In 1979 Dad took a job based on top of Portsdown Hill. Jane and I were taken along to a second viewing of a house in Portchester and I loved the place.
When we moved in Jane and I had to decide which bedrooms to have. She chose the larger room nearer the stairs and I chose the small room attached to it. It meant I had to walk through her room in order to reach mine, but I did have a great view of the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour.
I loved that house. I loved the view, the days we watched storms sweeping over the sea towards us, the New Year Eves paddling in the sea and the openness of a sea horizon.
The house is located no more than 10 metres from the shoreline of Portchester Creak. It was built slightly higher from the surrounding garden than usual, because on some occasions, when the tide is high and the wind is right, the sea will flood into the garden. It would be accurate to write that the house is a "stones throw from the beach." As my first car once had the rear window broken by a stray stone whilst parked on the road outside.
Jane and I made fair use of the location. We swam in the sea on hot summers days, threw our fair share of stones into the mud and tried to catch the crabs that occasionally visited the beach.
Opposite the house there is a rainwater outflow pipe encased in a small concrete pier. On days with a spring tide it was always fun to walk on top of this triangular monolith as far out as we dare. Some friends found to the cost of wet clothes, that this wasn't always a safe thing to do.
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