REMEMBER WHEN: Cannon-climbing mischief along Clarence Esplanade

I often wonder how many of you can remember having a night out and a drink in the Seahorse Bars alongside the fair on Clarence Pier in the 1960s and 1970s.
By The Newsroom
Published 9th Mar 2017, 08:53 BST
Updated 24th Mar 2017, 10:56 BST
An Edwardian view along Clarence Esplanade. Today, health and safety regulations would have those boys off the cannon. Picture taken from Barry Coxs collectionAn Edwardian view along Clarence Esplanade. Today, health and safety regulations would have those boys off the cannon. Picture taken from Barry Coxs collection
An Edwardian view along Clarence Esplanade. Today, health and safety regulations would have those boys off the cannon. Picture taken from Barry Coxs collection

This is a view that could be seen from the panoramic windows, although somewhat different to this scene.

Pictured right is the scene some fifty years earlier in Edwardian times. The lads climbing on the cannon would, no doubt, be in big trouble with today’s health and safety laws.

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Everything in our next photograph photograph has now disappeared from view. We see a trolleybus approaching Fratton Bridge, where it would turn right and pass down Goldsmith Avenue.

A trolleybus approaches Fratton Bridge from Victoria Road North. Picture from Barry CoxA trolleybus approaches Fratton Bridge from Victoria Road North. Picture from Barry Cox
A trolleybus approaches Fratton Bridge from Victoria Road North. Picture from Barry Cox

The Provincial Bank to the left and all associated buildings have been demolished and are under the large roundabout just south of Fratton Bridge. Much missed days, eh?

If you visit Portchester Castle today, everything is clean-cut and free of weeds. It was not always like this.

In a view from 1916, we can see the banqueting hall when it was overgrown with weeds, and shrubbery shrouded its walls. The castle is a Grade I listed building and has been in the ownership of the Southwick Estate come the 17th century.

It is now managed by English Heritage.

The banqueting hall in Portchester Castle before the removal of shrubbery. Picture taken from Ellis Norrells collectionThe banqueting hall in Portchester Castle before the removal of shrubbery. Picture taken from Ellis Norrells collection
The banqueting hall in Portchester Castle before the removal of shrubbery. Picture taken from Ellis Norrells collection
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Our final photo was taken by John Apps in 1959 from the bow of a Gosport ferry.

We are looking along dockyard mooring points. The ships have long gone into history.

From the right and behind the bows of the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle tied up at South Railway jetty, we have the Semaphore Tower. Behind the bridge of the carrier are the masts and spars of HMS Victory.

We then have the floating crane: a more than useful item in the dockyard of the past. Passing the floating crane is the Whitby-class frigate HMS Tenby. In 1967, the filming of the fake funeral of James Bond in You Only Live Twice was filmed on board the Tenby at Gibraltar.

At the far left of the photograph on North Corner, the Tiger-class light cruiser HMS Blake can be seen. She was the last ship in the Royal Navy to fire a six-inch gun.

Related topics:Edwardian