A Glimpse of Photography in the Navy

During last year’s call for old photography of HMS Vernon for the 10th anniversary of Gunwharf exhibition (see HERE and HERE) Fran Wright got in touch to say she was a Wren based at Portsmouth and worked as a naval photographer. We asked Fran a few questions and Fran dug out a few personal photographic memories of her time based in Portsmouth.

Fran now works in Southsea Gallery.

What age did you pick up a camera and why?
I picked up a camera (in earnest) at 16 once I’d been accepted to join the Navy in their Photographic Branch. I had to wait 18mths for a vacancy in the Photographic Branch to become available; they offered me positions as either a Telephonist, a Driver or a Dental Hygienist as another option – I turned them all down to train as a Photographer and had the required ‘O’ Level in Maths to qualify.

How did you begin to take photos for the navy?
I joined the Navy at 18 to become a Photographer because I liked the sound of the job! I began to take photos after an initial training period of 12 weeks at HMS Excellent on Whale Island.

What did your job entail?
My job entailed covering everything from sports events to mechanical defects; official portraits of newly appointed, high ranking officers of establishments or ships; visiting ships and VIP visits to the dockyard; passing out parades and ceremonial divisions; PR stories for local newspapers up and down the country – I even danced with Prince Charles as a result of covering a visit to the dockyard of VIP veterans from HMS Kelly – the ship that Earl Mountbatten served on – and have photographs of the occasion (see below).

How has the harbour and the city changed over the years photographically?
I suppose the harbour and the city have changed over the years photographically, as both become busier commercially.

Do you still take photos?
Yes, I do still take photos for leisure and pleasure and am in contact with other ex-RN Photographers in the local area.

If so, what catches your eye in Southsea & Portsmouth now?
I like to see images of the local landscapes and architecture photographed creatively – my work for Southsea Gallery lets me see some great stuff.

Thank you Fran!

Exploring Old Portsmouth with Vintage Secret

Naomi Thompson is a well respected vintage fashion writer, blogger, stylist and personal shopper who recently moved to Portsmouth after a long stint in London and has been discovering the city and the island with fresh eyes. Naomi recently put up a post on www.vintagesecret.com where she explores around The Camber and Old Portsmouth with lots of great photos to illustrate why Portsmouth can be an inspirational place. Click on the link below to see and read more. You can follow Vintage Secret on Twitter too HERE.

www.vintagesecret.com/2012/01/inspiration/

Forgotten Portsmouth – Club & Ballroom

Despite the constant and unstoppable drive of progress, the blitz of WWII and the constant need for new homes in such a populated city and island there are still the odd few places in Portsmouth where time has stood still. We want to try and highlight these on Strong Island as much as we can as who knows when they too will gradually disappear.

Mick Cooper (who works with Dave Allen in meticulously documenting Portsmouth’s musical heritage) recently was able to explore the unused floors above the casino in Osborne Road which used to be home to nightclubs and a beautiful old ballroom. Mick took some amazing photos of what is currently left, spaces that have been untouched for decades. Be sure to visit Mick’s website for the history of the building and load more photos HERE.

If you happen to do some urban exploration or discover some old places around the city be sure to get in touch, we would love to feature it.

(Obviously we don’t condone trespassing, and some places are closed because they can be dangerous and all that * cough, cough *)

Museum beasts

I took time out today to visit Portsmouth City Museum and in particular the Birds, Beast and Bugs exhibition. I have a great interest in the craft of taxidermy, perhaps a bit more of an unusual craft than knitting but amazing nonetheless.

Most of the exhibition was collected by Henry Guermonprez in the 19th Century and lots the animals and jars have beautiful little hand written notes by Henry. There are also sweet intricate paintings and drawings by him as well as activities for children. I rather enjoyed the jars containing snakes, octopus and mice. More photos here.

HMS Dreadnought & HMS Victory

HMS Dreadnought from 1906 passing HMS Victory only 100 years after the Battle of Trafalgar.

Photo via Pompey Dockyards Twitter.

Cascades 1989 Opening Leaflet

Jonathan Ring found this amazing leaflet that was given out on the day that Cascades opened back in 1989. A really interesting little artifact, look how young Fern Britton is! Expect more gems from Jonathan as he and his brother go through their grandparents archive of local photos and items.

HMS Vernon – Call for Ex-Service Personnel

Southsea based film and media company Compulsive Productions are working with St. Johns Catholic School on a photography project as part of the 10th anniversary of the opening of Gunwharf Quays that explores HMS Vernon’s history during the Second World War. Before Gunwharf Quays was built the area was HMS Vernon, which operated as a base for work on torpedoes and mines and during WWII was heavily bombed yet also visited by Winston Churchill on two occasions.

As part of the project the Year 6 pupils would like to interview ex-service personnel who served at HMS Vernon during the war years and discover and document real people’s stories and social history be that during the important event’s in the base’s history or just the day to day activities. These stories will then be used for inspiration in creative writing and also in the searching through of the city’s photographic archive identifying views of the base. The pupils will then be taught the principles of photography and the use of b&w 35mm film so they can then go to Gunwharf and recreate the photos with the remaining buildings, this time with shoppers instead of naval staff. All work then then go in to an exhibition located at Gunwharf on the 4th December.

If you know of anyone who served at HMS Vernon who might like to be interviewed by the pupils please get in contact! Please call 07752 007101 or email paul@compulsiveproductions.com.

Victorian Tape Measure

It’s always fun trawling through eBay for local vintage items, you never know quite what you’ll discover, such as this vintage glass Victorian tape measure. Southsea has a really strong fashion and craft scene and I imagine this item would find a welcome home very easily (although it is £85!).

