Spithead

Fort Gilkicker is a historic Palmerston fort built at the eastern end of Stokes Bay, Gosport, Hampshire England to dominate the key anchorage of Spithead. It was erected between 1863 and 1871 as a semi-circular arc with 22 casemates, to be armed with five twelve-inch guns, seventeen ten-inch guns and five nine-inch guns. The actual installed armament rather differed from this. In 1902 the RML guns were replaced by two 9.2-inch and two six-inch BL guns, and before the First World War the walls were further strengthened with substantial earthwork embankments. The fort was disarmed in 1956 and used for storage until 1999, and is currently in a state of disrepair.

Ryde Inshore Rescue Service is a voluntary run lifeboat station located in the town of Ryde on the Isle of Wight. Ryde Inshore Rescue is an independent lifeboat station within the United Kingdom. It is not part of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and does not receive funding from the RNLI or the government. The station is on call to the Coast Guard 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The service operates an inshore lifeboat from its station at Appley Lane.

Appley House (also: St Cecilia's Abbey) is an English country house and abbey in Appley Rise, Ryde, Isle of Wight.

St Cecilia's Abbey, Ryde is an abbey of Benedictine nuns in the Isle of Wight, England.

HMS Royal George was a ship of the line of the Royal Navy. A first-rate with 100 guns on three decks, she was the largest warship in the world at the time of her launch on 18 February 1756. Construction at Woolwich Dockyard had taken ten years. The ship saw immediate service during the Seven Years' War, including the Raid on Rochefort in 1757. She was Admiral Sir Edward Hawke's flagship at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759. The ship was laid up following the conclusion of the war in 1763, but was reactivated in 1777 for the American Revolutionary War. She then served as Rear Admiral Robert Digby's flagship at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1780. Royal George sank on 29 August 1782 whilst anchored at Spithead off Portsmouth. The ship was intentionally rolled so maintenance could be performed on the hull, but the roll became unstable and out of control; the ship took on water and sank. More than 800 people died, making it one of the most deadly maritime disasters in British territorial waters. Several attempts were made to raise the vessel, both for salvage and because she was a major hazard to navigation in the Solent. In 1782, Charles Spalding recovered fifteen 12-pounder guns using a diving bell of his own design. From 1834 to 1836, Charles and John Deane recovered more guns using a diving helmet they had invented. In 1839 Charles Pasley of the Royal Engineers commenced operations to break up the wreck using barrels of gunpowder. Pasley's team recovered more guns and other items between 1839 and 1842. In 1840, they destroyed the remaining structure of the wreck in an explosion which shattered windows several miles away in Portsmouth and Gosport.

Puckpool Battery (map reference SZ615923) is a battery located at Puckpool Point, close to the town of Ryde on the Isle of Wight. It is one of the many Palmerston Forts built on the island to protect it in response to a perceived French invasion. Construction of the battery began in 1863 and was completed by March 1865. During construction of the battery it was decided that it would be armed entirely with 50 of the heaviest mortars - at that time the 13-inch smooth bore mortar. This would enable the battery to provide large amounts of high angle plunging fire into the Solent, targeted at the vulnerable unarmoured decks of warships. In 1873, four gun positions were constructed at the sea face of the battery for four 11-inch Rifled Muzzle Loading (RML) guns. By 1886, these four guns and 30 mortars provided the entire armament of the battery. The following year all of the mortars were removed as they were obsolete by that time. In 1888, a proposal for two 10.4-inch 28-ton RML guns on an Armstrong protected barbette was put forward, and these had been fitted by 1892. They were the only guns of this type to be fitted in Great Britain. In 1901, the armament of the battery was modernised with positions for two 9.2-inch Breech Loading (BL) guns and two 6-inch Breech Loading (BL) guns. The battery was disarmed in 1927 and sold to the local district council the following year. It was brought back into use during the Second World War as HMS Medina to train men of the Fleet Air Arm. It has been used as a public recreational space since that time and has since been designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The gun positions are openly accessible and a number of original buildings survive. These include the guard room, barrack block and magazines.

Puckpool is a small coastal settlement on the outskirts of Ryde on the Isle of Wight. The area is best known for Puckpool Park, a park with an 18-hole putting green, 12 hole mini golf and two tennis courts. Puckpool Battery is located within the boundaries of the park; this is an old Palmerston Fort built in 1865. Puckpool Point features a natural sheltered bay offering a large expanse of sand and a gently sloping beach which becomes very popular with tourists and local residents during the summer season. A wide pedestrian and cycle promenade leading to Puckpool Point lines the entire bay. Until December 2009 Southern Vectis operated standard bus service 16 which served the area between Ryde and Bembridge via Seaview and St Helens. However, no route currently serves the park and the arrangements for summer 2010 are not known. The Ryde Road Train is also operated during the summer, designed to transport tourists from Ryde to the beach and park at Puckpool.

Fort Monckton is a historic military fort on the south-east shoreline of the Gosport peninsula, Hampshire. Built on the ruins of Haselworth Castle to protect Portsmouth Harbour at the start of the American War of Independence, it was rebuilt in the 1880s as a Palmerston fort.

Ryde Pier Head railway station is one of three stations in the town of Ryde on the Isle of Wight. Situated at the end of the town's pier, it is adjacent to the terminal for the Wightlink fast catamaran service connecting the island with Portsmouth on the English mainland. Passengers can use this to connect with the rest of the National Rail network at Portsmouth Harbour station, which is adjacent to the Portsmouth terminal. Through rail tickets for travel via Pier Head station are available to and from other stations on the Isle of Wight. These include travel on the catamaran service to or from Portsmouth as appropriate. Trains run down the eastern coast of the Isle of Wight to Shanklin (the Island Line), the last remnant of a network of railways on the island. Because of the restricted loading gauge, particularly through the tunnel under Ryde, services are operated by former London Underground stock. The ticket office at the station is run by Wightlink and not Island Line.

St. Clare Castle was a castellated mansion in Appley on the Isle of Wight. It was the family seat of St Clare, Appley. Her Majesty Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort visited several times, while Princess Alice and Prince Louis honeymooned at St. Clare in 1862. St. Clare Castle is situated on the coast, about a mile east of Ryde. It was the seat of Colonel Francis Vernon-Harcourt. The grounds and gardens are extensive.

Ryde Lifeboat Station was located at Ryde Pier, in the town of Ryde, on the Isle of Wight. A lifeboat was first placed at Ryde in 1858. Management of the station was transferred to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1894. Ryde Lifeboat Station was closed in 1923, following the placement of a motor-lifeboat at Bembridge. A double drowning incident at the end of Ryde Pier in 1956, prompted the reformation of a rescue organisation to serve the town, and the creation of Ryde Inshore Rescue Service.

Ryde Pier is an early 19th century pier serving the town of Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. It is the world's oldest seaside pleasure pier. Ryde Pier Head railway station is at the sea end of the pier, and Ryde Esplanade railway station at the land end, both served by Island Line trains.