Links relating to Portsdown Hill
The following websites relate to Portsdown or round about, either its geology or other aspects of interest.
- Portsdown Hill Conservation Volunteers
- Gosport Museum
- Westbury Manor (Fareham) Museum
- Portsmouth Factfile
- Palmerston Forts Society
- Portsdown Tunnels
- Southampton Geology Field Study Group
- Ian West's Dorset geology super-site
Portsdown Hill Conservation Volunteers
For those interested in the soil and life above the chalk, the Portsdown Hill Conservation Volunteers are a team working to restore the calcareous grassland that was dominant there from at least the Middle Ages, and probably since the last Ice Age, until the 1950's.
Much of the south side of the hill is now covered in scrub.
As geologists, we'd like to strip off the soil and see the chalk and flint, but I am assured that the ecology is interesting too.
The Portsdown Hill Conservation Volunteers Website is at http://www.portsdown.org
The Gosport Museum
The Gosport Museum has a small but impressive Geology Gallery. presented in the style of a "walk with Granddad".
It tells the story of Annie and her grandfather. Annie finds the tooth of an ancient shark on the beach at Lee-on-the-Solent. Her grandfather takes Annie her and visitors to the Geology Gallery on a trip in the Gosport Time Machine. They journey back into the distant past to meet the original owner of the tooth.
Some specimens are open to touch, but most are, of necessity, under glass.
The museum also contains a large geological collection room which is available (by appointment) for research.
The Museum Website is at http://www.hants.gov.uk/museum/gosport/
The Fareham ("Westbury Manor") Museum
The Westbury Manor Museum in Fareham displays give an overview of the history of the Borough of Fareham. These include a display of neolithic flint tools and weapons, made from flint from Portsdown Hill.
The library includes a "Local Studies Area", which provides an opportunity to find out more. It contains a wide variety of information on the history of the Borough drawn from the Museum's collection of local material by local enthusiasts of history, geology and archaeology, to name but a few.
The Museum Website is at http://www.hants.gov.uk/museum/westbury/
Portsmouth FactFile
This page is within the 'HMS Endurance Tracking Project' website. HMS Endurance is a Royal Navy Ice Patrol Ship. She is deployed each year to Antarctica, leaving her home port of Portsmouth in the Autumn, to Antarctica and returning to Portsmouth in late spring.
The home-site contains details of the voyages, and there is a lot of information about Portsmouth at: http://www.visitandlearn.co.uk/portsmouth.asp
Palmerston Forts Society
The Palmerston Forts Society was formed in 1984 by a group of people enthusiastic about the Victorian fortifications of Portsmouth - which include of course, the Forts on Portsdown Hill, Portsmouth.
The Palmerston Forts Society Website is at http://users.argonet.co.uk/users/dmoore/
Portsdown Tunnels
The chalk of Portsdown Hill has been [drilled? excavated?] with a number of tunnels, mainly dating from the second world war. A site is devoted to these tunnels, and includes overground evidence of military installations.
The Portsdown Tunnels Website is at http://www.portsdown-tunnels.org.uk
Southampton Geology Field Study Group
The nearest society of active geologists which is open for membership. They run monthly meetings with excellent lectures, and regular field trips, quarry visits, museum trips - and probably more. New members are always welcome.
The Southampton Geology Field Study Group website is at http://uk.geocities.com/sgfsg_uk/home.html
For any comments, or if you have a site you would like me to link to, please e-mail me at: portsdown@bbm.me.uk