Forts, Forests and our Naval Force at Anchor

Portsmouth is Britain's most densely populated area, perhaps because it is trapped on its island and can't sprawl for miles over the countryside. Mainland Portsmouth does exist, but the spread of houses is kept in check by the wall of chalk that is Portsdown Hill. In the morning we'll walk along the hill's crest, follow the chain of Victorian forts that were built to defend the harbour, and admire the view of Portsea Island, Portsmouth Harbour, the Solent and the Isle of Wight. In the afternoon we'll descend for a pub lunch at the village of Southwick, a settlement so shielded from the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, that it comes as a surprise that Portsmouth is so close.

The sights:

Portsdown Hill: A long chalk ridge that reaches only 131m above sea level but offers superb views to the south over Portsmouth, the Solent, Hayling Island and Gosport, with the Isle of Wight beyond. To the north lies the Forest of Bere (a vestigial royal forest), with the South Downs visible in the distance. The chalk downland is an SSSI and lining the top are Victorian forts and active military research establishments, including one of the core sites of DSTL (Defence Science and Technology Laboratory) and QinetiQ.

Portsdown Hill Forts: An 1859 Royal Commission concluded that Portsmouth was vulnerable to an enemy attack from inland (new rifled gun barrels enabled an invading army to land elsewhere, circle around to the top of the hill and bombard the city from there). As a result, six forts were built along the ridge between 1860 and 1871. But the threat from Napoleon III of France failed to materialise and they were nicknamed 'Palmerston's Follies'. They did find use as anti-aircraft gun emplacements in World War II. We'll see Fort Widley, Fort Southwick  and Fort Nelson. 

Fort Nelson: Completed in 1871, grade I-listed. Run as a museum of artillery since 1994 by the Royal Armouries. A fantastic free museum which you can visit on a different occasion. Exhibits include C15 bombards and a huge C15 Turkish cannon, French field guns captured at Waterloo, parts of the Iraqi supergun and two of Mallet's Mortars (1850s), one of which is visible from outside. These had the biggest bore of any gun ever. Alongside the Mallet's Mortar is a gun from a George V-class battleship (1939) capable of firing a shell 47 km (28 miles).

Nelson Monument: The fort is named after the Nelson Monument which stands adjacent. 37 m tall on a granite base and overlooking Portsmouth Harbour. Completed in 1807, two years after the Battle of Trafalgar, by John Thomas Groves. Modelled on the Aksum (Axum) Stele in Ethiopia. It was paid for out of two days' pay from all the survivors of Trafalgar and a public prize fund.

Southwick: A pretty village quite isolated from the Solent's urban sprawl despite being very close to it. The site of Southwick Priory (C12), a few walls of which can be seen. Still entirely owned by the Southwick Estate, so all the houses have dark red-painted front doors. Only the White House, the vicarage, and Church Lodge are exceptions. St James' Church is Grade I-listed. An immaculate building, largely rebuilt in 1566, but in Georgian times was given a west gallery with barley twist wooden columns, upholstered box pews, three decker pulpit and reredos with Baroque painting.

Southwick's D-Day Connections: Southwick House (1813, rebuilt 1841) was requisitioned in World War II to be Dwight Eisenhower's headquarters for Operation Overlord (the D-Day landings). The Golden Lion pub became an unofficial officers' mess with the lounge bar used by Eisenhower, other American generals, Montgomery, Prince Philip, Earl Mountbatten and Jan Smuts. Sadly the Golden Lion is a bit pricey, so we're booked in at The Red Lion, also in the village. 

The route (car users click here; train users click here (the route is the the same except for the extension from and to Cosham Station for train users)):

Those using the train will walk up Cosham High Street, cross the A3 and use the B2177 to ascend Portsdown Hill to meet those who came by car beside Fort Widley. We'll all then walk west along Portsdown Hill as far as Fort Nelson using its grassy areas, pavements and roadside verges. At Monument Lane will descend north to Boarhunt. At Ashley Down Farm, we'll use a footpath to go to Southwick, crossing over the B2177. We'll walk north along Fareham Road, then east along West Street and go to the pub on the High Street. After lunch, we'll walk along the High Street then pick up the Pilgrim's Trail to go to Pitymoor Lane. A footpath heading east through Sawyer's Wood will take us to Pigeon House Lane and another footpath will take us to Potwell Farm and Mill Lane. We'll ascend to go back to the car park beside Fort Widley. Those who took the train will then retrace their steps to go back to Cosham.

Dogs:

I love having dogs on my walks and this one is suitable for them as it is short and has few fields with livestock. Some of the route is along lanes so dogs may need to go on leads. Your dog must be responsive if it is off the lead. 

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(Images: Fort Widley from North, with Portsmouth, Isle of Wight, and Solent: Photo © Hunanuk (cc-by-sa/4.0); Portsmouth from Portsdown Hill: Photo © Marathon (cc-by-sa/2.0). These images are copyrighted but are here credited to their copyright holders and are licensed for reuse under Creative Commons CC-BY-SA/2.0 or Creative Commons CC-BY-SA/4.0. All the other images were taken by the leader in December 2022.)