The Hard

3rd location on the transect is the Hard. A public transportation hub to rent bicycles, scooters, or take the bus.

The hard is facing Portsmouth Harbour. Specifically the dry dock. and you might be wondering as I was, What is a Dry Dock? A dry dock, situated adjacent to water bodies, consists of a rectangular basin with a removable wall or gate for water filling or draining. Vessels enter while filled with water, then rest on a dry platform when emptied, facilitating construction, repairs, cleaning, and inspection. Shipyards maintain different-sized dry docks to accommodate various vessel types, including large ones for container ships. (Clacksons, n.d.)

As Portsmouth, specifically the Historic Dockyard, was mainly a naval base. It was important to maintain the naval ships that still petrol the sea till this day.

Trolly covered by seaweed by the Hard, Portsmouth

What's interesting is the "junk" that seems to appear after the dock in "dried".

In the picture to the left you can spot, the bottom right of the image, a shopping cart/trolly on that is completely swallowed by seaweed. This is a clear indication of time passing, But at last, it works as semi-buoy floater for the birds to perch on once the water level is restored.

Picture by author

REFERENCES

Clacksons. (n.d.). What is dry docking? | Clarksons. Www.clarksons.com. Retrieved 2024, from https://www.clarksons.com/glossary/what-is-dry-docking/#:~:text=A%20dry%20dock%20is%20a