HMS Victory

There cannot be many people, at least not in the western world, who haven't heard of Lord Nelson and his famous flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar, the beautifully preserved HMS Victory, which has its own dry dock at Portsmouth.

I made my first visit on board Victory when I was only seven or eight years old, and I have loved her ever since - the image above is of a painting made for me by local maritime artist Les Henson, which hangs on the wall of my office. Click the small image for a larger version.

On board the ship you can see exactly how she would have looked back in 1805, with the gun decks, ammunition lockers, galleys, crew and officers' quarters and a variety of artifacts of the period.

If you do nothing else during your time in Portsmouth, please do try to go on board this beautiful vessel and take a trip back more than two centuies in time. Even if you're not a "ship" person, I'm sure you'll find the whole experience absolutely fascinating.