Transcript Of Narration
Portsmouth hosted the Trafalgar 200 celebrations over the week beginning 27th June 2005. The programme of events attracted over 300,000 people to Portsmouth alone to witness the International Fleet Review and Son Et Lumiere. The Shores of Southsea were packed with people wanting to get a once in a life time glimpse of the International Fleet Review and Son Et Lumiere.
Although there were a couple of thunder storms this did not deter people and crowds flocked to witness the events. The International Fleet Review consisted of over 170 ships from over 35 different countries and is the largest gathering of its kind in recent times. Her Majesty took nearly two hours to review the whole fleet before the ships steamed past her.
The evening of the 28th June 2005 saw a massive battle re-enactment and firework display described as the largest in the UK. The battle re-enactment and fireworks lit up the night sky and was broadcast around the world. Wednesday 29th June 2005 saw the international drumhead ceremony on Southsea common, which was intended for veterans to attend.
The 2005 International Festival of The Sea was held in Portsmouth for the third time. The maritime extravaganza was held in Portsmouth s Royal Naval dockyard and was part of the Trafalgar 200 celebrations. The event contained many different examples of sea craft from Royal Naval ships to Tall Ships.
In July of 2005 the Spinnaker Tower was completed and in October 2005 the Spinnaker Tower was opened to the public. The towers first illumination was coincided to take place as part of the Trafalgar 200 celebrations on the 28th June 2005. The tower is built in the sea and employed many state of the art engineering techniques to construct it. The tower offers viewing decks at 100m, 105m and 110m and is two and a half times the height of Nelson s column.
In 2006 Portsmouth helped the rest of the UK celebrate Isambard Kingdom Brunel s birthday by having a steam weekend in Portsmouth s historic dockyard and providing many other events throughout the city.
HMS Clyde is the ninth ship in the Royal Navy to bear the name. She was launched on 14th June 2006 in Portsmouth Naval Base by VT shipbuilders. She was the first ship built entirely in Portsmouth Naval base for 40 years and was named in a ceremony on 7 September 2006 before being accepted into Royal Naval service on 30th January 2007.
In 2008 Portsmouth hosted the first Meet Your Navy event which took over from the old Navy Days which proved a huge success. It featured many naval craft and the red arrows performed over the harbour. Also in 2008 Portsmouth held a victory parade for Portsmouth Football Club after they won the FA Cup. The team boarded an open top bus and travelled from Fratton Park through crowd lined sheets to Southsea Common where hundreds of thousands of fans waited to greet them.
