Portsmouth: Portsmouth of the Past Walking Tour

Portsmouth’s past is not locked away in a museum. It sits under your feet in Old Portsmouth, where sailor stories, naval power, odd customs, wartime change, and local characters all meet. This 90-minute walk with Steve takes that everyday Portsmouth and turns it into a lively story.

I like the personal local angle. Steve has lived in Portsmouth for more than 40 years, and his approach mixes dates with tales of love, murder, martyrs, sailors, and strange city customs. I also like the use of old photographs and maps, which help you see how much the waterfront and dockyard have changed.

The main consideration is pace and footwear. You cover a fair part of Old Portsmouth in 90 minutes, and one visitor found tired feet later in the day. The tour is entertaining first, so anyone wanting a dense lecture on naval history may wish for more formal historical detail.

Key points to know before you book

• The Mudlarks Statue is the meeting point: Find the small girl and man statue about 30 metres from the entrance to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
• Steve brings local memory to the walk: His more than 40 years of living in Portsmouth give the tour a strongly personal feel.
• The story runs from Roman times to aircraft carriers: You move from Portus Adurni, now Portchester Castle, through the growth of Old Portsmouth and into the modern dockyard.
• Historic images make change easier to understand: Photos and maps show how ships, seafaring, wartime bombing, and redevelopment altered the city.
• It is a good value introduction: At $13 per person, the walk gives you context for Old Portsmouth without charging for museum or tower admission.
• The tour supports a useful cause: Funds raised and gratuities are split with Cancer Research UK.

Old Portsmouth told through people, not just dates

Many city walks give you a string of buildings and dates. This one takes a different route. The focus is on the people who lived, worked, loved, fought, suffered, and sailed from Portsmouth.

That matters in a naval city. Portsmouth can look like a place built around ships and military landmarks, but its character also comes from ordinary residents and sailors. The tour uses those human stories to explain why the city developed as it did.

You’ll hear about the lively lives of sailors and the personalities connected with the old town. The stories can turn funny, sad, romantic, or grim. The mix includes love stories, murders, martyrs, and unusual local facts. That variety keeps the walk from feeling like a list of military dates.

I find this style useful if you are new to Portsmouth. You get a sense of the city’s personality before deciding which museums, ships, or waterfront sights deserve more of your time.

Starting at The Hard and the Mudlarks Statue

The practical starting point is easy to reach. The meeting point is the Mudlarks Statue, showing a small girl and a man, about 30 metres from the entrance to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

Portsmouth Harbour Station and The Hard Bus Interchange are about 75 metres from the start. The Gosport Ferry is about 100 metres away. That makes this a handy first activity if you arrive by train, bus, or ferry, and it also works well before or after a visit to the dockyard.

Look for an Portsmouth of the Past walking-tour board and banner. The exact meeting point matters here because the wider waterfront has several obvious gathering places. Allow yourself enough time to find the statue rather than arriving at the last minute.

The walk returns to The Hard Interchange. You therefore finish close to the same transport links, with no need to arrange a taxi from a separate endpoint.

From Roman roots to the growth of the old town

The story reaches back to the Romans at Portus Adurni, the settlement associated with what is now Portchester Castle. The walk does not include admission to Portchester Castle, but this early reference gives Portsmouth a longer story than its famous naval dockyard alone.

From there, the focus moves to the development of Old Portsmouth in the late 12th century. This is where the tour helps connect the past to the streets you are actually walking through. Instead of treating the old town as a collection of attractive corners, Steve explains how it grew and how its people shaped its character.

The exact stops are less important than the way the story links them. You move through points of interest and quieter corners while learning why Portsmouth became important. The emphasis stays on the lives behind the buildings, rather than on architecture alone.

If you enjoy unusual details, this section should suit you. The tour is designed to point out facts and stories that you could easily miss on a casual stroll. You may leave with a better sense of why Old Portsmouth feels quirky, rather than simply old.

Portsmouth sailors and the city’s stranger stories

Portsmouth’s naval past gives the walk its main energy. Sailors passed through the city in large numbers, and their presence affected work, housing, trade, family life, and local behavior.

The tour uses these human connections to make naval history easier to follow. You are not only hearing about ships or battles. You are hearing about the people who supported, served, and lived around the naval world.

The unusual stories are a major reason to choose this walk over a standard orientation tour. Steve includes weird and bizarre facts about Portsmouth, along with tales that range from funny to unsettling. This can be especially appealing if you already know the broad outline of British naval history and want something more local and less predictable.

There is also room for humor. Steve’s style is friendly and personal, and he has been praised for remembering people’s names and adapting his explanations to a mixed group. That helps a small walking tour feel less like a speech delivered at fixed stops.

At the same time, keep your expectations clear. The tour does not promise an exhaustive account of every naval campaign or ship. One useful criticism is that some people may want more historical content. I would see this as an entertaining overview with solid background, rather than a specialist military seminar.

Maps and photographs that show a changed waterfront

Old Portsmouth has changed through new ships, new forms of seafaring, wartime bombing, and modern redevelopment. A street can look ordinary until you see an earlier photograph of the same place.

Steve supports the walk with historic pictures and maps. These are more than decoration. They help you imagine lost buildings, altered shorelines, and earlier working areas. If you struggle to picture the past from words alone, the visual material adds real value.

The images are also useful when the tour reaches the transition from older naval traditions to the modern dockyard. Portsmouth remains linked to the Royal Navy, but the vessels and technology have changed greatly. The walk follows that movement toward today’s aircraft carriers.

