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  • [ 14th October 2026 ] Portsmouth Library Event to Explore Giving Democratic Power to Communities Politics
  • [ 14th October 2026 ] Planetbuilding Blues: Gosport Time Machine Culture
  • [ 24th September 2026 ] Planetbuilding Blues: A Letter to My Dead Parents Events
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Poetry

STAR POems: Destruction of Oyster Street, Portsmouth

14th April 2017

i.m. Edward King (1862-1951)   You’d hope, so close to St Thomas’s church it would be safer, but they bombed it flat, straight up.  Edward King had time to paint it, like those Western film [… read more ]

Memoir

The Loss of Fortitude: My Father’s Battle with Dementia

15th March 2017

Sue Roome recounts a very personal – and timely – story of illness, old age and confusion. Dad sat listless in the armchair. His left side drooped as if all of his bones had been removed. [… read more ]

Poetry

STAR POem: Edward King – Artist

28th February 2017

By John Pearson   On used scraps of board, paint brush strokes made their mark – the silent aftermath of a city scarred, blitzed, battered and burned; rubble piled high in streets, glass splinters, heaps [… read more ]

History

The Extraordinary People of Portsmouth: Mary Goodchild

23rd November 2016

In her latest profile of everyday yet remarkable Portsmouthians, S&C Contributing Editor Christine Lawrence meets a 103-year-old lady who recalls Zeppelins, D-Day and the Great Depression. Maud Mary Goodchild, known as Mary to her friends, [… read more ]

History

Saved by the Rats Part II

7th November 2016

Our Contributing Editor Gareth Rees concludes the harrowing story of a World War II serviceman from Portsmouth who was taken POW by the Japanese. Find Part I here if you missed it. I crawled through [… read more ]

History

Saved by the Rats: Stories of a POW Part I

2nd November 2016

In the 1980s, Gareth Rees advertised for a good personal story in The News. A man rang him and said he’d been a prisoner of the Japanese in World War II. When Gareth went to [… read more ]

Politics

War is Failure: An Interview with a Veteran for Peace Part I

1st November 2016

Veterans for Peace (VfP) is a group of ex-military personnel committed to raising awareness about the human, social and economic costs of war. It is opposed to the use of war by any nation to achieve [… read more ]

Memoir

The Sailor Dad I Never Knew

21st October 2016

S&C Contributing Editor John Oke Bartlett never really knew his father, who served in the Royal Navy in World War II. Now, some years after her death, he’s compelled to record as much as he [… read more ]

Memoir

What’s Happening in Syria Once Happened Here Too

22nd August 2016

New Star & Crescent Contributing Editor, Gareth Rees, takes a philosophical and psychological tour of Portsmouth’s own Cathedral of St Thomas. A guy from Dubai once told me that if, in his travels, he couldn’t [… read more ]

Memoir

We Buried My Dad in the Woods

15th August 2016

S&C Contributing Editor Christine Lawrence shares what happens when a loved one dies suddenly and you discover that they want a natural burial with no ‘fuss’. What followed was an interesting journey which brought her closer [… read more ]

Posts pagination

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Latest News

Events

Planetbuilding Blues: A Letter to My Dead Parents

24th September 2026

Writer and planetary modeller David Angus recalls recent global and personal events in a letter to his dead parents, from anti-vaxxers to flying a Spitfire. By now Jill Mole should be with you and Arthur [… read more ]

News

Portsmouth Union Branch Calls on University to Address Pension Inequality

10th September 2026

The Portsmouth branch of the UCU (University and College Union) has passed a motion calling on the management of the University of Portsmouth (UoP) to address pension inequality. The Branch contends that UoP has been [… read more ]

News

Portsmouth Constituents Urge Stephen Morgan to Protest Oil Drilling and Support Fair Energy Transition

21st August 2026

Portsmouth constituents have sent a clear message to their MP Stephen Morgan demanding urgent action to help bring our energy bills down and increase energy security for our communities. The UK government is set to [… read more ]

News

Green Open Homes Week: How Portsmouth Residents are Taking on the Energy Crisis

26th June 2026

Energy prices are a growing concern – but for some, getting ahead of the crisis has paid off. Local residents have been opening their doors to Nicholas Sebley of Portsmouth Climate Action to reveal how they [… read more ]

News

Portsmouth UCU Branch Condemns Iran War and Calls for University Ethics Review

27th May 2026

The Portsmouth branch of the UCU (University and College Union) has passed a motion condemning the US and Israel’s illegal wars against Iran and Lebanon, and calling for an ethical review of the University of [… read more ]

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