20 years ago
prison in England and Wales to hold elderly prisoners serving life sentences.
It must have been one of the few prisons to have its own football pitch – where I refereed on several occasions. Of course, the prison team only ever played at home.
It closed March 2014. In days past when Portsmouth did things in a big way there was a Coronation tree planting ceremony on Portsdown Hill and along Copnor Road to celebrate the Coronation of King George VI in 1937.
Councillor F.J. Spickernell can be seen doing the honours on Portsdown Hill, below right. Does anyone know if these trees survive?
The picture, on the opposite page, shows the sleeping arrangements for petty officers at the barracks in Queen Street, Portsea.
They slept in their living area, called a mess deck, in hammocks slung between heavy duty joists. One can be seen on the left.
This form of sleeping on ships ceased in the 1960s. I am told that they were very comfortable, especially if a ship was in stormy weather when the sailors would be rocked to sleep. Clean seas campaigners won their battle to force Southern Water to clean up the Solent – thanks to the humble oyster. The company was told by the government it had to install ultraviolet equipment capable of destroying up to 99.9 per cent of all sewage-related bacteria, at Budd’s Farm, Havant, and Peel Common, on the Gosport peninsula, by 2005. 1834: The six Tolpuddle Martyrs, who fought the decline of agricultural wages, were sentenced to seven years’ transportation to Tasmania. Public outcry had them released after two years. 1932: Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened. 1988: Two British soldiers who blundered into an IRA funeral cortege in West Belfast were killed by a lynch mob. 1992: Buckingham Palace confirmed that the Duchess of York was seeking a divorce from Prince Andrew, exactly six years after announcing their engagement. BIRTHDAYS: Ursula Andress, actress, 83; Glenn Close, actress, 72; Bruce Willis, actor, 64; Terry Hall, singer (The Specials), 60.