Sir Francis Drake is still keeping watch from Plymouth Hoe.

Francis Drake, was born around 1540 in Tavistock, about 15 miles from this statue.
 

He is considered a hero in England, but he is remembered as a pirate in Spain. He famously plundered Spanish ships that were sailing back from their colonies in South America. If the attacks were successful, Drake took the treasure for himself and for his queen. He also raided Spanish and Portuguese ports in the ‘New World’ and the Atlantic.

In 1577 as the leader of an expedition intended to pass around South America, through the Strait of Magellan, and explore the coast that lay beyond.

By Continentalis - This file was derived from  World Topography.jpg:, CC BY-SA 3.0,

Drake successfully completed the journey and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth upon his triumphant return.










He joined the ranks of National Hero in 1588 when he saw action in the defeat of the Spanish Armada, most notably when he captured the Spanish Flagship Rosario.

 He died in 1596 from dysentery off Panama,  after undertaking an unsuccessful raiding mission.

Sir Francis Drake

This costume doesn't look very comfortable for swashbuckling on such a beautifully hot afternoon.

Living History

Sir Francis Drake, Elizabethan sailor and navigator, and the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe,  

is often seen with his wife Mary Newman strolling through the narrow streets and along the quays 

of the old Barbican district of Plymouth

Captain F J 'Johnny' Walker CB, DSO, RN

Clearly in the mould of Plymouth's most famous sailor Sir Francis Drake, Captain Walker was born here in 1896.  This much decorated naval hero of the Second World War, was the most successful anti-submarine commander of the Battle of the Atlantic.

His family home was here in this quiet little backwater, Hoe Gardens, a few hundred yards from the site where Drake played his famous game of bowls, before sailing out to defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588.

For the full story of his wartime exploits Click Here

Click Here to see the wonderful statue of him in Liverpool, the home port from which his 36th Escort Group operated.

The Seagull War

Following the introduction of the bird proof waste bins the gulls are fighting back,

and Sir Francis Drake has sustained a minor head wound.

The Ghost of Sir Francis Drake?

When I was taking a picture of the Morris Dancers on New Year's Day a ghostly image flitted across the viewfinder.

Could it be Sir Francis? Of course not, he died in 1596!

But that is him surely; with his wife Mary Newman.

Why is nobody taking any notice of them?

Am I the only one who can see them?

How can a ghost eat ice cream?

City Symbols 1

Every city has statues of its famous sons and daughters. This is Sir Francis Drake (1540 -1596), renowned for finishing his game of Bowls on Plymouth Hoe before setting sail to defeat the Spanish Armada, in 1588.  The statue was unveiled in 1884, and since then his image has been used on everything from tea towels and postcards to the covers of national and local government reports. 

Drake has recently been joined by the "Barbican Prawn" as a logo for the city. Increasingly, Drake and the Prawn are found side by side in the most unlikely circumstances.