South Coast attractions in the spotlight as historical icons take on Race Across the Coast

The Queen will begin her journey in the Royal Pavilion and dressed in her royal regalia, she will be tasked with solving clues to help her along her route; whilst also taking in some of the incredible cultural attractions Sussex has to offer.

Her journey will finish at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard where the steam powered warship that was the pride of the Victorian Navy sits in its iconic location in Portsmouth Harbour.

Victoria will not be the only historical icon taking on the challenge, with Henry VIII finding his way to his own flagship the Mary Rose from Hampton Court Palace and Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson charting his way to HMS Victory from Trafalgar Square in London.

In each case the historical icons will take the opportunity to explore sites and attractions along their routes. Each journey will be captured on film and shared through the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard digital channels this summer. As legs of the journey are shared, social media followers will have the chance to help solve clues online and to earn the chance to win tickets to the dockyard this summer.

The Queen Victoria leg of the project is being brought to life through the kind support of partners at Brighton and Hove Museums and Southern Railway.

The project has been inspired by the popular BBC series Race Across the World. Becca Hubbard Associate Executive Director for Marketing at the National Museum of the Royal Navy who jointly operate Portsmouth Historic Dockyard with the Mary Rose Trust says:

“Race Across the Coast is an opportunity to shine a light on some of the incredible sites and attractions across Sussex and Hampshire that the residents of Brighton have available to them to visit this summer.

"By bringing Queen Victoria to the city we hope to use our channels to showcase her connection to Brighton and to inspire people to discover more about some of the Victorian history you can discover both at the Royal Pavilion and by visiting HMS Warrior, the pride of the Victorian Navy.”

Queen Victoria first visited Brighton in 1837 and this gesture of royal approval thrilled the people of the city, she continued to visit on a number of occasions between 1837 and 1845.Her bedroom at the Pavilion is a modest room above the entrance hall and has been restored so it closely resembles the interior she would have known.

As her family grew and the Royal Pavilion failed to provide her with the space and privacy she needed, she finally sold her uncle’s pleasure palace to the town of Brighton for over £50,000 in 1850.

Brighton residents are encouraged to follow Victoria, Nelson and Henry’s journeys on Instagram at @phdockyard or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/historicdockyard across the summer using the #TakeOnTheRace and try to correctly solve the clues as they go.

For anyone correctly guessing an answer they will be entered into a free prize draw to win a set of tickets up to a value of £150 for them and their friends/family as well as an exclusive goodie bag.

For those not lucky enough to win a ticket to the dockyard, the museum are able to offer a special discount via their website for those who sign up to the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard newsletter: https://historicdockyard.co.uk/news-and-stories/take-on-adventure-save-up-to-20-by-signing-up-to-our-newsletter/