Transcript Of Narration
On the morning of Sunday 3rd September 1939 Portsmouth found itself once more at war. A scheme was begun to evacuate all the City s children to safer areas of the surrounding countryside and on the 11th July 1940 the first aerial attacks began over Portsmouth destroying many buildings.
The Queen on 8th June 1959 opened the newly restored Guildhall, which had been gutted by a bomb and subsequent fire during the second world war. The Queen told thousands who had waited in driving rain "When my father and mother visited Portsmouth in 1941, your Guildhall, which my great-grandfather had opened, had been in ruins for less than a month. I am glad today to continue that deep interest which my family have always taken in your affairs by coming here to see this fine building that has risen from those ruins."
The controversial concrete development between Charlotte Street and Market Way was named the Tricorn in March 1966. The building consisted of a car park, wholesale market, shops, warehouses and flats. The Tricorn has now been demolished and is in the process of being transformed into a new complex.
Portsmouth witnessed two air crashes in the same afternoon at the city s airport. An Avro turboprop from Channel Airways crashed on landing in heavy rain on 15th August 1967, the 21 passengers and 4 crew were only shaken. Then a similar aircraft from the same airline on landing veered off the runway and slewed though the boundary fence, coming to rest completely blocking the Eastern Road. The city s airport has since been closed and developed into an industrial estate and housing.
In 1972 the city council decided that the 40 year old airport adjoining the Eastern Road would close at the end of 1973. The site was then developed into a housing and industrial site.
In 1968 Portsmouth's Guildhall Square was pedestrianised and the civic offices built at a cost of 8 million. The Ministry of Transport also gave permission for the council to proceed with the Farlington by-pass section of the M27 between Portsbridge and the Broadmarsh roundabout at Havant.
On the morning of 10th October 1982 the remains of Henry VIII`s warship the Mary Rose were raised from the Solent. The timbers broke the surface of the waters which had hidden them for 437 years and within a year, the first paying visitors were able to view the ship in her new home.
Portsmouth found itself once again preparing for war in the spring of 1982. Shortly before dawn on 2nd April 1982 Argentine troops had invaded the Falkland Islands. A taskforce of ships left from Portsmouth, which included the aircraft carriers Hermes and Invincible.
Crowds lined the shores on the afternoon of 16th June 1987 to watch the return of HMS Warrior, the Royal Navy`s first ironclad warship, which had been based at Portsmouth for most of here life. She was launched in 1860 and weighed 9,000 tons, she was the pride of the Victorian Navy and did not ever fire a gun in anger, due to her ability to discourage trouble.
