At Wessex Film and Sound Archive you can see and hear history, from late Victorian times to the present day, through moving images and sound recordings. The Archive contains over 36,000 film and sound recordings relating to Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, including film and tapes of local TV and radio.
This film is part of Free
Various views of Southsea
Enjoy a 60s summer with the promenaders on Southsea Common, the rowers on Southsea's Boating Pond and the wild, wild jumpers and divers at the Old Sally Port
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Overview
A Naval parade on Southsea Common is followed by scenes showing people enjoying a summer's day, playing and relaxing on the grass and on the boating pond. While children enjoy the paddling pool a miniature train races past, loaded with happy passengers. After views along the Esplanade, holidaymakers row boats on the Canal Lake or sail their own model craft. We end at Old Portsmouth's Sally Port where masses of youngsters jump and dive into the Solent - thankfully at high tide.
Despite the holiday atmosphere that pervades this short film from F Howard, the location was once a very heavily fortified part of the coast - guarding the approaches into the strategically important naval base at Portsmouth Harbour. Dotted all along the Esplanade running east from Old Portsmouth and marking the entrance to the harbour, are the remains of several forts and gun emplacements built over several centuries to counter various threats from foreign belligerents. Today, many of these forts have become part of the local heritage and leisure scene - becoming either landscaped adventure gardens, museums or historic walkways.
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