I haven’t been on a proper outing for over a year, if you don’t count going to visit my daughter’s family last September which was very local once I got there.
So of course when they offered to pick me up to accompany them to The Hovercraft Museum in Lee-on-Solent I jumped at the idea.
We parked on the seafront and there was much excitement at seeing the sea after so long.
I took my camera as it seemed just the thing to make an interesting post.
Of course they had a one-way system in operation and this is where we started.
I don’t want to bore you with too many photographs so I will try and pick out the highlights.
Shades of Yellow Submarine?
though of course hovercraft skim over the water not under it!
Now two hovercraft built out of scrap for a programme I never remember seeing.
If you want to know more – This will enlarge if you click on it.
I thought this was rather jolly – a hovercraft that could be shipped in a 1m cube box and when assembled be carried by the 2 or 4 people that it would carry.
If you want to know more – This will enlarge if you click on it.
This is a huge military hovercraft that you can not fit in one photograph.
The largest hovercraft all was the Princess Anne that had been a car ferry across The Channel and it was a special year.
A view from behind
and to the side.
We thought that this part was probably first class.
They had a small galley
and even a ‘you know what’.
And on the car deck.(Writing enlarged and superimposed.)
You notice those were the days before smoking was generally restricted. In what we thought were second class seating there were little ashtrays in the arms of the seats.
For the technically minded, the Princess Anne had four engine similar to this one.
This information sheet will enlarge if you click on it to make it easier to read.
I was very struck by this little rescue hovercraft.
This information sheet will enlarge if you click on it to make it easier to read.
They had a large James Bond – “Die Another Day” display with two hovercraft.
This
and this
And to finish: here are a few hover lawnmowers and vacuum cleaners.
We had one of these
and I was quite a come down (literally!) when it needed to be replaced and I had to go back to my vacuum having wheels.
And then when we had gone all the way round it was time for lunch.
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We went to “On The Water” and I know some people like to see the food.
So this was what I had.
FISH GOUJON SANDWICH – Homemade Tartare Sauce, Gem Lettuce & Cucumber Served on a Sourdough Bun With Apple Slaw & Vegetable Crisps
Then we spent some time on the beach.
Some of us went paddling and returned at a run.
Across the water we could see the Isle of Wight.
Hope you enjoyed this little look at the Hovercraft museum and my day out.
What a great day out. I’m particularly impressed by James Bond.
PS. Is it my eyesight or does that beach look more like shingle and shells than actual sand?
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Yes definitely shingle. Beaches around here are not always sand. Portsmouth to the East is shingle, Bournemouth to the west has lots of sand but further along: Lulworth cove has quite large pebbles.
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Come to Cape Town, we have beaches here like you won’t believe – with real sand 😉
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I can believe it. I have movie footage of me on a beach in West Africa as a toddler and the sand looks wonderful.
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Having said that, I’m just thinking about Blackpool, where I grew up. I’m pretty sure it was sandy there.
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Yes Highcliffe near Bournemouth has quite a bit of sand. I think Bournemouth had more and Rhossili on the Gower peninsula in Wales had lots of sand. I think Ryde on the Isle of Wight has sand too. Lots of variety.
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Oh to have a paddle. I really miss the sea, but one can’t have everything .The museum looks fascinating. We took a car on a hovercraft to France one year. Loved it. Huge inside.
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I might have had a paddle if I had realised we would stay so long but it was pebbly and we hadn’t brought towels and I didn’t fancy wet feet in my shoes and socks.
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Yay for days out! Loved Scrapheap Challenge. Made people actually have to use their engineering brains! We’re so short of engineers. 🙄
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Challenges are always fun. I had thought the UK was quite good at engineering.
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UK engineers are the best in the world! We’re running out of them though as you have to be able to hit metal and get dirty hands etc, not just push buttons. They all want to just push buttons. 😟
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