Sir walter raleigh playing bowls

The Queen herself had been a shareholder in the venture, so it is not surprising that Drake was knighted as a sign of royal approval.

The Queen also gave orders that his ship, the Golden Hind, should be preserved. It lasted for a hundred years until, its timbers finally rotted beyond repair, the historic vessel had to be broken up. In , Drake became mayor of Plymouth, but this did not prevent him from continuing to sail against his old enemies. In he received an intelligence report to the effect that the Spanish were assembling a large fleet in the bay of Cadiz, presumably as part of an armed force which was to sail against England.

It had recently been brought up to date with small, exceptionally seaworthy ships, equipped with superb cannon designed to batter an enemy at long range. As it was, the British attack on the tight-packed mass of the Spanish Armada went almost, but not quite, according to plan. After heavy fighting, the Spanish broke off the engagement, and in an effort to escape they headed for home by way of Scotland, where storms took a heavy toll on their ships.

However, neither Howard nor Drake was entirely satisfied with the result of the battle, even though their countrymen were overjoyed. The truth was that just when they had got the enemy on the run, the British fleet had run out of ammunition.

So instead of being totally destroyed, as the British commanders had hoped, at least half of the great Armada managed to limp home to Spain.

Raleigh was arrested on the orders of the king. His original death sentence for treason was invoked and he was executed at Westminster on October 29, He is buried in St. A gifted poet, writer, and scholar, many of his poems and writings were destroyed. A pioneer of the Italian sonnet-form in English, he was a patron of the arts, notably of Edmund Spenser in his composition of The Faerie Queene — But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!

Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Sir Francis Drake participated in some of the earliest English slaving voyages to Africa and earned a reputation for his privateering, or piracy, against Spanish ships and possessions.

He was a celebrated soldier, a hero on land and sea. He was responsible for the first ever English colonies in the New World. And he wrote poetry that ranks with some of the finest in early modern England. Yet at the age of 66 Sir Walter Raleigh was executed for treason.

In search of fame and fortune, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan c. En route he discovered what is now known as the Strait of Magellan and became the The story of North American exploration spans an entire millennium and involves a wide array of European powers and uniquely American characters.

In , Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias c. After exploring the Hoe, it is an enjoyable stroll along the sea front down to Sutton Pool, the historic harbour area of Plymouth. Pause at the Mayflower Steps, from where the Pilgrim Fathers departed for the New World in , before visiting the Mayflower Museum just across the road to discover their story in greater detail. These plaques commemorate many of the seafarers and explorers who left England from this harbour, including the following:.

Gilbert claimed Newfoundland for Queen Elizabeth I in In a colony was established on Raonoke Island in modern day South Carolina but this failed after a year. A second colony was then established in however this colony disappeared sometime between and Shipwrecked on a reef off the then uninhabited island of Bermuda, it took just ten months for the settlers to construct two ships and continue their voyage. The Tory reached Port Nicholson in September after just 96 days, and in so doing began the colonisation of New Zealand.

After strolling the quayside, wander a little further into the old town where you will find plenty of cafes, ancient inns, restaurants, gift and antique shops as well as the world famous Plymouth Gin Distillery, housed in a 14th century medieval building and the oldest working gin distillery in England.

Parking for the Hoe is available on the roads nearby fees apply or in nearby Elphinstone car park on Madeira Road.