Poetry
Ode to Pompey: A Poem
By Carole Carrell Born in Pompey was I, with the Luftwaffe on its way, Elm Grove it was, number 27A. There came bomb sites on which to play, full of butterflies, nettles and dens, [… read more ]
spinnaker tower
Culture
Hidden Places Around Portsmouth: Sturnus Vulgaris
Local resident and photographer John Callaway gives us a glimpse into Portsmouth’s hidden places with his stunning photography. This week, he heads down to The Hard and despite his best intentions, can’t help but find deeper meaning in [… read more ]
Culture
Documentary in Colour: From the Tricorn to the Spinnaker Tower
Tom Benjamin remembers the Tricorn and Spinnaker Tower as they were in 2004, as he revisits a college photography project documenting change in the local area. In early 2004 I was studying photography at college [… read more ]
Fiction
Batman Saves Portsmouth from the Penguin
S&C was recently contacted by a Portsmouth resident who claims to have captured a clear image of Batman flying over Southsea. A self-proclaimed ‘honorary’ boy scout, thirty-five-year-old Ivan Lavender-Braithwaite not only believes that the photo [… read more ]
Fiction
The Queen Victoria Statue Whisperer
Alfred Drury’s impressive statue of Queen Victoria has graced Portsmouth Guildhall Square since 1903. But a student from the University of Portsmouth claims that the statue recently told him it is unhappy in its current [… read more ]
Culture
Risqué and Restful: The PHAS Annual Art Exhibition
It’s late afternoon, summer light fills Portsmouth Cathedral, choral song sounds through the air and the Portsmouth and Hampshire Art Society’s (PHAS) annual exhibition is in full swing. Lucy Brown reports on this enchanting and [… read more ]
Events
Why I’m Jumping Off the Spinnaker Tower
Portsmouth writer Anna Barzotti has only been up the Spinnaker Tower once before. On her second visit, she’s planning to jump off. In this exclusive for S&C, she explains why. I have been up the [… read more ]
Reviews
Portsmouth’s International Kite Festival: Ups And Downs
S&C reviewer Emily Priest reports on the annual kite festival and finds this is one hobby that goes straight over her head. This year was the 26th anniversary of Portsmouth’s International Kite festival which brings colour [… read more ]
Social Issues
It’s Easier To Prove Pompey’s Vices Than Her Virtues
Francis Davis starts his walking travelogue of Portsmouth in a unique homage to George Orwell’s The Road to Wigan Pier with a thought-provoking wander through class, culture and the perils of the coastline. A fifth year once [… read more ]
Poetry
STAR POems: Ishiguro on the Spinnaker Tower
Looking up from the base of the tower I see a blue rectangle in the viewing deck one hundred metres above me. The swoop of the sails’ belly is white against the sky. Red lights [… read more ]