Extravaganza marks end of celebrations
Portsmouth's ten-day Tudor festivities ended last night in a Southsea seafront spectacular.
More than 7,000 people at Castle Field last night watched an extravaganza of dance, fireworks and bonfire, marking the end of the city's Henry 500 celebrations.
They saw youngsters from secondary schools across the city dance, rap and act, around a model of the Mary Rose.
Actors performed on the ship, before others danced on the field walls, including a sequence of Parkour, known today as 'free running', but originally taught to naval cadets to ensure they were strong and agile enough to survive on battleships' rigging.
In a breathtaking finale, the ship burst into flames, sending fireworks screaming into the night sky.
The intense heat saw many people at the front of the crowd moved back, but there were few complaints from the awed spectators.
Blair Docherty, 22, a Portsmouth University student, said: 'It got pretty hot when the ship burned, but it was brilliant.'
The bonfire marked the end of Portsmouth Festivities, which this year celebrated three 500th anniversaries: of King Henry VIII's accession to the throne on June 26, 1509, of the new king's 18th birthday on June 28, 1509, and of his commissioning of the Mary Rose in the same year.
Hypnotherapist Matt Wingett, 40, of Southsea, said: 'It was fantastic. It was wonderful because it brought together people of all ages. The young people dancing were amazing and performed to youngsters as well as adults. It's excellent because it is the new, like Spinnaker Tower, and the old, like the Mary Rose, that make Portsmouth what it is.'
Melvin Parker, 77, of Southsea, said: 'We go to France often and they are big on pyrotechnics, but this was as good as anything I've seen. The fireworks and the collapse of the ship at the end were wonderful. The young people should be very proud. Everyone who organised it and performed should be delighted.'
One organiser, Portsmouth Festivities chairman James Priory said: 'This was a big step for us. We're delighted. I was spellbound. The dancers were fantastic and the ship and fireworks were spectacular. This was the perfect end.'
HOW King HENRY VIII SHAPED MODERN CITY
King Henry VIII helped shape modern Portsmouth more than any other monarch.
It was with his accession in 1509 that the town changed from a tiny fishing port with some wooden fortifications to the nation's naval centre.
He had the Mary Rose built at Portsmouth – the first and only one of his warships to be built outside London – from 1509 to 1511.
And in 1545 he watched from Southsea Common as it capsized and sank on its way to engage French forces in the Solent, close to the Isle of Wight.
The ship, one of the first to be able to fire a broadside, was raised from the seabed 437 years later in 1982.
Today, at Portsmouth Dock, it is the only 16th century warship on display anywhere in the world.
Almost every street in Old Portsmouth dates from Henry VIII's reign, as he made Portsmouth the base of his navy.
He began by rebuilding a wooden Round Tower, dating from 1426, with stone, then raised a square tower, and assisted Robert Brygandine and Sir Reginald Bray in the construction of the country's first dry dock. In 1513, he built four breweries where Portsmouth Grammar School now stands, to supply ale for his fleet.
In 1529, he extended the Dockyard and 10 years later, as part of the dissolution of the monasteries, closed the town's Domus Dei hospital, which was on land behind what is now the Royal Garrison Church.
A year later, in 1540, he granted the town the official status of Naval Dockyard.
In 1544, using money from the dissolution, he built Southsea Castle.
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Weather for Portsmouth
Sunday 12 February 2012
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