Salty Sam’s Fun Blog for Children
Number 194
The Golden Hinde
Hello Everyone
A few weeks ago, we all went up to London to visit my cousin Smiley Sid.
Bill and Bob just love boats, so l took them to see a really famous one docked at the side of the River Thames. Actually, it is not the original boat but a replica. That means a copy of the original – and that boat was really old.
The original one set out on a very important voyage in 1577. lt was captained by Francis Drake. He intended to pass around South America and explore the coast beyond that. When you realise how little was known about the map of the world at that time and how really tiny his ship was, you realize how brave he was to set out on such an expedition.
The only power the ship had was wind in the sails.
His trip was planned in order to find new shipping routes and establish new trade links with other nations. Queen Elizabeth l had asked him to do this. But during the voyage Drake also sought out opportunities to make himself rich.
He left Plymouth, on the south coast of Devon, with five small ships and a hundred and sixty-four men. The ships were called: the Pelican, the Elizabeth, the Marigold, the Swan and the Christopher.
Eighty men were aboard Drake’s ship the Pelican. He reached the coast of Brazil in the spring of 1578. By June he had reached Argentina.
During the voyage, Drake changed the name of the ship from Pelican to Golden Hinde. This was in honour of Sir Christopher Hatton who had given the biggest share of the money to sponsor the voyage. There was a golden hind on Hatton’s armorial crest; a hind is a female deer.
Three ships went through the Straits of Magellan to reach the Pacific Ocean.
But when Drake reached the Pacific, the little ships were hit by a series of storms. The Marigold sank with everybody aboard and the Elizabeth turned and sailed back to England. The Golden Hinde was blown right down to Cape Horn which is at the most southerly point of South America.
Then Drake travelled north along the western coastline. He repaired his damaged ship and traded with the Native Americans; he was the first European to meet with them.
But he also captured treasure from other galleons.
By the spring of 1579, he was in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Ecuador. Here he captured treasure from one Spanish galleon which had six tons of treasure.
Then he sailed towards Asia on his way home.
On 26th September 1580, Francis Drake returned to Plymouth Harbour with only fifty-six of the original crew returning with him, the rest had died on the voyage.
He had about £600,000 of treasure; in today’s money this would be worth many millions of pounds.
He had travelled all the way around the globe. This is called circumnavigation; and he was the first Englishman to do it.
Then he sailed on to the Thames Estuary where he moored at Deptford. lt was here that Queen Elizabeth l came aboard to knight him as Sir Francis Drake.
The Queen accepted a share of the treasure; it was almost £160,000; more than enough to pay the national debt.
All the investors of the voyage received £47 for every £1 they had invested; a really good return for their money.
After Drake had sailed around the world in Golden Hinde, at the Queen’s suggestion it was put on display for the public to visit because of its historical significance. The ship remained in the Thames for nearly a hundred years until she eventually rotted away. She was broken up, but it is said that some of the wood was used to make pieces of furniture as keepsakes and some of the ship’s artefacts (things) like lanterns were also kept.
Two replicas have been built in modern times. The first one was built in 1964. It was used in films and television programmes and now resides in Brixham Harbour.
Then another full-size replica was build by hand and launched in 1973. It was called Golden Hinde ll. This ship has travelled around the world visiting different ports. The distance she has travelled is equal to more than five times around the world.
On her maiden (first) voyage she sailed to San Francisco in California, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore then across the Indian Ocean, Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea. She sailed back to England to join the celebrations commemorating the 400th anniversary of Drake’s return.
This was not to be this ship’s only voyage. She then sailed around the British Isles and her next adventure was to sail across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal and up to Canada.
She then continued on a tour of the Pacific Coast. She sailed round to Texas and then went on a tour of ports along the eastern side of the United States.
Can you find all of these places on a map?
She has starred in four films (as a backdrop to the drama) and is currently docked near Southwark Cathedral.
She is now a host to children who can visit and learn about what it was like to be a sailor in Elizabethan times; the ship was overcrowded and living conditions were primitive.
