Mr Monkey scampered along Tower Street towards the Round Tower, pausing for a moment to look across the water at Gosport. The Round Tower was built between 1418 and 1424 to defend the entrance of Portsmouth harbour. A gun battery was built beside it in the 1680s and was expanded in the mid 19th century. Mr Monkey examined a boulder from the Crimea. Two sailors from HMS Hecla sheltered behind the boulder while driving off a body of Cossacks who were threatening the ship's landing party, so the captain brought it home to Portsmouth. Mr Monkey looked out of one of the gun apertures and wished it had been a sunnier day.
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Copyright Rik Shepherd and Mr Monkey.