Book Description

Nothe Fort and Beyond tells the story of the Nothe peninsula which rises majestically above Weymouth's harbour with Portland Roads and Newton's Cove on the other. The story starts with the time of Henry VIII and his Master Gunner up through the centuries until the mid-Victorian era, when it was requisitioned by the Government and became a fully-fledged military site. A bustling barrack block already stood atop the Nothe, built at the end of the 18th century to house King George III's troops, over the years it became a temporary home to many a regiment...some good...some not so good. The fort we see today was constructed by the Royal Engineers, but that was only after a few false starts, the ground it was built on being notoriously unstable. Part of the Victorian Portland Safe Harbour project, it involved not only the construction of Weymouth's Nothe Fort but also Portland's Verne Citadel, breakwaters and the government's stone quarries which were worked by convicts from the newly built prison. This was during a time of continual conflict with France and Napoleon's ever expanding military and naval forces just across the waters. Here's your chance to immerse yourself into the often-harsh lives of those who were involved in the forts construction. The Victorian soldiers and their families and the convicts slaving away over on Portland watched over by their guards. Meet the captains and their officers, men who revelled in Weymouth's high society and wooed the women, or the hard-working sappers who built this windswept edifice but still found time to get into mischief and those theatrical-loving artillerymen that later installed and manned its great guns. Find out what life was really like for the women and children who followed in their soldier's wake, having to share draughty barrack rooms with rumbustious fellows, spending hours repairing uniforms or scrubbing soldiers' washing to survive. Of course, with those soldiers and their women perched high on the headland and the many who arrived to spend time under canvas, life was certainly never going to be dull for Weymouth's residents. History and personal stories interweave as one in my book. Why not enter their world and witness their lives...