“All literary pilgrims, and particularly the devotees of Charles Dickens, regard as foremost among literary shrines inviting special homage the scene of the nativity of “Immortal Boz.”
The Dickens Country by Frederic G. Kitton (1905)
The above sentence is a typical 1905-era mouthful, dangerously treading a fine line of grammatical correctness while pivoting mid-sentence in ways that our modern minds aren’t accustomed. You have to read it slowly and bend your mind to its will. Eventually, what you should come out with is that a cool place that any Dickens fan should want to visit is his birthplace, and that happens to be the city of Portsmouth.
With only one day to visit, what transpired will not be the essential guide to the city nor a verified Best Of of its sites, pubs and breweries. There is much more to the city than what you will browse here. However, sticking to the theme of Beer & Dickens, I can at least offer a tantalizing window into this fascinating port city of England.
The day took the form of an urban hike of close to 14km. Portsmouth didn’t turn out to be a very scenic city in-land. It is England’s most densely populated city and not blessed with a lot of green spaces to give color to an urban hike. In retrospect, if I had to do it over, I would have rented a bike to zip through the mostly uninteresting neighborhoods and give myself more time to explore the harbour front. On the bright side, I got a good dose of real-life Portsmouth.
The walk starts in Portsea by the Portsmouth Harbour train station. Around the corner, a couple blocks away is the rather nondescript Hawke Street where one may notice a small circular plaque.
Hawke Street Residence
Just around the corner from a historical looking pub is a marker commemorating the street Dickens lived on from the age of 0-2 years old. The street was completely destroyed during World War II.
Following the busy road about 2km brings you to the home where Dickens was born in 1812.
Dickens’ Birthplace
After Dickens was born, he and his family moved to the Hawke Street residence after a few months. The museum is a treasure trove of family photos, documents, and newspaper clippings that highlight his career. The main curiousity is the day bed in which Dickens purportedly died. It is not known for sure whether he died sitting at his desk and then was moved to this day bed or whether he moved here from his desk and then died. Either way, there it is.
“Like the birthplaces of many an eminent personage who first saw the light in the midst of a humble environment, the dwelling in which Dickens was born is unpretentious enough”
The Dickens Country by Frederic G. Kitton (1905)
Dickens was baptised in St. Mary’s Church. However, that church was knocked down and rebuilt in 1887. The baptismal font survived and bounced around until ending up in St. Albans Church on Copnor Road.
St. Albans Church
St. Albans is completely across town from Dickens’ birthplace. After a walk of just over 2km, I discovered St. Albans slumbering in the Thursday sun. It is a fully functioning local parish and clearly content not to be a tourist destination. To know what the font looks like, unfortunately I have to share a link.
Close to two more kilometers brings us to St. Mary’s.
St. Mary’s Church
While looking quite grand from the adjacent park, St. Mary’s too was slumbering, it’s doors shut tight, preventing me from seeing the Dickens plaque inside. The church closes every day at noon, perhaps to spite all the bankers who are getting off work at that hour.
After two mild disappointments, I headed for the waterfront to the Southsea Castle and its resident brewery.
Southsea Castle & Brewing Company
Built by Henry VIII, this fortress defends the southern tip of Portsea Island. The brewery is well-protected within its hearty walls but offers no tasting options on the premises. Thirsty and a bit frustrated, I would compensate later on by visiting the brewery’s own taproom, The Brewer’s Tap.
By this point, I was riding a string of bad luck and was ready for something to awaken me from my slumber. As an American who enjoys World War II history, the Normandy landing beaches in France garner a lot of attention. The famous opening scene in Saving Private Ryan starts right in the middle of the channel crossing and those images are indelibly embedded in our minds. But how often do we think about where those soldiers got on board those landing crafts? Many of them went to their fate, in fact, from Portsmouth.
