1.
Portland Harbour
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Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. It is naturally protected by Portland to the south, Chesil Beach to the west and it consists of four breakwaters — two southern and two northern. These have a length of 4.57 km and enclose approximately 520 hectares of water. The initial southern breakwaters were built between 1849 and 1872, and Portland Harbour was a Royal Navy base until 1995, historically the original harbour was formed by the protection offered by the south coast of England, Chesil Beach and the Isle of Portland. This gave protection from the weather to ships from all directions except the east, the natural shelter was used by ships for centuries, and Romans valued the areas strategic importance. In the 16th century, King Henry VIII built Portland Castle, a refuge harbour had been suggested in 1794, however parliamentary approval was not granted until 1844. Construction of the harbour began in 1845 when the Royal Navy established a base at Portland for replenishment of the fleet. The new base at Portland was to be the first naval anchorage specifically designed for the new steam navy, the construction of the initial two breakwaters - the southern pair - began in 1849, after HRH Prince Albert laid the foundation stone on 25 July 1849. They were designed by engineer James Meadows Rendel, and the carried out under civil engineer John Towlerton Leather, with Rendel as engineer in chief. The two southern breakwaters were declared complete by HRH Edward the Prince of Wales on 10 August 1872, the construction work had become Dorsets greatest tourist attraction, and the countrys most expensive public project. During 1848, HM Prison Portland was opened to provide convict labour, to quarry the stone needed to construct the breakwaters and these were known as the Admiralty Quarries, and provided 10,000 tons of stone per week for use on the breakwaters. The Admiralty Railway was created to transport the stone down to the harbour, a set of various defences were created to defend the harbour. The Verne Citadel, was designed by Captain Crosman R. E. the 56 acre fortress was designed for 1000 troops, and gun emplacements were built facing seawards on three sides. Located on the highest point of Portland, Verne Hill, it sits in a position overlooking Portland Harbour. Below the eastern side of the citadel, East Weare Battery was built during the 1860s, the detention barracks of East Weare Camp were built above the battery circa 1880. On the end of the breakwater the Inner Pierhead Fort was built. In Weymouth, across the side of the harbour, Nothe Fort was built at the end of the Nothe Peninsula. In 1892 the Verne High Angle Battery was built in a disused Portland Stone quarry near the Verne Citadel, the harbour became a Royal Navy base with dockyard, refuelling and training facilities
2.
Verne Citadel
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Verne Citadel is a Victorian citadel on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. Located on the highest point of Portland, Verne Hill, it sits in a position overlooking Portland Harbour. The Verne stands 500 ft high and it later became HM Prison The Verne in 1949. The citadel was built between 1857-81, as Portland Harbours main defensive fortification, naturally inaccessible from the north and east, the south and west sides were protected with the digging of a large ditch. The East Weare Battery below the side of the Verne was considered part of the citadels outworks. The citadel was designed with open gun emplacements on the north, as its defensive role came to an end, by 1903 the citadel became an infantry barracks. During World War I and II, the Verne became the Headquarters of Coast Artillery, during World War II, a Chain Home Low Radar set was installed within the citadel, and the main magazine became a hospital. After the war, the last military use of the fort was by the Royal Engineers, the citadel was turned into a prison in 1949, becoming a Category C prison for 575 adult males, serving medium-to-long term sentences. In 2011, the service opened the public Jailhouse Cafe within the citadel. In 2013, the closed and became an immigration removal centre for 600 detainees awaiting deportation in 2014. The citadel is a monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. This includes the Verne High Angle Battery too, in recent years the Citadel has been listed on English Heritages Risk Register. Both the North and South Entrances, as well as the south west, the railings at the approach to the north entrance form part of the original construction at The Verne, and are Grade II Listed. The prisons reception centre is also Grade II Listed, the East Weare Battery, and the detention barracks of East Weare Camp, both became Grade II Listed in May 1993. The Verne High Angle Battery was built in 1892, approximately 150 metres south of the southern entrance. Decommissioned in 1906, it became Grade II Listed in May 1993 too, Victorian Forts data sheet Verne Citadel Historic pictures of the Verne Citadel and the Army presence there
3.
