Pompey Harbour

Finally we made it to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard!

The Waverley: built 1946

HMS Warrior 1860:

HMS Victory: launched 1765

over 2000 oak tree, 27 miles of rope rigging, 4 acres of canvas sails total cost £63,176 which is about £50million today

The Mary Rose: lanched 1511

in service for 34 years, underwater for 437 years and after 35 years out of the water it should have dried out.

The Mary Rose was by far the most enjoyable exhibition for me.  When I was a nipper a chap came into our primary school and told us all about the Mary Rose. He was one of the many divers involved in it.  When they went down they found all sorts of things and some of them are on show:

They had human skeletons there too!

It was fascinating learning about the shoulder blades of archers!  At the time there was a law that made every fit male in England practice with a bow from an early age. Amongst the human remains found with the Mary Rose there were individuals with changes to their shoulder blades and back (bone density) which could be a result of drawing heavy longbows.  The English and Welsh archers were feared for the speed, skill and strength.