The D-Day Story Museum
One can only imagine what went through a soldier’s head the moment their boot lifted off the Portsmouth ground for the last time as they made their way along the plankway to find their cramped spot on a landing craft, facing certain death. And Portsmouth provides a great museum to connect with the role that this side of the English Channel played.
The beautiful weather outside made it difficult to completely immerse myself in the museum. However, I was most impressed with the restored Landing Craft Tank 7074 which carried tanks to Normandy. The Landfall Ale can be purchased at the giftshop which has a few different war-themed beers. Of note inside the museum is a tapestry similar to the Bayeux Tapestry which was made to commemorate the Norman Invasion coming from the other direction in 1066.
It was time for a late lunch, so I grabbed a burger at the Meat & Barrel, a very American-style craft beer burger joint.
I was now ready for a mini mid-afternoon pub crawl, which turned out to be a bit hit or miss at that time of day unlike Winchester or Salisbury where the pubs seem to all open at noon.
The Barley Mow
Just by the name, you can tell this was going to be a cozy and colorful traditional pub. And it lived up to it. I can imagine this place is a row when they have live music going on.
After the pub, I went to the main center where outside the Guild Hall is one of only three statues of Dickens in the world.
Dickens Statue
“I conjure my friends on no account to make me the subject of any monument, memorial, or testimonial whatever. I rest my claims to the remembrance of my country upon my published works”
The Life of Charles Dickens by John Forster (1875)
The Dickens statue sitting outside the Guildhall was commissioning in 2014 by the local chapter of the Dickens Fellowship, who clearly decided there was a statute of limitations on Dickens’ request.
Brewhouse & Kitchen
This microbrewery restaurant is just down the street from the Dickens statue. It feels a bit too franchisey (which it is… there are 22 locations as I type) and the bitter tasted rushed to the market and bland.
At this point, it was time to finish the urban hike back to my hotel and regroup. Two great brewery taprooms awaited. To get to these, it is recommended to take the train from Portsmouth Harbour to Fratton and walk from there.
Staggeringly Good Brewery
This is a great taproom with lots of delicious NE-style IPA’s to break from the typical bitters and ales.
The Brewers Tap
So finally at the end of the day, I am able to enjoy a beer from Southsea Brewing Company. The Heavy Artillery DIPA was well worth the wait and a grand finale.
What was Missed
There were a handful of pubs on my list that I missed due to opening hour conflicts or I simply did not have time, but I will put them here as I feel pretty confident they would be worth a visit.
Sherlock’s Bar
This Sherlock-themed bar is not far from where I had lunch at Meat & Barrel.
The King Street Tavern
Had a peek inside but was 30 minutes too early. Historic looking pub with a fine selection on tap. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it back.
The Ship Anson
I love the theme of this pub which is fitting that it is situated near the harbour. Perhaps the one I regret missing the most.
Final Words
The Historic Dockyards of Portsmouth have some of the finest and famous restored ships in the world including the HMS Victory which was Admiral Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar. Besides the historic dockyards, you can take a ferry to the Gosport side of the harbour where there is the Royal Navy Submarine museum and also several craft breweries scattered around the area. Portsmouth is also the prime jumping off point to get to the Isle of Wight. I came away feeling that I hardly experienced Portsmouth. It deserves two days at least. While it has this very important connection with Charles Dickens, the city doesn’t feel Dickensian. This is a city that took a massive beating in World War II and then put thousands of men on little boats and sent them into the teeth of a fierce enemy. Long before World War II, Portsmouth Harbour launched countless ships of the Royal Navy into battle. How many wives never saw their husbands again from these piers? You can imagine that as proud as a city could be to birth a great writer, its true face and personality perhaps cannot carry something as light-hearted as literature at its forefront. Of course, this is all my own poetic license which I am creating to feel like I gained some insight on Portsmouth. However, in reality, I left Portsmouth feeling like we only met from a distance. But with that said, the last shot she gave me was a beauty.
itsabrewtifulworld 