Weymouth, Dorset
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Weymouth /ˈweɪməθ/ is a seaside town in Dorset, England, situated on a sheltered bay at the mouth of the River Wey on the English Channel coast. The town is 11 kilometres south of Dorchester and 8 kilometres north of the Isle of Portland, the town is the third largest settlement in Dorset after the unitary authorities of Bournemouth and Poole. The A354 road bridge connects Weymouth to Portland, which form the borough of Weymouth. Weymouth originated as a settlement on a site to the south and west of Weymouth Harbour. The town developed from the mid 12th century onwards, but was not noted until the 13th century, by 1252 it was established as a seaport and became a chartered borough. Melcombe Regis developed separately on the peninsula to the north of the harbour, French raiders found the port so accessible that in 1433 the staple was transferred to Poole. Melcombe Regis is thought to be the first port at which the Black Death came into England in June 1348, possibly either aboard a spice ship or an army ship. In their early history Weymouth and Melcombe Regis were rivals for trade and industry, both towns have become known as Weymouth, despite Melcombe Regis being the main centre. The villages of Upwey, Broadwey, Preston, Wyke Regis, Chickerell, Southill, Radipole, King Henry VIII had two Device Forts built to protect the south Dorset coast from invasion in the 1530s, Sandsfoot Castle in Wyke Regis and Portland Castle in Castletown. Parts of Sandsfoot have fallen into the sea due to coastal erosion, during the English Civil War, around 250 people were killed in the local Crabchurch Conspiracy in February 1645. In 1635, on board the ship Charity, around 100 emigrants from the crossed the Atlantic Ocean and settled in Weymouth. More townspeople emigrated to the Americas to bolster the population of Weymouth, Nova Scotia and Salem, Massachusetts, there are memorials to this on the side of Weymouth Harbour and near to Weymouth Pavilion and Weymouth Sea Life Tower. The architect Sir Christopher Wren was the Member of Parliament for Weymouth in 1702, when he designed St Pauls Cathedral, Wren had it built out of Portland Stone, the famous stone of Portlands quarries. Sir James Thornhill was born in the White Hart public house in Melcombe Regis, Thornhill became an artist, and coincidentally decorated the interior of St Pauls Cathedral. A mounted white horse representing the King is carved into the hills of Osmington. Weymouths esplanade is composed of Georgian terraces, which have been converted into apartments, shops, hotels, statues of Victoria, George III and Sir Henry Edwards, Member of Parliament for the borough from 1867 to 1885, and two war memorials stand along the Esplanade. In the centre of the town lies Weymouth Harbour, although it was the reason for the towns foundation, since the 18th century they have been linked by successive bridges over the narrowest part of the harbour. The present Town Bridge, built in 1930, is a bascule bridge allowing boats to access the inner harbour
4.
Isle of Portland
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The Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island,6 kilometres long by 2.7 kilometres wide, in the English Channel. Portland is 8 kilometres south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, a barrier beach called the Chesil Beach joins it to the mainland. The A354 road passes down the Portland end of the beach, Portland and Weymouth together form the borough of Weymouth and Portland. The population of Portland is 12,400, Portland is a central part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site on the Dorset and east Devon coast, important for its geology and landforms. Portland stone, famous for its use in British and world architecture, including St Pauls Cathedral, Portland Harbour, in between Portland and Weymouth, is one of the largest man-made harbours in the world. The harbour was made by the building of stone breakwaters between 1848 and 1905, the harbour is now a civilian port and popular recreation area, and was used for the 2012 Olympic Games. The name Portland is used for one of the British Sea Areas, the Romans occupied Portland, reputedly calling it Vindelis. The Vikings first raid on England occurred in Portland in 787 AD, three lost Viking ships from Hordaland landed at Portland Bill. The kings reeve tried to collect taxes from them, but they killed him, in 1539 King Henry VIII ordered the construction of Portland Castle for defence against attacks by the French, the castle cost £4,964. It is one of the best preserved castles from this period, well-known buildings in the capital, including St Pauls Cathedral and the eastern front of Buckingham Palace feature the stone. Portland cement has nothing to do with Portland, it was so named due to its colour to Portland stone when mixed with lime. There have been railways in Portland since the early 19th century, the Merchants Railway was the earliest—it opened in 1826 and ran from the quarries at the north of Tophill to a pier at Castletown, from where the Portland stone was shipped around the country. The line closed to passengers in 1952, and the goods train ran in April 1965. The Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck stationed a lifeboat at Portland in 1826, coastal flooding has affected Portlands residents and transport for centuries—the only way off the island by land is along the causeway in the lee of Chesil Beach. At times of extreme floods this road link is cut by floods, the low-lying village of Chiswell used to flood on average every 5 years. Chesil Beach occasionally faces severe storms and massive waves, which have a fetch across the Atlantic Ocean, in the 1980s it was agreed that a scheme to protect against a one-in-five-year storm would be practicable, it would reduce flood depth and duration in more severe storms. At the start of the First World War, HMS Hood was sunk in the passage between the southern breakwaters to protect the harbour from torpedo and submarine attack. Portland Harbour was formed by the construction of breakwaters, but before that the anchorage had hosted ships of the Royal Navy for more than 500 years
5.
