NOSTALGIA: Portsmouth homes built from clay beneath football ground

It was spurred by the two pictures published by my colleague Bob Hind, reprinted on the right and with an old map of the area, below.

But Mike Fooks, from Portchester, might just have solved the question.

He says: ‘I thought I’d do a bit of lazy modern day sleuthing to locate the sight on a modern map.

‘Using Google Earth [image below] it was easy to identify the large building in the left background as Copnor Primary School which then identified the fence as being beside the railway line.

‘From there it was an easy step to place the men at the modern site of Moneyfields Sports Centre, probably at the nearest corner of the football pitch.

‘The houses in Seafield Road and Highgate Road match those in the photograph exactly,’ says Mike.

It is fascinating to think how many thousands of footballers have taken to the field at Moneyfields never realising for a moment that they are playing on land which once provided bricks to build the surrounding houses.

•All the students in the final picture were Portsmouth lads at the Royal Naval Dockyard School, plus staff. The year was 1949/50.

The picture comes from R Parvin, of Hill Head, Fareham, who says: ‘The school was renowned for its extremely high academic standards.

‘Many of these won university scholarships and were much sought after by employers and government agencies.’

Mr Parvin adds: ‘It would be interesting to try to identify them today, to see how their lives turned out and to discover more of the history and reputation of this remarkable school.’

Over to you...