Tales from Edwardian Portsmouth to make your toes curl | Nostalgia

Paul Newell has produced another of his marvellous books on Portsmouth’s colourful past.
The cover of Shocking Tales From Edwardian Portsmouth.The cover of Shocking Tales From Edwardian Portsmouth.
The cover of Shocking Tales From Edwardian Portsmouth.

His first, Letters of the 19th Century, was superb but I found his second, Shocking Tales of Victorian Portsmouth, hard work with over-long anecdotes.

But I am glad to say Paul is back to his best with more than 300 stories across 140 pages in his new book Shocking Tales From Edwardian Portsmouth. Murders, child cruelty, lonely deaths, a fatal fire at the Queen’s Hotel, seedy restaurants and accidents in the dockyard are just some of the stories Paul has discovered.

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SEE ALSO: While you’re here, you might be interested in this: ‘1988 – the year Portsmouth went construction crazy’

Portsmouth Grammar School Cadet Corps in 1899. Picture: Courtesy John Sadden.Portsmouth Grammar School Cadet Corps in 1899. Picture: Courtesy John Sadden.
Portsmouth Grammar School Cadet Corps in 1899. Picture: Courtesy John Sadden.

It’s a well-researched book in which you might even find some of your family’s ancestors named. It’s available from New To You Books, High Street, Cosham, at £15.

• Last week’s pictures of the Portsmouth Grammar School Combined Cadet Force was seen by Gerald Banks.

He was one of the boys on parade that day being inspected by none other than Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. Gerald was 14 and a cadet able seaman in the navy section.

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He says: ‘I remember the day well – it was very hot, and Monty gave permission for sections of the contingent not being inspected to sit on the grass. As the inspection party moved towards me, I was concentrating hard on keeping perfectly still and as straight-backed as possible.

A sight to break the hearts of any battleship men. The 16-inch guns of HMS Vanguard.  Picture: The News archiveA sight to break the hearts of any battleship men. The 16-inch guns of HMS Vanguard.  Picture: The News archive
A sight to break the hearts of any battleship men. The 16-inch guns of HMS Vanguard. Picture: The News archive

‘Then to my horror I realised the party had stopped in front of me, and Monty was talking to me. He had a strangely high-pitched voice and made virtually no use of his lips when speaking, so to this day I have no idea what he said. However, it seemed that a response was expected, so I guessed that "Yes, sir" was the reply most likely to cover the possibilities. Anyway, he seemed satisfied and moved on. I still have a copy of the programme for the day which shows the date as Friday, May 31, 1963 – not June 1.

'While I was a pupil at PGS it was a requirement that all boys joined the Combined Cadet Force. We fell loosely into one of two groups – those who aspired to a military career and took CCF matters seriously, with standards of turnout and drill which would not have disgraced a Guards regiment.

‘The other group – me included – were reluctant conscripts who would have preferred other pastimes and just kept out of trouble as much as possible. In retrospect, however, I think everyone benefited from the experience.’

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• These chunks of iron, third picture, were once the 15in Mk1 guns belonging to the last battleship in the Royal Navy, HMS Vanguard.

The picture shows all that was left of the guns after the oxy-propane cutting equipment had done its business.

Vanguard was towed from Portsmouth on August 4, 1960, to Faslane, Scotland, but not before losing her tow and running adrift at Point, Old Portsmouth.

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