When Navy Days brought tens of thousands to Portsmouth
It wasn't so long ago that tens of thousands of people arrived in Portsmouth each August to get a glimpse of life on the Grey Funnel Line.
Before the Second World War queues snaking hundreds of yards were the norm during what was then called Navy Week.
And they were people who would wait patiently to visit just one warship among the dozens open to the public, not for overall entry to the dockyard.
As the decades rolled on and the fleet contracted, the annual week became a weekend and eventually the event alternated between Portsmouth and Plymouth.
As reported in The News, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard has launched an attempt to woo back some of those August crowds with a three-day festival celebrating the city’s rich maritime heritage in its Boathouse 4.
It starts on Friday and for more details go to historicdockyard.co.uk.