“Some time in the Spring of 1831, a Mr William Wink began business as a `laceman` in Queen Street, near the Portsea Docks. The enterprise must have prospered for, when he died in 1857, Sarah Wink, we presume his widow, continued to trade at 112 Queen Street as a `lace manufacturer, milliner and dressmaker`. By 1865 the shop had been taken over by Frederick Wink and was described as `Wink & Co., Silk Mercers and Ladies` Outfitters The business was acquired by the John Lewis Partnership, who continued to trade from the same premises, despite being hit by a bomb in 1940″.

Horsea Island Lake

Horsea Island currently isn’t actually an island anymore, it’s more recognisable as the land reclaimed from the sea to form Port Solent, the old land fill and also the home to part of HMS Excellent. Before it’s joining to the mainland the island in Portsmouth Harbour was actually two islands, Great and Little Horsea. In the early 1800s both islands were homes to farms but by 1885 the islands had been purchased by the Admiralty which had plans to build a very early torpedo test station. Over a period of four years the two islands became one, with convicts using chalk spill to join them from Paulsgrove chalk pit on Portsdown Hill, where the islands joined a new rectangular lake was formed.

The new lake was 800 yards long (later extended to over 1000 yards) with access via a harbour entrance and maintained naturally by two submerged freshwater springs. The lake had a torpedo firing building two stories high with launch tubes above and below the waterline. The facility was opened in 1889 and named the Whitehead Torpedo Adjusting and Experimental Range. By the 1st World War torpedo range had developed so much that even with the lake extension it was no longer needed. The lake and island became the site of one of the Navy’s three high-power shore wireless stations and then later a testing station for early submarines, motor torpedo boats and ejector seats.

In later years the lake became a diving school for the navy that was also opened up to the public for diving for a while. For diving purposes the lake contains a wealth of marine life and also has a number of items placed for diver training including a helicopter, vehicles and a 200 year-old ship wreck.

Despite there no longer being public access to the lake it’s distinctive shape is still easily recognisable from the top of the hill but the base itself is very discrete and has probably been discovered mostly by accident when taking a wrong turn out of Port Solent and finding the armed guards gates a bit of a surprise. A couple of years ago there were grand designs that the island would also one day be home to the new Portsmouth FC stadium, which now seems unlikely.

Over it’s long and varied history Horsea Island forms yet another piece of the fascinating and diverse history of Portsmouth Harbour. You can find out more on Wikipedia and also the detailed history on the Minewarfare & Clearance Diving Officers’ Association website.

The Pompey Pacific

Ex-British Railways Pacific no. 70000 ‘Britannia’ steamed in to Portsmouth on Saturday as the destination for an organised return trip from and back to Taunton. Britannia was built at Crewe, completed on January 2nd 1951 and is famous for pulling the funeral train of King George VI from Norfolk to London following his death in February 1952 at Sandringham House. Britannia was later withdrawn from service in May 1966 and has since been preserved and run on special railway trips across the UK.

Photos by Howard Thompson.

PRIMARY – A Phoneography Exhibition by Strong Island – Call for entries

This coming new year we will be proud to announce our latest exhibition PRIMARY, a Phoneography exhibition by Strong Island and we are even happier to announce that it’s open to you, the readers.

With the continuing increase in impressive camera technology in mobile phones and the ability to alter, tweak, post process and upload the photos to social media networks and websites like Instagram, the popularity of Phoneography has never been greater.

The ‘of the moment’ ability to take a photo at almost any time and any place by most people has really driven the fact that the camera does not make the photographer. By which I mean, you don’t need an expensive camera to take outstanding photos.

Agreed, the quality of the physical image may not stand up to the big guns, but new learnings in composition, style and aesthetic by a new generation of camera users via online media has really driven this popularity, and encourage people to go beyond a ‘quick shot’.

PRIMARY invites you to get out and about around Portsea with your mobile phone camera and take photos of anything and everything based around the three primary colours red, yellow and blue. What you photograph is entirely up to you, but submissions will only be accepted if they stick to the theme.

The call for entires has now begun and the deadline is the 31st of January 2012 with the exhibition being held in March of 2012. Photos can be taken on any mobile phone model and we ask that a maximum of 3 photos per applicant are sent in to primary@strong-island.co.uk.

Please submit along with your photographs your name, photo title, phone model, location of photo on the island and any post process apps you used, if any, to achieve the final shot.

We look forward to seeing all the entries, and the final installation will be something special using every photo submitted in a slightly different fashion from your average photographic exhibition. CLICK HERE TO PRINT YOUR OWN POSTER

Poster by Tristan Savage & Photo by Paul Gonella

It’s going to be a Strong Movember – Closed at £725

Righto chaps, it’s time to clean shave your boat race and get that mighty moustache on the grow in support of Movember for The Prostate Cancer Charity and the Institute of Cancer Research. For 30 days of November you can help support and raise awareness through selflessly parading your top lip for charity.

You can sign up yourself, as I’m sure many of you already have, or you can join the Strong Island team and seek out sponsorship as a team. Through the Strong Island Movember page you can ask people to join the group, make donations, upload photos and post updates via the MoSpace page, Facebook and Twitter.

Head over to www.mobro.co/StrongIsland if you would like to get involved and grow a Strong Moustache to help raise awareness, or simply head over to www.uk.movember.com and sign up to personally raise money.

The funds raised in the UK support the number one and two male specific cancers – prostate and testicular cancer. The funds raised are directed to programmes run directly by Movember and our men’s health partners, The Prostate Cancer Charity and the Institute of Cancer Research. Together, these channels work together to ensure that Movember funds are supporting a broad range of innovative, world-class programmes in line with our strategic goals in the areas of awareness and education, survivorship and research.

Poster: Tristan Savage