, but can get very busy at weekends and on the run up to Christmas.
Most of Portsmouth's tourist attractions are related to its naval history. In the last decade Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard has been given a much needed face-lift. Among the attractions are the D-Day museum and, in the dockyard, HMS Victory, the remains of Henry VIII's flagship, the Mary Rose, HMS Warrior and the Royal Naval Museum.
Many of the city's former defences now host museums or events. Several of the Victorian era forts on Portsdown Hill are now tourist attractions. Fort Nelson is now home to the Royal Armouries museum, Forts Purbrook and Widley are activities centres. The Tudor era Southsea Castle has a small museum, and much of the seafront defences up to the Round Tower are open to the public. The southern part of the once large Royal Marines Eastney Barracks is now the Royal Marine Museum. There are also many buildings in the city that occasionally host open days particularly those on the D-Day walk which are seen on signs around the city which note sites of particular importance in the city to Operation Overlord.
Portsmouth's long association with the armed forces means it has a large number of war memorials around the city, including several at the Royal Marines Museum, at the dockyards and in Victoria Park. In the city centre, the Guildhall Square Cenotaph displays the names of the fallen, and is guarded by stone sculptures of machine gunners.
The Spinnaker Tower at Gunwharf Quays was completed in 2005. The tower is 552 ft tall and features viewing decks at sea level, 325 ft, 341 ft and 357 ft. There are annual tickets available which are excellent value for money.
Other tourist attractions include the birthplace of Charles Dickens, the Blue Reef Aquarium (formerly the Sea Life Centre), Cumberland House (a natural history museum) and Southsea Castle. Southsea's seafront is also home to Clarence Pier Amusement Park.
