Portsmouth
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Portsmouth at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by the Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of pounds.
The millennium project to build the Spinnaker Tower at Gunwharf Quays was completed in 2005. The tower is 552 ft tall and features viewing decks at sea level, 325 ft, 341 ft and 357 ft.
Other tourist attractions include the birthplace of Charles Dickens, the Blue Reef Aquarium (formerly the Sea Life Centre), Cumberland House (a natural history museum), The Royal Marines Museum and Southsea Castle. Southsea's seafront is also home to Clarence Pier Amusement Park.
English Heritage and the Ministry of Defence are in the process of turning the Portsmouth Block Mills into a museum.
Places of worship
Portsmouth is unusual among British cities in having two cathedrals; the Anglican cathedral of St Thomas, in Old Portsmouth, and the Roman Catholic cathedral of St John the Evangelist, in Edinburgh Road, Portsea.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth was founded in 1882 by Pope Leo XIII. Vatican policy in England at the time was to found sees in locations other than those used for Anglican cathedrals, and the Ecclesiastical Titles Act forbade a Catholic bishop from bearing the same title as one in the established church. Accordingly, Portsmouth was chosen in preference to Winchester.
In 1927 the Church of England diocese of Winchester was divided, and St Thomas's Anglican Church became the cathedral for the newly created Diocese of Portsmouth. When St Mary's Church, Portsea, was rebuilt in Victorian times, it had been envisaged that it might be the cathedral if Portsmouth became the seat of a bishop, but St Thomas's was given the honour because of its historic status.
Another historic old Portsmouth church, the Garrison Church, was bombed during World War II with the nave left roofless as a memorial. Of more modern buildings, St Philip's Cosham is cited as a fine example of Ninian Comper's work. There are numerous other active churches and places of worship throughout the city. There are several Mosques, a Synagogue and a Jewish cemetery in the city.
Transport and communications
Bus services
Local bus services are provided by First Hampshire & Dorset and Stagecoach serving the city of Portsmouth and the surroundings of Havant, Leigh Park, Waterlooville, Fareham, Petersfield and long distance service 700 to Chichester, Worthing and Brighton. National Express services from Portsmouth run mainly from The Hard Interchange to London, Cornwall, Bradford, Birkenhead and Eastbourne. Many bus services also stop at The Hard Interchange. Other bus services run from Commercial Road North and Commercial Road South. A new bus station has been proposed next to Portsmouth & Southsea Station replacing Commercial Road South bus stops and new bus stops and taxi ranks on Andrew Bell Street to replace the Commercial Road North bus stops when the Northern Quarter Development is built.
Light rapid transit and monorail
There is an ongoing debate on the development of public transport structure, with monorails and light rail both being considered. A light rail link to Gosport has been authorised but is unlikely to go ahead following the refusal of funding by the Department for Transport in November 2005. The monorail scheme is unlikely to proceed following the withdrawal of official support for the proposal by Portsmouth City Council, after the development's promoters failed to progress the scheme to agreed timetables.
Roads
There are three road links to the mainland. These are the M275, A3 (London Road) and A2030 (Eastern Road). The M27 has a junction connecting to the M275 into Portsmouth. The A27 has a westbound exit onto the A3 (London Road) and a junction onto the A2030 (Eastern Road). The A3(M) is small part of motorway which runs from Bedhampton north to Horndean.
Cycling
The city is connected to Route 2 of the National Cycle Network.
Railways
The city has several mainline railway stations, on two different direct South West Trains routes to London Waterloo, via Guildford and via Basingstoke. There is also a South West Trains stopping service to Southampton Central, and a service by First Great Western to Cardiff Central via Southampton, Bath and Bristol. Southern also offer services to Brighton and London Victoria.
Portsmouth's stations are (in order, out of the city): Portsmouth Harbour, Portsmouth and Southsea, Fratton, Hilsea and Cosham (the last being on the mainland).
