11 pictures of old Portland including a picnicking man who designed banknotes A forgotten Portland is celebrated in this collection of images. The 11 pictures show the isle at its most beautiful in its heyday of fishing and quarrying, It was a time when you could go to the fish and chip shop and order skate fresh from the boat that very day and a time when you would regularly see traction engines hauling heavy blocks of Portland stones. It was also a time when you'd be likely to bump into luminaries of the art and literature scene. We have here a photo of the novelist Irish Murdoch enjoying a picnic with her friend Reynolds Stone, who famously designed the £5 and £10 notes from 1964, including the Queen’s portrait.