Pevsner's view

Portsmouth in 1965 is, as a whole, muddled and visually squalid; it still has the chance to make itself something very different, and much better, before the end of the C20.

Taken from 'The Buildings of England' by Pevsner and Lloyd, 1967

Portsmouth Airport

‘I am glad that Portsmouth has shown her wisdom in providing a municipal airport now and I am confident that her foresight will be fully justified by the event’

The Marques of Londonderry, Secretary of State for Air, writing on the opening of Portsmouth Airport, July 2 1932. Portsmouth was the eighth municipal airport in the British Isles.

Fratton Road

Fratton Road follows one of the ancient trackways off Portsea Island. By the late 1920s it was too narrow, greatly congested and dangerous. Action was needed so in 1929 it was upgraded to a 50ft widethorough fare by setting back all the houses and shops on the east side - a major civic initiative. The new wide road was opened with great pomp and ceremony on July 22.

The Camperdown

On 22 June 1893 HMS Victoria and HMS Camperdown catastrophically collided in good weather and sank off the coast of Africa resulting in the loss of 360 officers and men. Sir George Tyron, the Admiral of the Fleet, who had given the bizarre order that caused the accident, uttered the last words, ‘It is entirely my fault, entirely my fault’. It was.

The whole country subscribed to a fund for the relief of the resultant widows and orphans, most of whom belonged to Portsmouth.

The first retractable undercarriage

A disaster at Portsmouth Airport was averted in April 1933 when the first commercial aircraft with a retractable undercarriage to be produced in England, a six seater monoplane called the Courier, was on a test flight. Flt Lt GH Stainforth showed exceptional skill when he suffered a complete engine failure at 300ft whilst taking off into an easterly wind towards the mud flats of Langstone Harbour. Stainforth managed to turn the aircraft, lower the undercarriage and land back safely down wind. The failure was due to a defect in the fuel system.

Portsmouth Records Office I169

Cascades

This shopping arcade in Portsmouth was opened in September 1989 and cemented Commercial Road as the main shopping area in the City. Its design followed a national trend and is unremarkable although interesting facts from the City’s past are used in the interior decoration.
http://www.cascades-shopping.co.uk/about

Arundel Street

This area of Portsmouth was once owned by the Earls of Arundel giving name ro Arundel Street. The basin of the Portsmouth - Arundel canal also stood on this site.