Our day in Portland

Portland is often thought of as an island, it is not as it is connected by a causeway to the mainland. It is basically a huge limestone block. Here the quarried stones were used by Christopher Wren to rebuild London after the great fire. St. Pauls in London and the United Nations building in NYC have stone quarried from Portland. The Portland stone was also used for tombstones for the fallen troops in France.

Portland Harbor is one of the largest man made ports in Europe and was completed in 1905. Built with the primary intent of being a naval base. It was critical in U-Boat defense and in WWII it was a significant embarkation port for Operation Overlord - D-Day.  The naval base was closed in 1995 with the end of the cold war.

Portland is a Royal Manor, which basically means it is owned by the Monarchy.

With no real plans, we will explore about on our own. 

A shuttle bus was provided to transport us into Weymouth.  We walked towards the beach esplanade and found the RNLI Lifeboat station and shop. Lynn had left my sweater at home by mistake during a repacking session. Thus I was on a quest for a sweater type garment. The RNLI shop had a nice fleece which will fit the bill.

In doing our trip research, we found the Portland Ferry which sails back and forth between Weymouth and Portland. We found their dock and purchased our tickets for the 1230 journey back to Portland.

We had very nice chats with the local visitor volunteers and they were a wealth of knowledge. I learned many of the residences along the harbor were used to house US troops prior to D-Day. As these are row houses, the military cut doors in the walls to connect the residences. This long passageway would be beneficial in notifying and rallying the troop should the Germans invaded.  

 

Traveling Bath House , you can have one when King 

We continued our walk to the beach, passing many shops till we found the clock tower. We also found a monument to the US troops who embarked from Weymouth/Portland on D-Day.

We had learned of a building which had a cannon ball embedded in its exterior wall during the English Civil War. We did locate said cannon ball. 

Also in Weymouth is their oldest pub named The Black Dog founded in the 1600’s. Yes we did stop for a drink before heading back to the Brewers Quay dock ferry boat. The name came from a Newfoundland dog which was purchased by the owner. The dog was such a hit that people would come from miles around to see the Black Newfoundland Dog, and so the name of the pub came to be. 

This ferry journey took about 35-40 minutes during which we passed the Nothe Fort, the man made Portland Harbor Walls, then just before we arrived we passed two Mulberry Dock relics from the D-Day landings. 

This trip was rather special as the boat we were on was named My Girl. She was built in 1931 as a pleasure boat licensed for 66 passengers, 36’ in length with elegant lines and sailed proudly in the area of Plymouth. In 1939, she was requisitioned and moved to Portland. Her service included the transport of men and munitions about the harbor. Most significantly is she carried the men and munition in June of 1944 to their landing craft boats. 

Landing in Portland, we walked to the Castletown D-Day Museum. Here one can read stories about some of the troops who passed through this area on their way to the war front. There are many static displays of several WWII vehicles, uniforms and weapons. 

There is an old superstition in Portland that lives to this day. Rabbits are considered bad luck in Portland. Should a rabbit be seen near a mine or quarry, they would immediately close for the day for fear of an accident would occur. One should not mention the word rabbit, but rather call them “bunnies” or “Long Eared Fuzzy Things”. 

We then started to walk back towards the ship. As this is a working port, there are no pedestrians allowed, we flagged down a shuttle bus to be transported back into the port and our ship.

Come sail away time, we make our way to to Deck 4 and listen to the Weymouth Ukuleleans play several songs as our cast off is delayed. The Weymouth Ukuleleans were fantastic and I feel they should have been on board as an entertainment act. 

 

THEY WERE GREAT!!!

Finally after waiting 30 minutes after all aboard time,  a delivery truck arrives and comes to a halt near the gangway. It is met by several crew members waiting with dollies to carry the unknown cargo aboard. The back doors are opened and a security K-9 checks the unknown cargo and the cargo passes the check. I am thinking it is a much needed critical piece of equipment delaying our departure. The crew rushes to unload a supply of Coke products and coffee.

Then the local gun crew fires a three gun salute and we are on our way. 

Tonight's music included a vocal group, the Shamrock Tenors, which were amazing. We even stayed awake to catch their second show after dinner.  As we were in the Pub O’Gills, a Celtic band named Morning Star Trio, started to play and we made it through one set before Lynn and I headed to bed.