Dorset
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Dorset /ˈdɔːrsᵻt/ is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the county, which is governed by Dorset County Council. Covering an area of 2,653 square kilometres, Dorset borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, the county town is Dorchester which is in the south. After the reorganisation of government in 1974 the countys border was extended eastward to incorporate the Hampshire towns of Bournemouth. Around half of the lives in the South East Dorset conurbation. The county has a history of human settlement stretching back to the Neolithic era. The Romans conquered Dorsets indigenous Celtic tribe, and during the early Middle Ages, the first recorded Viking raid on the British Isles occurred in Dorset during the eighth century, and the Black Death entered England at Melcombe Regis in 1348. During the Second World War, Dorset was heavily involved in the preparations for the invasion of Normandy, the former was the sailing venue in the 2012 Summer Olympics, and both have clubs or hire venues for sailing, Cornish pilot gig rowing, sea kayaking and powerboating. Dorset has a varied landscape featuring broad elevated chalk downs, steep limestone ridges, over half the county is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Three-quarters of its coastline is part of the Jurassic Coast Natural World Heritage Site due to its geological and it features notable landforms such as Lulworth Cove, the Isle of Portland, Chesil Beach and Durdle Door. Agriculture was traditionally the major industry of Dorset but is now in decline, there are no motorways in Dorset but a network of A roads cross the county and two railway main lines connect to London. Dorset has ports at Poole, Weymouth and Portland, and an international airport, the county has a variety of museums, theatres and festivals, and is host to one of Europes largest outdoor shows. It is the birthplace of Thomas Hardy, who used the county as the setting of his novels. Dorset derives its name from the county town of Dorchester, the Romans established the settlement in the 1st century and named it Durnovaria which was a Latinised version of a Common Brittonic word possibly meaning place with fist-sized pebbles. It is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in AD845 and in the 10th century the countys archaic name, the first human visitors to Dorset were Mesolithic hunters, from around 8000 BC. The first permanent Neolithic settlers appeared around 3000 BC and were responsible for the creation of the Dorset Cursus, from 2800 BC onwards Bronze Age farmers cleared Dorsets woodlands for agricultural use and Dorsets high chalk hills provided a location for numerous round barrows. During the Iron Age, the British tribe known as the Durotriges established a series of forts across the county—most notably Maiden Castle which is one of the largest in Europe. The Romans arrived in Dorset during their conquest of Britain in AD43, Maiden Castle was captured by a Roman legion under the command of Vespasian, and the Roman settlement of Durnovaria was established nearby
6.
Weymouth Bay
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Weymouth Bay is a sheltered bay on the south coast of England, in Dorset. Weymouth Bay is situated halfway along the UNESCO Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. The bays waters are excellent for sailing — the best sailing waters in northern Europe and this means that Portland Bill can be accessed easily from anywhere on Weymouth Bay by sailing when the tide is turning as an eddy flows along Portlands eastern side. The bay is home to the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, since the games, the Academys venue has continued to improve to ensure a legacy for the Olympic Games. Weymouth Bay, Bowleaze Cove and Jordon Hill was painted by the leading English landscape artist John Constable in 1816–17, Constable had honeymooned on the south coast in October 1816, inspiring the painting. The painting now hangs in the National Gallery, London
7.
