"Action Stations"

I treated myself to a day off today - no work and no college - although I need to work on my sermon for Sunday before the end of the week.  I had a free entry ticket to the Royal Naval Dockyard at Portsmouth and so drove over there arriving at just after 11 a.m.  I parked in the GunWharf Quay Shopping Centre car park and walked to the dockyard from there.  The weather today has been incredibly bright but bitterly cold.  I joined an excellent guided tour around HMS Victory led by a guide called Peter. Unfortunately, the ship has been demasted and probably won't have them back in place for another three or four years.  It leaves the ship looking a bit like one of the old hulks in the Thames/Medway.  Although I went around Victory about two years ago, this was the first time I'd done it as a guided tour for many years.  It was interesting to see the spot on the orlop deck where Nelson expired and the cask similar to the one in which his body was preserved in brandy.  I sent a tweet saying how good the tour was and this was responded to by the Dockyard itself - talk about Big Brother.  I also re-visited the Mary Rose Exhibition and talked to a number of the guides there.  I also had time to visit the Action Stations building and tried my hand at piloting a Sea King helicopter off the deck of a carrier.  I succeeded well in doing this only to fly straight into a cliff killing myself and the crew!  A lovely relaxing day. On the way back home I stopped off at the Hook & Glove in Farley where I met up with Sara and Mary to discuss, with John the landlord, arrangements for a Calendar Girls' Dinner and Quiz later in the month. Tonight we had House Group when we continued with our study of Paul's Letter to the Romans.  James stayed behind for a glass of wine afterwards.  Freezing cold tonight so grateful for our wood-burning fire.