The private island Spitbank Fort in the Solent off Portsmouth

15 November 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, House of the Month, Hotels Reading Time:  7 minutes

Spitbank Fort 2012 © Sian Abrahams/cc-by-sa-3.0

Spitbank Fort 2012 © Sian Abrahams/cc-by-sa-3.0

Spitbank Fort or Spitsand Fort or Spit Sand Fort or simply Spit Fort is a sea fort built as a result of the 1859 Royal Commission. The fort is one of four located in the Solent, near Portsmouth in England.   read more…

The port city of Portsmouth

3 December 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Old Portsmouth © flickr.com - eNil

Old Portsmouth © flickr.com – eNil

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom’s only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island. It is situated 64 miles (103 km) south west from London and 19 miles (31 km) south east from Southampton.   read more…

Osborne House on the Isle of Wight

6 March 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  7 minutes

Osborne House © WyrdLight.com - Antony McCallum

Osborne House © WyrdLight.com – Antony McCallum

Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat. Prince Albert designed the house himself in the style of an Italian Renaissance palazzo. The builder was Thomas Cubitt, the London architect and builder whose company built the main façade of Buckingham Palace for the royal couple in 1847. An earlier smaller house on the site was demolished to make way for a new and far larger house. Queen Victoria died at Osborne House in January 1901. Following her death, the house became surplus to royal requirements and was given to the state with a few rooms retained as a private royal museum dedicated to Queen Victoria. From 1903 until 1921 it was used as a junior officer training college for the Royal Navy known as the Royal Naval College, Osborne. In 1998 training programmes consolidated at the Britannia Royal Naval College, now at Dartmouth, thus vacating Osborne House. The House is now open to the public for tours.   read more…

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