The western entrance to the Solent is through the mile-wide Hurst Narrows. This entrance is guarded on the north shore by Hurst Castle (left above) and on the south (Isle of Wight) shore by Fort Albert (right above). Both forts were developed in the 1850s and 1860s as past of the wildly expensive Palmerstonian defences, although Hurst Castle originates from Henry VIII’s time. Both saw adaptation for use during the World Wars of the Twentieth Century.
