"Home of the Royal Navy" a Portsmouth Travel Page by clivedinburgh

I've spent several years in and around Portsmouth and there seems to be dissimilar views about the place. As a long serving member of the Royal Navy, I like the prominence & history that we rightly have within the city but some locals can barely stand to acknowledge our existence, let alone the benefits of having so many matelots adding to the local economy.

A notable figure in this is the crime writer Graham Hurley whose scant mentions about the RN in his novels are usually in a negative light don't take my word for it - look at his Links page on his website (he even mentions the RAF!) but nothing on the RN or the historic dockyard.

Portsmouth is now starting to thrive again and this is mostly linked to waterfront developments such as Port Solent and Gunwharf Quays with the latter being built on the former naval base of HMS Vernon and home to the iconic Spinnaker Tower. In addition to this, Portsmouth University has also expanded massively to the extent that there is now a large student population within the city.