Made the time this week to visit Gunwharf Quays for the first time this year and I have to say how much it had changed since my last visit in September. The whole place seems to have been considerably expanded and for my money is now a lot better and offers a greater range.

For those who have yet to visit this amazing place, please allow me to explain further. The site that is now known as Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth used to be a Naval Base called HMS Vernon with a historical timeline that goes back to Richard I in 1194. One of the main things this facility that was used for was the mounting of weapons onto Naval Ships, which is how it got the name 'Gunwharf'. In fact HMS Vernon was renamed from HMS Nelson in 1987 and was the HQ for the Royal Marines as well as a location where Mine Warfare training was also performed; in fact this was still taking place up to 1st April 1996, when the site was closed down.

At the time that HMS Vernon closed down, Portsmouth lost another valuable site and it was decided that regeneration of the naval base was a vital necessity, not only to ensure local employment but also to allow Portsmouth to grow as a city. In May 1998 the plan was launched to rebuild and turn a closed down Naval Base into a place to shop, relax and live in a brand new modern residential area. This meant that everything that belonged to HMS Vernon had to be demolished, everything apart from a handful of buildings that had to be considered part of the regeneration due to their listed status.

Gunwharf Quays opened in March 2001 and consisted mainly of shops and restaurants and although the mix of shops include well known names such as Next, HMV, Zavvi and the obligatory Starbucks. The main difference between Gunwharf and say somewhere like Bluewater is the fact that the shops here are mainly retail clearance stores selling end of lines stock. Additionally this means that there are a number of other shops, such as Calvin Klein, Paul Smith, Oakley, Nike and Adidas as well as Levi's, Fred Perry, Whittards, Cotton Traders and surprisingly Marks and Spencer's as well, so there is a veritable mix of brand and designer names, I felt that a genuine attempt had been made to cater for everyone and that was only in Phase 1 of the development!!!

Phase 2 included the opening of a Casino, Holiday Inn Express, Molton Brown, Puma, and Vans to name but a few. Personally this surprised me as a number of these companies have premises that are few and far between and have not really been known to have premises based outside of Central London, so to go to Portsmouth and see shops such as Barbour or Karen Millen was quite a surprise in itself.

As a retail outlet it works and it works well, but on the flipside the shops may not appeal to everyone's tastes. When I visit I know that there are certain shops that will not interest me at all and don't ever intend to go there, for example the Fred Perry shop has a sale, but this is only taking 10% of a certainamount of items, so for a Polo shirt I would still be paying around £45, where as if I go into the Adidas shop I could pick up a similar item for £12 reduced from £20. So unless you have a game plan then it makes sense to look around the place first. Trainers are an exceptionally good buy as the Nike shop starts at £20 going up to about £50; this is repeated in Puma as well. So bargains can be found, its just a case of finding them first.

Ok so we have a Starbucks and there is a Costa as well, but what if you wanted a proper meal, well that's not a problem at all. The side of Gunwharf facing the Harbour has been built with a number of Restaurants and Bars that are open throughout the day and some of the night as well. These include Tootsies, Slug and Lettuce, La Tasca, Ha Ha Bar and Tiger Tiger. I found that these were mainly for late lunch or late afternoon/ early evening Dinner. Although places like Tiger Tiger do cater for the nightlife aspect from around 9pm till late and it is quite busy in this part of Gunwharf and is quite lively after dark. As well as nightclubs there is also the Vue Multiplex Cinema located on the first floor is also busy throughout the day with a steady stream of patrons. As well as the Cinema there is Nando's and Chiquitos located up there too. So in general you have all the standard leisure/ retail park restaurants to visit, which does generally cover a large aspect of food types.

If you want something lighter then Burger King and Subway are located just behind the impressive Spinnaker Tower. In fact there is still some building going on as the finishing touches are just being placed upon the 'Lipstick Tower' a high rise block consisting of apartments that overlooks the entire Gunwharf complex.

For me the benchmark of place like this is how good the facilities actually are such as car parking and lavatories. Well I have to say that the lavatories have had a complete make over. With the addition of a Concierge in attendance outside, this impressed me a lot and was better than the usual security camera mounted in the ceiling that was there previously. Can't say I know about the Ladies, but the Gents was absolutely spotless, with a well sized cubicle including Baby Changing facilities. Sinks were cleans and had a choice of Hand Soap and Moisturisers in bottled dispensers above the sink. The taps are touch sensitive and ensures that no water is wasted at all. Also the hand dryers have been upgraded to the impressive Dyson Airblades to which you just drop your hands in and pull them out slowly and they are bone dry!

The other benchmark for me is how well the drivers are catered for. Impressively the parking is easy as well as there are 1450 spaces available on two levels including Disabled spaces, the good thing is that you park directly under the complex and take an escalator right into the heart of the shops. Prices for parking are okay, certainly cheaper by about 40% than what I am used to in Croydon, we stayed for five hours and it cost a fiver. At home five hours would have cost between £9 and £11!! If you don't have a car don't worry as the London to Portsmouth mainline station, Portsmouth Harbour, is right next door to Gunwharf, as is the Seacat that takes foot passengers to the Isle of Wight is located next to the Station as well, so the whole complex is set next to one giant transport hub for the Solent, and it is the Seacat that you can see leaving the Harbour with the other ferries as well as they all go past the restaurant area on the waterside of Gunwharf to leave the Harbour.

Since the Spinnaker Tower opened the whole place seems to have that added bit of sparkle, for me it was noticeable that it was a lot busier in that area, okay it was the summer holidays and nice weather. The Tower is impressive in its own right and is a great landmark for the Quays as it's something that you just cannot miss and recommend a trip to the top as the views are absolutely awesome as on a clear day you can see for up to 25 miles.

Although you can clearly see across the water to Gosport there are a number of moorings in a mini marina, from here you can take a tour of Portsmouth Harbour which takes about an hour or so. Usually the marina is full of boats that have moored here and these all vary in size from the smallish sailboat to a multi million pound cruiser. In actual fact its nice just to sit here with a Coffee and watch the world go by, the atmosphere is relaxing and it seems nobody is actually rushing about at all. Watching the Brittany Ferries arrive in the Harbour is an eye opener, especially when they dwarf the buildings on Spice Island.

As I mentioned above a number of buildings had to be left standing due to their listed status, just a few of these are the Vulcan Building, The Infirmary and Nelson's Gate which have been gracefully absorbed into the designs and have new found new life as an Art Gallery, Restaurant and Gateway pedestrian entrance to Gunwharf respectively. So other than that the shops there is plenty to see and do.

The Naval Base had a dry dock; although the majority of this is still there, it has now been transformed into a canal running through the site. A third of it has been turned into a fishery and has a wide number of varieties of fish swimming about; some of these are quite large in size and look quite menacing, I think that these were Carp in breed. The remainder of the canal passes a number of restaurants that unsurprisingly tend to take full advantage of their location and have outdoor seating available which makes the location all the more pleasant to visit and adds to the atmosphere.

Overall this is a great place to spend a day as well as some money, although one worrying aspect is that I don't tend to visit Portsmouth Town Centre at all now as I prefer to stay within the realms of Gunwharf as it has everything I need, as it is genuinely a great place to chill out. So even though this is a positive on the City, the negative could be being felt in the nearby High Street.

What I was content with was that the history is never forgotten or totally erased from sight because as you stroll around it is evident when you see the remaining Naval buildings. As soon as you see them you know that they aren't new, due to the appearance, but reading the various plaques or the photos nearby inform you just how much an integral part the base actually played for the Royal Navy and how much respect is due to this place.