City Icon

It’s a lofty icon for the city, but even more a welcome that says you’re home. Well, almost!
They say it’s good to touch the green, green grass of home when you return to your homeland, so in much the same way, Portsmouth’s 570 feet Emirates Spinnaker Tower provides an equally welcoming sight for any traveller returning to the Hampshire coast.
Its design, in the shape of a spinnaker sail, reflects the maritime history of the city and its centuries old legacy as the home of the British navy.
So, it’s iconic from whichever direction you approach the city, and especially from the sea is a re-assuring acknowledgement that you’re home. I’ve only been away for a couple of days, which is nothing compared with the tour of duty Royal Naval personnel encounter when their ships are away in foreign parts.
In fact the time I spent just 94 miles across the Channel at Port Chantereyne, part of  Cherbourg’s maritime life, is almost like being home from home once you have done it a number of times, and in distance is  little more than a daily commute, say from the south coast to London.
Yet somehow this sight as your ferry or FastCat approaches the Hampshire coast from south of the Isle of Wight is heartening. Yet, the tower has been there for little more than ten years, but in that time it has changed the horizon of the coast, and standing two and half times as high as Nelson’s column can be seen for  miles around, and they say that from the observation platforms at the top you can see 20 miles or more.
So to me aboard the FastCat, returning from France, as it came into view it meant that I could almost count the minutes to when I would be home.
 
A bit like touching the Green, Green Grass of Home!