There was a lot going on in Portsmouth and Southsea this Bank Holiday Weekend
The venue, on Southsea Common
The Three Belles, singing ‘Beat me Daddy, Eight to the Bar’
Could almost have been The Andrews Sisters… 😉
The vocal accompianists to the Pete Weston Swing Band
Getting into the swing of things… 🙂
‘I want to be a singer when I grow up, Mummy..’…and dig that tattoo… 😉
“New York, New York”…
Southsea’s splendid South Parade Pier…
One of the advantages of having a partner who runs her own shop, is that, in return for some shop-window advertising, she gets complimentary tickets for itinerant acts such as circuses that pitch up on Southsea Common during the summer months. So it was, we found ourselves in the Big Top of Gerry Cottle’s WOW! Circus this week, being entertained by clowns, illusionists, jugglers, trapeze artists and the like, and it was a very enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours. Alas, my camera batteries ran out very early on, so there are only a couple of photos from inside the Big Top :(. Never mind, I’ll make sure I’m better prepared next time ;).
First though here, I want to post up a few pictures from the ‘Lions Heart Mural 2007, In memory of Rachel Lyons’, on an electricity substation building on Southsea Common…
Rachel Lyons died in December 2006…
…unexpectedly at the age of 26…
…and was an amateur artist who helped design this mural, and hence its subsequent dedication to her…
And so, on to the Circus…:)
Entry wasn’t entirely free for the pair of us; we were obliged to buy a programme each, at three quid a time…
There were a nominal 50 acts performed in 100 minutes…
There was a fifteen minute interval, during which my partner nipped off, with a child-like spontaniety, to buy us some candy floss…must have been the influence of all those excited kids around us 😉
The final act was the Hegyi Brothers from Hungary, performing stunts on the rotating Wheel of Death…scary stuff…
Yes, we agreed it was a great couple of hours’ entertainment, as we wandered home together beneath the evening’s full moon :).
Pink Rose, Festing Road
Canoe Lake, Southsea
Angel statue, Canoe Lake
War memorial, near Canoe Lake
Relaxing on Southsea beach, and with Ryde, Isle of Wight, on the distant shoreline
South Parade Pier, Southsea
Sea watching, Southsea seafront
Seafront near Southsea Castle
Southsea Castle, built in 1544 by Henry VIII
Southsea Castle and the Lighthouse
The Lighthouse and an Isle of Wight ferry
Portsmouth Garden of Hope message
The Bandstand on Southsea Common
The Naval War Memorial on Southsea Common, with the Spinnaker Tower at Portsmouth Harbour in the distance
Among the names on the Naval Memorial is that of my maternal grandfather, who died aboard HMS Lawford on the 8th June, 1944
Further along Southsea seafront
Clarence Pier funfair…
Swing Tower at the funfair
Swing Tower (detail)…
More funfair amusements…
Donuts and 99s…
Southsea Fudge Factory
Beyond Clarence Pier, from the seafront heading to Portsmouth
A jetty further along the seafront
Sunbathers…
Portsmouth Cathedral, from Oyster Street
The Spinnaker Tower, at Portsmouth Harbour
Action Stations, in Portsmouth Dockyard
HMS Victory, Portsmouth Dockyard
HMS Victory, aft…
HMS Victory, fore…
The Mary Rose Museum, Portsmouth Dockyard
A Weekend Diary 