Navy Days, Portsmouth.

Unfortunately, I was here for work, but made a little time to take some pictures from the Royal Navy extravaganza that is the Navy Days, at the Royal Dockyards, Portsmouth, Hampshire. I have been visiting this show since I was a child and it never ceases to amaze me. They put on a great show every time, with warships from the Royal Navy and foreign Navies, the latest gadgetry and weapons systems and the men and women from the services on show.







This year saw the newest and most advanced military and naval hardware on show, including the Type 45 destroyers HMS Daring and HMS Dauntless, newly commissioned into the Royal Navy, and proudly on show this weekend.







More military hardware than you can shake a stick at is also on show such as the Merlin helicopter, with the flight crew ready and willing to take you on board and show you the instruments. Everywhere you look, there are things to see, service personnel to meet and a great deal of military toys to play with, with close supervision from Naval personnel of course!







There are also plenty of things to see that the general public rarely get to see, such as the Naval clearance diver teams, who take great delight in splashing the kids with their flippers from the diving tank, so be warned.

Navy Days are of course a great introduction to the operations of the Royal Navy, many of whom are serving in hostile environments and other war torn regions of the world, so it is good to remember the service and sacrifice made by many of the servicemen and women of the Royal Navy and of course the Royal Marines, who face combat in Afghanistan on a daily basis.

So if you are thinking of joining up, there is no better place to visit than the Navy Days, at least you have the option of signing the dotted line, unlike years gone by when men were forced into the Royal Navy, if they were unlucky enough to be taken by the men who roamed the drinking parlours of old Portsmouth on the lookout for victims.







Part of the weekend I always like to see are the re-enactments of the old days, where you can see and experience how it was like to live and work from days gone by, and witness the history of the Royal Navy as it was formed. A great deal of effort goes into this, and there are a great many types of demonstrations to be seen from old muskets, to cooking on an old warship, and many many others.

The Navy Days are a great day or even a whole weekend out. It may take you all weekend to see and experience what the whole show has to offer. So if you like climbing over Naval Warships, experiencing the history, or just fancy a day out that is very different from the norm, then a trip to the Royal Dockyards is a must.

Paul Martin.
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