Off for a few days

[John Callon]

Enjoy your time in Southampton Brian along with your family and especially your new Grandaughter.
Regards
John C

[j.sabourn]

#5.. Used to know Portsmouth fairly well and was always a garrison town due to the large amounts of matelots. Most of the pubs I frequented there, was usually full of matelots. I thought it was a good run ashore. JWS

[Captain Kong]

It is hard to find one matelote now as we have no navy left
Brian

[Keith Tindell]

Portsmouth Is not a very nice city in my opinion, although my mothers side of the family were, and still are living there, we try to avoid even landing from the ferry there. Known locally on the island as the rissole of England, sorry if that offends, kt

[j.sabourn]

Doesn't offend me Keith I was only there for the beer. Have put a query for you in the Bronzy post, it just happened to work out that way. If you can give me an answer either way doesn't matter. Cheers JWS

[Captain Kong]

We went to Portsmouth last Saturday, full of tourists in the Dockyard, we did a "Harbour Cruise" , £8 each for less than an hour and saw the Entire British Royal Navy, all laid up, Seven vessels. an impressive sight. Not a single Seafaring man anywhere to be seen.
then Southsea, which had more immigrants than Boltonistan ever had. again I was very impressed that someone else has it worse than us.
Cheers
Brian

[robpage]

The Navy for many years never go off base in the uniform what little Navy there is in Portsmouth . Many years ago a labour controlled portsmouth City Council rejected having any nuclear ships there and lost the submarine base to Devonport what they didn't realise is when you lose the ships you lose the repair work and the labour so even though it seems like a good wonderful idea at the time it was stupid. This took submarine training away and repair away from the south coast if you want to go and see the wonderful exhibitions of the Mary Rose and of the Victory still a commissioned ship to today they are absolutely wonderful and well laid out the harbour tours not so good . HMS Warrior is absolutely a great face tattoo around as is HMS Alliance the submarine over in Gosport .

The number of non British nationals has increased dramatically over the last few years not only asiatics but a lot of Eastern Europeans and unfortunately Portsmouth can be a place that has a lttle racial intolerance at times

The Old bars and nightclubs have largely gone and even the Wetherspoon's is shutting it's doors I live approximately 10 miles north and like many locals avoid the area in Portsmouth at night there is great shopping on the Gun Wharf would use a great place to hang around as is the Port Solent shopping 2 there is still night clubs and bars the Old Royal Navy sailors pubs have all disappeared . It is a tourist town and that is all that's left shopping sightseeing and it's not a place you'd want to live if you park on the road in Southsea your car will be invariably keyed within a week .

By the commercial ferry port there are blocks of maisonettes and an area that has a very high percentage of unemployed persons who have a strong desire to become nocturnal by sleeping in the day getting up in the evenings getting a fix or a smoke drinking the strongest cider they can calling up the large Yellow Taxi and sleeping it off in the emergency wards at the Queen Alexander Hospital fortunately as we have so many immigrants we have a decent number of nursing staff to take care of them .

That's why it looks like there is so many immigrants because the locals only come out at night and you can recognise them by the fact they have a can of Strongbow in one hand and a sweet smelling roll a cigarette in the other . Fortunately the immigrants have seen this and now have opened the corner shops 24 hours a day did give the locals something to Rob

I might sound cynical but it isn't an immigrant problem here the problem is with a group of locals age between 16 and probably 46 who have never had a job don't want a job are entitled to what benefits they can get and really should have more most of them off with a stick all of them smoke the majority have a dog the nearer it is to the benefit investigators office .. the more exaggerated they lean on the stick and limp . Is a minority underclass needs sorting out it is that lot and not the South Asians . The same group of people also have a rigid belief that these foreigners that come over here shouldn't get anything after all the benefits of the British heat doing nothing not for foreigners doing nothing .

To be fair most of the South Asians , and the Eastern Europeans are in work there is a group of illegals who are believe are a mixture are kurds and Iraqis earn their money washing cars in the Sainsbury's car park and I'm not able to claim any benefits at all .

There is also quite a community of West Africans and I haven't got a clue what they do

So yes there is a problem with immigrants but there is a bigger problem with the White unemployed local who believes he is entitled to a job seekers allowance and entitled to whatever benefit you can get . When you look at a lot of this group , they classed as well as their job seekers a disability payment where they have had years on a cocktail of various sniffed and smoked drugs a lot of them hear voices with the psychiatrist can either through or disprove therefore they are unsuitable to work claiming disability through bipolar and hearing voices and spending the day doing absolutely nothing you want to sort Portsmouth art sort them out first I'll live with the Indian's Bangladesh's Pakistanis and anyone else who wants to come here and do a job

[Captain Kong]

That is the way I saw it Rob. last time I was in Portsmouth was in 1951 as a Sea Cadet , what a change.
My lad was working from 7am last week to 9pm trying to sort out the lives of the plonkies there. the only shops doing business were the cheap grog shops, cheap cider is a killer there.
Cheers
Brian.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Brian.
Enjoy your Grand children while their young. yesterday I was looking at some photos of our only Granddaughter the most beautiful child I had ever seen
Now she is still as lovely but is 28 and flat out working so we seldom see her.
Cheers Des

[Captain Kong]

Thanks Des,
here she is, six months old.
Cheers
Brian