Venues of the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics
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The 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics venues were mostly located in the host city of London, though some other events required facilities located elsewhere. Between the successful bid and the Olympics and Paralympics themselves, several details, the 2012 Games used a mixture of newly built venues, existing facilities and temporary facilities, some of them in well known locations such as Hyde Park and Horse Guards Parade. In the wake of the problems that plagued the Millennium Dome, some of the facilities are being reused in their Olympic form, while others were constructed so that they could either be reduced in size or moved elsewhere in the UK. The plans were intended to contribute to the regeneration of Stratford in east London which is the site of the Olympic Park, the venues within Greater London were divided into three zones, the Olympic Zone, the River Zone and the Central Zone. In addition to these were venues that, by necessity, are outside the boundaries of Greater London, the IOC has a number of major blue-chip sponsors for the Olympics, who are entitled to have their name exclusively associated with the event. As a consequence, any company that provided sponsorship was not permitted to use its name or branding during the games. This park was developed on existing waste and industrial land, and is seven minutes by Olympic Javelin train from central London. The park contained in the following below,1, - As part of Lee Valley VeloPark 2, - Hockey facilities moved to Eton Manor The Olympic Village, with accommodation for all athletes and team officials. After the games the village become a district of the Stratford City development. The Olympic Press and Broadcast Centres, Park Live The original plan called for the construction of five new indoor arenas, four in the Olympic Park, and one in the River Zone. In order to save money this was reduced to two, the existing venues at Earls Court and Wembley Arena were added to the plans, and various sports were shuffled around to make this possible. Civil engineering companies Morrisons and Nuttalls were appointed to undertake the demolition and land remediation works, the pace of this speeded up with the closure of the roads crossing the Olympic Park in June 2007. The construction phase of the Olympic Park was managed by CLM and this consortium is officially titled Delivery Partner, ODA. The earliest construction of venues commenced in April 2008 with the start of the main build on the Olympic Stadium by McAlpine, work on the Aquatics Centre began later the same year. During the construction phase the workforce on-site is expected to peak at 9,000 operatives, accidents during construction of the venues resulted in no deaths - the only time this has happened in the history of Olympic construction. However, the cost led to alternatives being suggested, eventually leading to the cancellation of the arena, the Central Zone is formed out of all the remaining venues within Greater London. This was achieved predominantly by providing accommodation for London-based athletes only and those competing in events outside London were to be housed elsewhere. Following the athletes experiences in Beijing 2008 this compromise was to be reconsidered whilst pressure built for the deal to be resolved
8.
2012 Summer Olympics
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It took place in London and to a lesser extent across the United Kingdom from 25 July to 12 August 2012. The first event, the stage in womens football began on 25 July at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. 10,768 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees participated, London is the first and only city thus far to host the modern Olympic Games three times, having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948. Construction for the Games involved considerable redevelopment, with an emphasis on sustainability, the main focus was a new 200-hectare Olympic Park, constructed on a former industrial site at Stratford, East London. The Games also made use of venues that already existed before the bid, the Games received widespread acclaim for their organisation, with the volunteers, the British military and public enthusiasm praised particularly highly. During the Games, Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time, saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Brunei entered female athletes for the first time, so that every currently eligible country has sent a female competitor to at least one Olympic Games. Womens boxing was included for the first time, thus the Games became the first at which every sport had female competitors and these were the final Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Jacques Rogge. The final medal tally was led by the United States, followed by China, several world and Olympic records were set at the games. Furthermore, the focus on sporting legacy and post-games venue sustainability was seen as a blueprint for future Olympics. On 18 May 2004, as a result of a technical evaluation. All five submitted their candidate files by 19 November 2004 and were visited by the IOC inspection team during February, throughout the process, Paris was widely seen as the favourite, particularly as this was its third bid in recent years. London was initially seen as lagging behind Paris by a considerable margin and its position began to improve after the appointment of Lord Coe as the new head of London 2012 on 19 May 2004. In late August 2004, reports predicted a tie between London and Paris, on 6 June 2005, the IOC released its evaluation reports for the five candidate cities. They did not contain any scores or rankings, but the report for Paris was considered the most positive, London was close behind, having closed most of the gap observed by the initial evaluation in 2004. New York and Madrid also received positive evaluations. On 1 July 2005, when asked who would win, Jacques Rogge said, but my gut feeling tells me that it will be very close. Perhaps it will come down to a difference of say ten votes, on 6 July 2005, the final selection was announced at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore. Moscow was the first city to be eliminated, followed by New York, the final two contenders were London and Paris
9.
