Based in Portsmouth, Professor Jim Al-Khalili is a widely respected theoretical physicist and broadcaster. In an exclusive article for S&C, Jim presents a compelling argument for why Portsmouth should be City of Culture 2029.
Here is a fun quiz question for you: what is the most densely populated Island in the UK (after Great Britain itself of course)? The answer is Portsea Island. Separated by a narrow sea channel from the mainland, Portsea makes up the main part of the city of Portsmouth. This large population within a relatively compact area also makes Portsmouth the most densely populated city in the entire UK.
Clearly, a large population is not a reason to make Portsmouth City of Culture 2029 – I just felt I wanted to share some trivia. However, upon hearing of Portsmouth’s bid I felt compelled to add my support. Of course, being an author and broadcaster on TV and radio, as well as an academic scientist, does not put me in the A-list celebrity camp (as my family often like to remind me); nor am I likely to get the call to appear on Strictly. However, it is still nice to be regularly recognised on the street in Southsea where I have lived for 46 years.
Many people outside of Portsmouth will know of its remarkable history: the importance of its naval port, that it is the birthplace of Charles Dickens and Rudyard Kipling, and of the engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. But what they may not know is that over the past few decades it has been transformed into a vibrant, modern and beautiful waterfront city. This is the city I have spent most of my life living in and one I have no intention of ever leaving. It is the city of birth of my mother, and many generations before her. It is the city where I met my wife, Julie, marrying her in the same church (John Pound) that my parents were married in. It is the city where my children were born and went to school – and having gone off to university, met partners and started their working lives, have both now returned to Portsmouth to settle and start families themselves. A city that can be such a magnet for millennials to raise a family in must have a lot going for it. This is the Portsmouth I want to tell you about.
Although I was born in Baghdad to an Iraqi father, the other half of me is Pompey through and through. My mother’s maiden name was Wheatcroft, one of the oldest families in Portsmouth. My grandfather (also Jim) was in the Home Guard during the war, helping put out fires all over the city during the bombing raids while my mother and her younger brother hid with my grandmother in the shelter at the bottom of their tiny garden in the house on Landguard Road. My mother recalls hearing the bombs fall, each one sounding nearer than the last. Some were so loud and sounded so near that she was convinced had destroyed their home, only to emerge when the All Clear sounded to find it still intact. After the war, Grandpa Jim worked in the Dockyard and my mother attended the Southern Grammar School for Girls, which of course would one day become Priory School.
After having spent many summers during my school holidays coming over from Iraq to visit my grandparents in Portsmouth, I returned with my family to settle in Portsmouth in 1979, to escape the horrors of Saddam’s Iraq. I was almost 17 and ready to start my A-levels. Of course I attended Priory School
which had a few years earlier become a mixed comprehensive for those a year below me. However, I was one of three boys in a cohort of 120 Grammar School girls. In fact, I was elected Head Boy, since the other two lads didn’t want the job. One of the many Grammar School sixth-formers in particular caught my eye. Julie (née Frampton) and I will celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary next year.
I have spent my research career as a scientist specialising in quantum physics, and have been fortunate enough to achieve success both academically (having been elected in 2018 a Fellow of the Royal Society) and as a science communicator, having presented many TV documentaries for the BBC over the past twenty years, written 15 books on popular science and continue to present The Life Scientific on Radio,which has been running since 2011 – all of which have led to the honour of receiving first an OBE, then a CBE. But despite attractive job offers I have never once contemplated moving away from Portsmouth. Ten years ago, I was delighted to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Portsmouth where both my parents received their degrees.
In a way, I selfishly feel almost reluctant to be sharing the delights of Portsmouth with the outside world. But we have kept our city’s many virtues a secret for too long. Now is surely the time to celebrate it, for the cultural richness and diversity of Portsmouth is incredible. Whether it is being part of tens of thousands of music lovers at Victorious Festival on Southsea common each year, the odd trip to Fratton Park (where I worked as a steward for several seasons while I was a student) or attending concerts and plays at venues like the Guildhall, the Kings Theatre or the Theatre Royal, or even more niche events at iconic venues such as the Wedgewood Rooms or Henry VIII’s Square Tower in Old Portsmouth. There is just too much happening for me to keep up with.
The sense of pride I have in the city is never stronger than when Julie and I take our regular walks along Southsea seafront enjoying following the ambitious development of the promenade. This huge transformation will not only strengthen the city’s sea defences, but will ensure it is a 21st century seaside resort with a vibrant tourist industry spanning its four-mile-long beautiful beach looking out across the Solent to the Isle of Wight.
As someone who has long argued for the importance of bringing the wonders of science to a wider audience, I see very clearly the benefits of supporting and funding science-focused cultural institutions. I feel strongly that science can be just as creative as the arts and so to be able to work towards bridging CP Snow’s ‘two cultures’ is something I am very passionate about.
I also see tremendous opportunities, if Portsmouth were chosen as City of Culture, to foster scientific thinking to improve the daily life of society. By using scientific, evidence-based approaches, we can address many local challenges to improve lives in the more deprived areas of the city, whether it is in public health or environmental quality. The opportunity to be made City of Culture is one that could have an enormous impact on the city I love.
With thanks to veteran journalist and regular S&C reporter Peter Gruner for contacting Jim and encouraging him to write this article.
Picture by Vera de Krok reproduced under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 licence.
