Portland
Portland maps (2 available)
Map of Dorset
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Portland books (13 available)
- 6 photos on Portland appear in 3 Frith books - View photos of Portland
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Portland and Dorset
Portland memories
Read and share memories of Portland and Dorset inspired by Frith photos
Be the first to add a memory of Portland.
You can also read memories of nearby places in Dorset below.
Dorset memories
First visit to Weymouth 1948.
I first visited Weymouth in 1948 with my mother, father, brother Terry and sister Joan. We travelled down from Chesterfield in Derbyshire in dad's pre-war Morris 8 saloon, and camped at Waterside in Bowleaze Cove, which was then owned by Mr. A.H.Pheby.
We were amazed at our first view of Weymouth and Portland from the hill overlooking the town, and we all came to love the place so much that we all continued to visit for many years afterwards. I have brought my children and grandchildren here many times, sometimes twice in a year, and will be coming again this year (2008) in my 70th year, 60 years after the first visit!
We particularly enjoyed the Jazz in June concert in ...read more here
A memory of Weymouth contributed by Jefre Kay
Weymouth - Chapelhay and the corner of Buxton Road bombsites
I was only small when we moved to Longfield Road but old enough to remember walking through the bombsites and noticing wallflowers, buddliea and butterflies among the heaps of rubble and being concerned when coming across a fireplace or something that looked like a part of someone`s house.
A memory of Weymouth contributed by Sarah Smith
1962 Vacation - 1968
It was the year before I married that my husband to be and myself went on a vacation to Weymouth. We had a lovely time, the weather was just glorious for us. We always said that when we married we would revisit Weymouth. Well, we did in the year 1968 with our first born she was 4 years old at that time. I remember so well enjoying a day on the beach, and my little daughter had such fun watching Punch & Judy shows. I would like to visit Weymouth again one of these days to relive all those memories of bygone days.
A memory of Weymouth contributed by Brenda Vanderwert
The floods
I have lived in Weymouth since 1947 when I was 2 years old. In July 1955 one of my brothers was born. This was about a week after a massive thunder storm causing a flood. The water at Westham bridge was a foot deep. It's good to to look at these photographs to see how things have changed.
A memory of Weymouth contributed by Alan Smith
Extracts From Portland & Dorset books
Chesil Beach, seen here from the Isle of Portland, is a great ridge of shingle eight miles long, with a lagoon of brackish water between it and the mainland. Its stones tend to be much larger at one end than the other. John Meade Faulkner immortalised the area in his famous smuggling novel ‘Moonfleet’.
An extract from from"Dorset Pocket Album".
The Isle’s main town of Fortuneswell grew up, as the name implies, around a supply of fresh water, as did many of the Portland settlements. On this barren rock, surrounded by salt water, such wells were hard to come by and exploited to the full when they were.
An extract from from"Dorset Pocket Album".
The Portland villages of Castleton, Fortuneswell and Chesil now form the largest urban settlement where the Isle meets the causeway from the mainland. When this photograph was taken, they were three discreet villages, overlooking the great naval base in one direction and being overlooked by the convict prison from the other.
An extract from from"Dorset Pocket Album".
The Isle of Portland guards Weymouth Bay from fierce south-westerly gales, though it is a rocky peninsula rather than an island. The stone from its quarries is renowned; it was used by Wren for a great part of St Paul's Cathedral.
An extract from from"Dorset Revisited Photographic Memories".
Bow and Arrow Castle, or Rufus Castle as it is sometimes called in honour of its founder William II, was besieged by Robert of Gloucester in 1142 during the civil wars of King Stephen's time. Portland's position has proved important for the defence of southern England down the centuries.
An extract from from"Dorset Revisited Photographic Memories".