This visual approach is one of the strongest parts of the experience. It gives you a way to compare Portsmouth as it was with the city you see today. Bring a camera, not only for the views but also for the chance to photograph places that make more sense after the stories have been explained.

Finishing with modern aircraft carriers and the dockyard

The story eventually reaches the modern aircraft carriers in the dockyard. This provides a useful final chapter because it shows that Portsmouth’s naval role is not only a matter of old buildings and historic ships.

You will not enter Portsmouth Historic Dockyard or visit its ship attractions as part of this walking tour. Admission to the Spinnaker Tower is also not included. Those are separate paid attractions, so plan your budget accordingly if you want to add them.

That separation can be a benefit. You pay $13 for a guided introduction rather than paying museum admission before you know how you want to spend the rest of your day. The walk can help you decide which dockyard attractions deserve your time.

The tour itself stays outdoors and returns to The Hard Interchange. If you have already booked the dockyard, check the timing carefully so you do not rush between the walking tour and an entry slot.

Is $13 good value for 90 minutes?

At $13 per person, this is an inexpensive way to get oriented in Portsmouth. The value comes from the guide’s long connection with the city, the unusual local stories, and the historical maps and photographs.

A self-guided walk costs less, of course. But you would need to find the places, research the background, and work out which details matter. This tour gives you a ready-made route and a local voice for a modest price.

The tour also earns extra goodwill because funds raised and gratuities are split with Cancer Research UK. More than $1,200 had been raised in the previous year. That does not replace the need to judge the tour on its own merits, but it gives your payment a wider purpose.

I would call it strong value for:

• A first visit to Portsmouth
• A short stay in the city
• Visitors who want an overview before choosing larger attractions
• People who enjoy local anecdotes as much as formal history
• Families who want a guided walk without a long museum session

It may be less suitable if your only goal is detailed information about ships, battles, or dockyard engineering.

What the walk feels like for families and mixed groups

The tour is designed to work for different ages. Children receive an activity book and pencils, with content kept age appropriate. That gives younger family members something to do while Steve explains the city.

The stories also help hold attention better than a long sequence of dates. Children may respond to the weird facts, sailors, crime stories, and local characters, while adults can follow the wider story of Portsmouth’s development.

The walk is wheelchair and scooter accessible, and it is dog friendly. You should still wear comfortable shoes because the route covers several parts of Old Portsmouth and lasts 90 minutes.

The group can include local residents as well as people from overseas. Steve’s ability to tailor stories to different backgrounds is useful here. He has also been praised for making the experience feel personal, including remembering names and adjusting his explanations to the group.

Weather, comfort, and timing

This is an outdoor walking tour, so weather affects the experience. Bring comfortable shoes and a camera. If conditions are very poor, contact the provider to confirm that the tour is running.

In especially bad weather, the stories may be delivered in a pub with the help of pictures. That option keeps the experience possible, but it will not feel the same as walking through Old Portsmouth. If you want the full outdoor route, check ahead when the forecast looks rough.

The duration is 90 minutes. That is long enough to cover a useful amount of Old Portsmouth without taking over your whole day. It is also short enough to fit around a dockyard visit, ferry trip, or wider exploration of the city.

The main comfort issue is simple: you will be on your feet. I would not schedule an ambitious activity immediately afterward if you are sensitive to walking, especially since the route moves through several parts of the old town.

Who should book this Portsmouth walk?

I would choose this tour if you want Portsmouth to make sense quickly. It gives you the city’s broad timeline, but it also adds the odd details and personal stories that make a place memorable.

It suits first-time visitors, families, couples, solo visitors, and local residents who want to hear something new about their own city. It is also a useful choice for anyone arriving at Portsmouth Harbour, since the meeting point is close to the station, bus interchange, and Gosport Ferry.

You will probably enjoy it most if you like a guide with humor and a strong local voice. Steve’s style is friendly, informal, and story-led. If you prefer a tightly structured lecture with extensive military detail, you may find the balance too light in places.

Should you book the Portsmouth of the Past Walking Tour?

Book it if you want a friendly, affordable introduction to Old Portsmouth, especially if quirky stories matter as much to you as major historical events. Steve’s decades of local experience, old photographs, and maps give the walk more character than a simple route between landmarks.

The tour is not a substitute for Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, the ship attractions, or the Spinnaker Tower. Think of it as a useful companion to those sights, or as a complete short activity for a morning or afternoon.

At $13, the combination of local stories, visual history, convenient transport links, accessible routing, and charity support makes this an easy choice for most visitors. Wear good shoes, allow time to find the Mudlarks Statue, and go expecting Portsmouth told through its people as much as its ships.

FAQ

Where does the Portsmouth of the Past Walking Tour start?

The tour starts at the Mudlarks Statue, showing a small girl and a man. It is about 30 metres from the entrance to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

Where does the tour finish?

The walk returns to The Hard Interchange.

How long is the tour?

The guided walking tour lasts 90 minutes, or one and a half hours.

How much does the tour cost?

The listed price is $13 per person.

Is the tour wheelchair accessible?

Yes. The tour is wheelchair and scooter accessible.

Are dogs allowed?

Yes. The walking tour is dog friendly.

Is Portsmouth Historic Dockyard admission included?

No. Entry to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and access to its ship attractions are not included.

Is entry to the Spinnaker Tower included?

No. Admission to the Spinnaker Tower is not included.

What happens if the weather is very bad?

Contact the provider to confirm whether the tour is running. In very inclement weather, the tour may be delivered in a pub using historic pictures and stories.

What language is the tour in?

The live tour is conducted in English.

Can children take part?

Yes. Children receive an age-appropriate activity book and pencils.

What should you bring?

Bring comfortable shoes and a camera.