Ferries
Portsmouth Harbour has passenger ferry links to Gosport and the Isle of Wight. A car ferry service to the Isle of Wight operated by Wightlink is nearby. Britain's longest-standing commercial hovercraft service, begun in the 1960s, still runs from near Clarence Pier to Ryde, Isle of Wight, operated by Hovertravel.
Portsmouth Continental Ferry Port has links to Caen, Cherbourg-Octeville, St Malo and Le Havre in France, Bilbao in Spain and the Channel Islands. Ferry services from the port are operated by Brittany Ferries, P&O Ferries, Condor Ferries and LD Lines. On 18 May 2006 Acciona Trasmediterranea started a service to Bilbao in competition with P&O’s existing service. This service got off to a bad start when the ferry Fortuny was detained in Portsmouth by the MCA for numerous safety breaches. The faults were quickly corrected by Acciona and the service took its first passengers from Portsmouth on the 25 May 2006. During 2007 AT Ferries withdrew the Bilbao service at short notice, citing the need to deploy the Fortuny elsewhere. The port is the second busiest ferry port in the UK after Dover handling around 3 million passengers a year and has direct access to the M275.
Airports
The nearest airport is Southampton which is approximately 20-30 minutes away by motorway, with a indirect South West Trains rail connection requiring a change at Southampton Central or Eastleigh.
Heathrow and Gatwick are both about 60-90 minutes away by motorway. Gatwick is directly linked by Southern services to London Victoria, whilst Heathrow is linked by coach to Woking, which is on both rail lines to London Waterloo, or by tube to either Victoria or Waterloo. Heathrow is directly linked to Portsmouth by National Express coaches.
Portsmouth had an airport with grass runway from 1932 to 1973; after its closure, housing, industrial sites, retail areas and a school were built on the site.
Communications
The telephone area code for Portsmouth is 023 followed by an eight digit number (usually beginning with 92), and was previously (01705), and before that (0705).
Future developments
- HMNB Portsmouth
- Southsea
- Ferrol Spanish Armada (1588)
- Portsmouth Sinfonia
- Old Portsmouth
References
- ^ "Resident Population Estimates by Ethnic Group". Office for National Statistics (2005). Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
- ^ BBC NEWS | England | Hampshire | Pompey buck unfashionable trend
- ^ Oxford Dictionary of Place names
- ^ "The liberty of Portsmouth and Portsea Island: Introduction" (1908). Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
- ^ a b Portsmouth City Council , (www.civicheraldry.co.uk), accessed February 25, 2008
- ^ ABROAD AGAIN IN BRITAIN, BBC
- ^ "Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson 1758 - 1805". Portsmouth City Council's Economy, Culture and Community Safety. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
- ^ ABROAD AGAIN IN BRITAIN, BBC
- ^ "GALLERY: Defences that were never tested". Official website of Portsmouth (2007-08-01). Retrieved on 2008-06-12.
- ^ "The Dockyard at War". Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
- ^ London Gazette : no. 33154, pages 2776–2777, April 23, 1926. Retrieved on 2008-04-18.
- ^ J. V. Beckett, City Status in the British Isles, 1830-2002 , London, 2005
- ^ Portsmouth's Coat of Arms , Portsmouth City Council, accessed February 25, 2008
- ^ "Details on the construction of the new carriers". MoD. Retrieved on 2007-07-28.
- ^ "Details on the construction of the new carriers". BBC News. Retrieved on 2007-07-28.
- ^ "Details on the merger of VT GRoup and BAe's ship building divisions". VT Group. Retrieved on 2007-07-28.
- ^ BBC South Today and local newspaper The News
- ^ See History of Portsmouth for a list of references for this table.
- ^ Office of National Statistics
- ^ Portsmouth City Council
- ^ BBC South Today 11/4/08
- ^ "The pride and tears of D-Day". The News (2006-10-12). Retrieved on 2007-06-08.
- ^ British Crime Survey
- ^ 'Minimum rape risk' posed in city, BBC News Online , 23 May 2006, accessed 22 June 2007
- ^ British Crime Survey
- ^ 'Minimum rape risk' po
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