2012 Paralympics
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They were the first-ever organized sporting event for disabled athletes, and served as a precursor to the modern Paralympic Games. Stoke Mandeville also co-hosted the 1984 Summer Paralympics with Long Island, New York, after its original host, at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore, the rights to host the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics were awarded to London. As with the Olympics, the 2012 Summer Paralympics were overseen by LOCOG, LOCOG was responsible for overseeing the staging of the games, while the ODA dealt with infrastructure and venues. The Government Olympic Executive within the Department for Culture, Media, the GOE reported through the DCMS Permanent Secretary to the Minister for Sports and the Olympics Hugh Robertson. It focused on oversight of the Games, cross-programme management and the London 2012 Olympic Legacy, the 2012 Summer Paralympics used many of the same venues as the 2012 Summer Olympics, along with two new locations such as Eton Manor for wheelchair tennis and Brands Hatch for road cycling. Londons purpose-built Olympic venues and facilities, including the Olympic Village itself, were designed to be accessible as possible so they could accommodate the Paralympics. Some venues also contained additional accessible seating areas during the Paralympics, transport for London operated the Paralympic Route Network to facilitate road traffic between venues and facilities. The network provided 8.7 miles of lanes specifically reserved for Paralympic athletes, TfL continued to operate its Get Ahead of the Games website during the Paralympics, which provided updates and advice for commuters during the Games. Prior to the Games, concerns were raised by TfL commissioner Peter Hendy that Londons transportation system might not be able to handle the Paralympics adequately, Sevenoaks railway station was designated as the preferred station for spectators travelling to watch the cycling at Brands Hatch. Organisers chose Sevenoaks over the closer Swanley railway station because of its existing step-free access and excellent transport links, whilst organisers did not believe that Swanley would be able to have wheelchair lifts installed by the start of the Paralympics, the station finished their installation by early August 2012. The formal handover occurred during the ceremony of the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. This was followed by a presentation by Britain, which was similar to its presentation during the Olympics closing ceremony. It featured urban dance group ZooNation, the Royal Ballet, and Candoco, a double-decker bus drove around the stadium, guided by Ade Adepitan, to music composed by Philip Sheppard. The top of the bus was open and folded down to show a privet hedge featuring London landmarks such as Tower Bridge, The Gherkin and the London Eye. Cherisse Osei, drummer for Mika, and Sam Hegedus then performed, before the top of the bus folded up into its original form, both the Paralympic and Olympic flags were formally raised outside of Londons City Hall on 26 September 2008. British Paralympians Helene Raynsford and Chris Holmes raised the Paralympic flag, on 8 September 2011 Trafalgar Square staged International Paralympic Day, hosted by Rick Edwards, Ade Adepitan and Iwan Thomas, to coincide with a visit to London by representatives of the IPC. The event celebrated the Paralympic Games, showcasing and demonstrating the 20 sports that would feature during the Games and it also featured appearances by Paralympic athletes Oscar Pistorius, Ellie Simmonds and Sascha Kindred, and the unveiling of a bronze statue of Pistorius by Ben Dearnley. British Prime Minister David Cameron and Londons mayor Boris Johnson also appeared, two days later on 10 September, supermarket chain Sainsburys and Channel 4 presented Sainsburys Super Saturday, a family event at Clapham Common
10.
Princess Royal
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Anne, Princess Royal, KG KT GCVO GCStJ QSO GCL CD is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. At the time of her birth, she was third in the line of succession, behind her mother - then Princess Elizabeth - and she is currently 12th in line. Anne is known for her work, and is patron of over 200 organisations. Princess Anne has held the title of Princess Royal since 1987 and is its seventh holder, Anne was married to Captain Mark Phillips in 1973, they divorced in 1992. They have two children and three grandchildren, in 1992, within months of her divorce, Anne married Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, whom she had met while he served as her mothers equerry between 1986 and 1989. Anne was born at Clarence House on 15 August 1950 at 11,50 am, as the child and only daughter of Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh. She was the grandchild of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Anne was baptised in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace on 21 October 1950, by Archbishop of York, after the death of George VI, Annes mother ascended the throne as Queen Elizabeth II. Given her young age at the time, she did not attend the coronation, the Company was active until 1963, when Anne went to boarding school. Anne enrolled at Benenden School in 1963, in 1968 she left school with six GCE O-Levels and two A-Levels. In the next couple of years, Anne started dating, in 1970 her first boyfriend was Andrew Parker Bowles, who later became the first husband of Camilla Shand. Following the wedding, Anne and her husband lived at Gatcombe Park and he was made acting captain by the start of 1974 when he was appointed a personal aide-de-camp to Queen Elizabeth II. By 1989, however, Princess Anne and Mark Phillips announced their intention to separate, the couple divorced on 23 April 1992. The Queen had offered Phillips an earldom on his wedding day, the couple had two children, Peter Phillips and Zara Phillips. As female-line descendants of royalty, the children have no title despite being the grandchildren of a monarch, Anne became a grandmother on 29 December 2010 when Peter and his wife Autumn had a daughter, Savannah. On 29 March 2012, the couple had daughter, Isla. Annes third granddaughter, Mia Grace, was born on 17 January 2014 to Zara and her husband Mike Tindall. As Princess Anne and Mark Phillips were returning to Buckingham Palace on 20 March 1974, from a charity event on Pall Mall, the driver of the Escort, Ian Ball, jumped out and began firing a pistol
