PARKING UPDATE:
Rory McKenna has very helpfully made a recce of the coastal defence works in Southsea to see how they affect access to the memorial. In short, he recommends using the Esplanade car park (PO5 3AP) and walking to the memorial along the new tarmac path. The alternative car park at the D-Day museum is a little further away and the walk from there has kerbs and roads to navigate.
Looking forward to seeing you – and hoping for kind weather!
Dear friends and members of the HMS Dunedin Society
Next month, on Sunday 24 November, members of the HMS Dunedin Society will gather at the Royal Naval Memorial, Southsea, to mark the 83rd anniversary of the sinking of HMS Dunedin.
Existing and new members are all welcome to join us – we are hoping to have several crew members represented this year. Please note that this year our short service of remembrance will begin at midday/1200 at the Memorial, not 1300 as in previous years. This will be followed by an informal get-together in the Victory Bar of the Royal Maritime Hotel (RMH) in Queen Street, Portsmouth. Lunch can be ordered at the RMH, and there is public car park right opposite.
As always, if you intend to come it is helpful for us to know which member of the ship’s company you are representing, and how many of you will attend. There is no need to respond if you cannot attend.
Important: access issues this year
Unfortunately, would-be attendees face an unusual access challenge this year (and in 2025). Specifically, the road adjacent to Southsea Naval Memorial (Clarence Esplanade) has just closed for two years to allow for significant coastal defence works to take place. This means that the only way to access the memorial on 24 November will be to walk some distance on foot. We are in touch with the Portsmouth authorities to see whether they have any plans to allow vehicular access to the Memorial – not just for us, but for Remembrance Day and other remembrance occasions. We will let you know what we find out.
In the meantime, these are the key points (see also map below):
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Clarence Esplanade, the road adjacent to the Memorial and hence the one used to access it by vehicle, will be closed to both motorized and pedestrian traffic between the Hovertravel terminal and Blue Reef Aquarium.
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A new temporary tarmac footpath will be created across the seafront common from the Seafront Esplanade Car Park (as per map below). This path will pass right by the Memorial and allow access to it. However, this will mean a walk of around 650 yards (a third of a mile).
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It would theoretically be possible to shorten the walk to around 450 yards (a quarter of a mile) or so by approaching from the west, i.e. from the Blue Reef Aquarium. This would provide access from the other end of the temporary tarmac footpath that passes the Memorial, but the amount of parking that would be free near the Aquarium on a Sunday is not at all clear.
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Note that while the quickest route would be to access the Memorial from Southsea Common Car Park on the north side of Southsea common, parking may be limited here, and there is no direct footpath, so you would have to walk directly across the grassy common. Depending on the weather in the run-up to the event and on the day itself, this could be an arduous and muddy undertaking.
We fully appreciate that these coastal defence works could make it impossible for some members to attend, particularly those who are less mobile. Other members will understandably have to make a decision on the day, depending on the weather. One option to assist with mobility is to hire a wheelchair and have it delivered to the Royal Maritime Hotel. Please see the link to the Shopmobility registration form below and get in touch with that service directly if this is an option you would like to pursue.
We nonetheless look forward to seeing those of you who can attend despite this challenging access situation!
Please do come appropriately attired for whatever the weather may throw at us – this is all the more important given the access challenges we face this year (and alas in 2025), with the greater exposure to the elements that the necessary walk might involve.