Our home city of Portsmouth is the UK’s only island city. In addition to access to the sea making it ideal as a naval port it has natural defences from the elements and from attack, one of which is the hilly ridge to the north of it, Portsdown Hill. This hill is a geological upwards fold of sedimentary rock which brings cretaceous period chalk to the surface and from the top of it you get a great view over the city and the Isle of Wight to the south, and when the weather is clear, a view to the north that can make out Butser Hill, the highest point on the South Downs which has a similar geological make-up.
The use of Portsmouth as a naval port, however, has also necessitated man-made defences to further protect the city in the past, and in the latter half of the nineteenth century the Palmerston Forts were constructed. The forts were never used as intended as the threat from France dissipated soon after the ring of defensive fortifications was completed but anti-aircraft emplacements were added during World War II and some of the forts were given over to secure bunkers during the Cold War. The eastmost of the forts, Fort Purbrook, is often used as a location for craft fairs these days and it was to one of these that we went in October 2006 during which the following photos were taken looking in all directions from the brick walls.
