REMEMBER WHEN: Bases for bombed-out families following Blitz

In the map with highlights, pictured on the right, we can see the locations of four of the five camps in the Bedhampton and Leigh Park area during the Second World War.
By The Newsroom
Published 9th Mar 2017, 09:15 BST
Updated 24th Mar 2017, 10:57 BST
The locations of five camps in the Bedhampton and Leigh Park area. Four of the camps were for naval useThe locations of five camps in the Bedhampton and Leigh Park area. Four of the camps were for naval use
The locations of five camps in the Bedhampton and Leigh Park area. Four of the camps were for naval use

Stockheath Naval Camp can be seen at the top and Belmont Camp can be seen on the far left. To the far right is West Leigh Camp.

At the top in the centre is HMS Daedalus III, and below that is Fraser Camp. This camp was built especially for the bombed-out people who had become homeless in Portsmouth, following the serious blitz in the city which ran from 1940 into 1941.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Each hut was originally meant to sleep as many as 24 people, but were never used. After the war, with so many servicemen and their families not having anywhere to live, they were taken over for several years and used until the Leigh Park housing estate was built.

oor boys outside John Pounds workshop in St Marys Street, Old Portsmouth. Picture kindly loaned from Barry Coxs collectionoor boys outside John Pounds workshop in St Marys Street, Old Portsmouth. Picture kindly loaned from Barry Coxs collection
oor boys outside John Pounds workshop in St Marys Street, Old Portsmouth. Picture kindly loaned from Barry Coxs collection

The full story on all of the camps can be read in the reprint of my book, The Naval Camps of Bedhampton & Leigh Park.

Next up is a lovely hand-tinted photo of Purbrook Church which is more than a century old.

It was sent to a Mrs J Scoot, of 51 Paxton Road, Fareham in April 1911.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Such was the post in the days, the sender had written that everyone had arrived home safely and they would see Mrs Scott again on the following Thursday.

This hand-tinted photograph of Purbrook Church, from Ellis Norrells collection, is more than a century oldThis hand-tinted photograph of Purbrook Church, from Ellis Norrells collection, is more than a century old
This hand-tinted photograph of Purbrook Church, from Ellis Norrells collection, is more than a century old

Our next photograph must be one of the oldest photographs of John Pounds workshop, Old Portsmouth, in existence.

It is of course where poor boys of the district were educated and fed by the cobbler, which led to the creation of the ‘ragged schools’.

As can be seen by the state of the boys the dress very poorly indeed.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Finally is a postcard that also must be nearly a century old, which shows sailors on a day out to a pub near Rowlands Castle.

Sailors on a trip out to the Staunton Arms, near Rowlands Castle. Picture from Ellis Norrells collectionSailors on a trip out to the Staunton Arms, near Rowlands Castle. Picture from Ellis Norrells collection
Sailors on a trip out to the Staunton Arms, near Rowlands Castle. Picture from Ellis Norrells collection

It must have been like being in a ship’s boat as the charabang – a colloquial British name for the French charabanc – looked like a boat on wheels.

The sailors are out for the day and have stopped for a drink at the Staunton Arms which was then at a location called Whichers Gate Crossroads, near Rowlands Castle.

The crossroads have since been replaced by a double roundabout.

Located out in the countryside, a visit to the pub must have made a change from being on the high seas.

Related topics:BedhamptonOld Portsmouth