Cars and Forests
Churches
There is something else I should mention, as it had an effect on daily life at this time. The IRA was calling in bomb threats on various motorways. This was believed to be in the run up to the election due later in this week. There were no bombs found, but shutting down the road for a few hours can be very effective. As a result, there was a heightened sense of security, especially around any government area, and hence there was a very visible security presence around the naval base.
There were a number of interesting ships here. The first is HMS Victory, Nelson's ship at the battle of Trafalgar, and the ship on which he was wounded and later died. It is in a dry dock, securely attached to the sides. Escorted tours take place, and I went on one. No photography is allowed, unfortunately. It is a surprisingly large ship, given that it's 200 years old. All wood, of course. And very cramped. The sailors did it tough in those days.
The next thing to look at was the Mary Rose, the Tudor ship recently recovered after several hundred years under the water. This was the ship which Henry VIII saw sink in 1545. It was not, as has often been reported, on its maiden voyage. It had given 35 years of service to the nation before it sank. The cause of the sinking has never been found. Only about half the ship is left, as it settled on one side, and that side became covered in silt, and was preserved. The other half vanished. And to preserve it, it is placed in a sealed chamber, and is being sprayed with a combination water and wax. The idea is to have the wax slowly replace the water in the timber, and thus make it survive for the long term. (I think it's wax.) There are windows and a viewing gallery, but the view is somewhat obstructed by the spray. But it is still amazing to see such an old ship. It was quite similiar to Nelson's ship in construction, although somewhat smaller.
And then there is HMS Warrior, the first iron clad, steam powered ship. This is actually moored at a dock. It is bigger again than Victory, but has a very similiarly organised inside, except of course it has boilers and a steam engine. But the basic ship is made of wood, with iron plates on the outside. Very much a transition ship to all steel construction.
One thing I could not help notice about the Victory was that it was undergoing repairs. It looked like part of one side was being replaced. Which made me wonder how much of it was original wood. It's like the man who claims to have George Washington's original axe - only replaced the head once and the handle twice :-)
I returned to Southampton and packed up and moved to the home of Andrew Bell. This is located near the Southampton Common. For dinner we walked down to the local pub, and had a most enjoyable dinner. Andrew is another ex MS person, who worked quite closely with me on Windows NT. A very pleasant person, easy to get on with.