Going to Southampton to look at a boat.

 It was payday and I was itching to get out of the house and out of Pompey. I hadn't been anywhere interesting for a while and fancied doing something new.  

 People with more money might hop on a flight to Antigua or take off to London to hit the theatre district or wherever.  Me? I was going to pop over to Southampton to look at a boat.

  Southampton has plenty of boats and ships to choose from but what made this one different was that it was firmly inland. More on that in a minute. 

 The weather a was a gorgeous, sunny day so that was good, at least until I got out of Southampton rail station  and into direct sunlight. This is where I realised that jeans and a black t-shirt is not great for scorching hot days, especially if you're a middle-aged couch potato who avoids sunlight and exercise. 

  Some hot, damp, sweaty trudging later I found my way to the bottom end of Western Esplanade and turned right to follow the old, stone city walls.  There it was, the reason for this trip.

 So what you're looking at right now is a replica of a medieval "keel" merchant ship  built 1997ish by local Maritime Skills Centre manager  Alex Ward and refurbished in 2017. (Daily Echo article) 
 If I understand it right, the wall on the right used to be the quayside city walls which were put up after a visit from French and Genoese in 1338 left things in a proper mess. (More about that HERE)

Since there wasn't a fence around it, or a big sign saying "Keep off" I took the opportunity  to climb aboard.

 
  At this point a family walked past and one of the children loudly asked if they could get in the boat, to which the mother loudly responded "No, you're not supposed be on that.." while glaring at me.  I didn't case. I was on a boat and she wasn't. 

By this point I'd explored all the options the boat could offer.  There was another point of interest just up the road though. After a landbound ship, we had a landbound lighthouse. 

 There's a chain of them all along the high street and beyond. 

The next place on my itinerary was the Tudor House museum. 

I didn't have too much trouble working out which of the local buildings it was. 

 Bigger than I was expecting too. 

The building itself was nice and out the back they had a small but interesting garden as well as some Tudor era fortifications. 

 A nice little fountain in one corner

 Plants. Don't ask me what, I am no gardener.

Pretty though

 Looking back at the garden from a stretch of wall. 

  After that I slogged off to the town centre in search of comics and a cold drink. Oh dear gods, I really, really needed that cold drink. Hot weather and me do not get along. 

 I did take a couple of snaps of the tower at the city centre end though. I do like that sort of thing. 

  

 It's weird how this is right next to a big, modern complex made of glass and concrete.  The world has a place for both but I know which one I wanted to take a picture of. 

 One rampage around Southampton's bookshops later I was on my way home with a bag of books, sore feet and mild heatstroke. All worth it for a jaunt away from the same old, same old.  

 I will leave you with a photo I took of some graffiti at Pompey's Hard, outside the bus station.

 I can't disagree. 

  That's all folks.