NOSTALGIA: An idyllic scene, for sure, but does anyone know where it is?

This marvellous photograph of an early Portsmouth scene shows just how wonderful it must have been living in the peace and quiet of Hilsea.
The new road, Porrtsmouth, but which one? Can you help identify the place in this photo from the Robert James collection?The new road, Porrtsmouth, but which one? Can you help identify the place in this photo from the Robert James collection?
The new road, Porrtsmouth, but which one? Can you help identify the place in this photo from the Robert James collection?

The caption on the postcard, pictured above, states it is the new road into Portsmouth, but I’m really not sure where it is exactly.

Can anyone say to be exact? It is obviously not New Road, Landport.

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Perhaps the large buildings to the left and the one hidden in the trees can give someone a clue.

HMS Medina heads for India for the DurbaHMS Medina heads for India for the Durba
HMS Medina heads for India for the Durba

Perhaps they are part of Hilsea Barracks and this is Copnor Road?

n Although a Royal Mail Ship built for the London to Australia route, the RMS Medina’s maiden voyage was as a royal yacht and she was commissioned into the Royal Navy to take King George V and Queen Mary to India for the Delhi Durbar.

An extra mast was fitted to maintain Royal Standard flag etiquette, pictured below.

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She left Portsmouth on November 11, 1911, returning to the city in February the following year.

Dunkirk veteran and former Hayling Island ferry, Folkestone Belle was built in 1928 as she was when under the guise of the Southsea BelleDunkirk veteran and former Hayling Island ferry, Folkestone Belle was built in 1928 as she was when under the guise of the Southsea Belle
Dunkirk veteran and former Hayling Island ferry, Folkestone Belle was built in 1928 as she was when under the guise of the Southsea Belle

In the photo we see her passing the Round Tower, a scene replicated by so many ships so many times before and since.

n Last Thursday I wrote about the Dunkirk veteran Folkestone Belle, a former Hayling ferry which was commandeered by the Royal Navy for the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940. After the war, she returned to ferrying service, below right.

She later had a name change to Southsea Belle and was used for taking tourists and locals on sightseeing trips around Portsmouth Harbour for which, I stated, she still plied her trade.

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Unfortunately the information was not up to date and thanks to a Hayling Island reader I can put the record straight.

You will never guess but this is looking north up a well-disguised Portsmouth Harbour during the Second World WarYou will never guess but this is looking north up a well-disguised Portsmouth Harbour during the Second World War
You will never guess but this is looking north up a well-disguised Portsmouth Harbour during the Second World War

The Southsea Belle is now up in Scotland being refurbished to her original state and given her original name.

The boat was presented to boat preservation company, The Spirit of Dunkirk, in 2009 along with two other Dunkirk veterans, Alusia and Anne.

The aim is to bring all the boats back to the condition they were in at the time of Dunkirk so they all sail again across the Channel in 2020 for the 80th anniversary to remember the miracle that was Dunkirk.

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n These days, Photoshop is a way of altering a photograph to make the scene look different.

HMS Medina heads for India for the DurbaHMS Medina heads for India for the Durba
HMS Medina heads for India for the Durba

Below is a photograph of the submarine HMS Porpoise going astern, perhaps somewhere in Scotland by the look of the hills in the distance.

In fact the submarine is going astern out of HMS Dolphin over in Gosport during World War Two and Portsmouth Dockyard has been disguised with the hills to discourage enemy agents.