Portsmouth Tavern Tully Print

Portsmouth Tavern Tully Print 

Ports Tavern 2002 commission- Friend and Drummer Pete Bowers commissioned this one, That's him by the door. He has it hung up in his washroom in his home on Wolfe Island, I kid him about that sometimes. There is  alot of affection for this place. And we used to gig there quite a bit with the band I play piano in called Me Man Jack. Nice to be water colouring down by the water.

ONE OF MY FAVOURITE PUBS - THE PORTS IN PORTSMOUTH VILLAGE

(Excerpts from "just ask marie" blog)

“The Ports” will also appear in many stories in the future. The Portsmouth House was built by my great-grandfather Edouard Beaupre circa 1863. At one point he opened a portion of his home to his neighbours and it became known as Beaups where the men of the Village could go for a quiet beer and interesting conversation. His son, my grandfather, PM Beaupre reopened the Portsmouth House as a pub in 1938 after he retired from KP in 1935. The Ports is still going strong to this day. My father sold The Ports in 1973 and it has had only two owners since. It is now called the Portsmouth Tavern.

There are 5 gun Towers at KP spread out along the north, east and west walls. The Ports was such a popular spot with KP staff that it was affectionately nicknamed Tower Six. When the Guards, Keepers and staff would go off duty, a number of them would make their way down the hill and across the bay to ‘Tower Six”. In the 50s,60s and 70s there was a rule that no one in uniform, ie: police, fire, bus drivers, EMTs or guards could be seen drinking in public, in uniform. Well The Ports was a little hideaway of a place with a Men’s Only room where everyone was discreet. For the officers, there was the “back room” also know as the map room. This was my father’s private domain where he and his cohorts could have a beer without the prying eyes of the public.