What did they do with all the guts from these birds?
The language might seem old-fashioned, but that is the way it would have been described when this part of the fortifications of Portsmouth (now Old Portsmouth) were built.
If we could look through the gate we would be peering on to St George’s Road, Portsea. On this side of the gate were moats and ravelins to protect the town.
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Hide AdIt is now the arena for HMS Temeraire’s sports ground and the running track is located this side of the gate.
Nelson would have passed through this gate for the last time about 6am on the morning of September 14, 1805.
He then stopped at the George Hotel in High Street before later boarding HMS Victory for death and glory at the Battle of Trafalgar.
I was hoping to take a then-and-now photo of the gate. Unfortunately the navy would not let me in to take the picture.
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Hide AdThe amazing display of chickens and turkeys was captured outside a Portsmouth butcher’s in Edwardian times and is one of the most famous pictures ever taken in the city.
A question I always ask is: what did they do with all the guts from the birds? There must have been binloads.
That, of course, is not to mention the feathers, as I understand the birds were plucked on the premises.
The telegram was sent by Harry Blaxhall to his parents after the Battle of Jutland telling his parents he had survived the battle and was ‘quite safe’.
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Hide AdIt was sent to me by Ian of the HMS Lowestoft Association who tells me that Harry was his wife’s grandfather.
At the time he was a 17-year old Royal Marine Bandsman serving in HMS Lion, the flagship to Admiral Beatty.
After naval service he joined the Admiralty Police in Portsmouth Dockyard.
He died at Fareham in 1969.