There are actors dressed up in costumes on board to give you even more of a flavour of the times.
Bill and Bob wanted to have a sword fight when they got home but their mum wouldn’t let them.
Bye bye everyone – don’t forget to subscribe to my blog!
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Thank you!
And see you again next Fun Friday!
Love and kisses
Salty Sam
www.christina-sinclair.com
Bill and Bob’s Joke of the Week
Bob: What is to be found at the end of the world?
Bill: l don’t know. What is to be found at the end of the world?
Bob: The letter ‘D’!
Salty Sam © Christina Sinclair 2015
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited.
Links may be used to www.christina-sinclair.com
Picture Gallery
Sir Francis Drake
Elizabeth I, his queen
The Straits of Magellan runs through between the islands at the base of Chile
and Drake’s Passage is off the southern most tip
There is one replica Golden Hinde at Brixham Harbour
Actors in Elizabethan costume
Ancient ships would have cannons on their decks for use in attacking other ships or defending themselves –
the cannons were on wheels so that they could be manoeuvred
Cannons on a 1795 ship – you can see how the flaps at the side of the ship were opened to poke the cannons out
Golden Hinde II on the River Thames
It is tucked between two riverside buildings
The golden Hinde figure head
The figure head is on the bow
The boat seems so tiny to have sailed so far
The living quarters at the back
A flap covering a hole for a cannon
Cannons were poked through the flaps from behind
The crow’s nest (look out point) is really high
There are two
You reach it by climbing up rigging
You can climb aboard to experience the life of an Elizabethan sailor
THE SALTY SAM NEWS DESK
When Emily gives presents she likes to wrap them really nicely. This is often what girls do.
Emily
This is an idea to make a plain wrapping paper look really nice, and of course your parcel will be unique.
NEWSDESK MIMIMAKE
PRESENT PLAQUE DECORATIONS
If you cover a present with some very plain wrapping paper like brown paper, these plaques can make it look much prettier.
- Draw a flower shape onto some coloured paper.
- Draw in some petal features using pen.
- Draw a few more flowers in exactly the same way.
- Cut out the shapes.
- Stick them onto the present.
- Draw stalks and maybe also leaves onto the wrapping paper.
Here are some flowers shapes to give you some ideas. They will look very effective once put onto wrapping paper. Choose one flower style to cover the parcel or just the top of the parcel to make your design look more effective.
TIP
You will be able to find coloured paper for making flowers for free by using parts of leaflets and junk mail that don’t have writing on them.
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PLEASE CONTACT:
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Quick Quiz
Can you complete these words?
- a place where gold is found = a gold _ _ _ _ _
- a place where gold is dug out of the ground = a gold _ _ _ _
- a small piece of gold found in the ground = a gold _ _ _ _ _ _
- a kind of bird = gold _ _ _ _ _
- a pet in a pond = a gold _ _ _ _
- a person who creates objects out of gold or silver = a gold _ _ _ _ _
BLOW MY FOGHORN!!!
PLUS
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lt’s the Weekend!
HOW TO MAKE SOME DESK STORAGE BOXES
Ship’s captains keep a diary called a log. They usually have a desk to sit at to make their notes.
The captain’s quarters were the nicest cabins at the back of a ship
These boxes would look lovely sitting on any desk and will keep memo blocks, pads of sticky notes and paper clips neatly together.
The memo block box uses five pieces of plastic canvas:
One base 25 holes by 27 holes
Two sides 27 holes by 11 holes
Two sides 25 holes by 11 holes
Cut out a piece 11 by 4 holes at the front of one of the smaller sides.
Of course, you will have to check that this size will fit your memo block or adjust the size accordingly – and don’t forget to leave a little space for your finger to reach down into the front of the box.
The paper clip box has a square base of 18 by 18 holes
and four sides 18 by 11 holes
- Sew a line around the edge of each side using dark green dk yarn or tapestry wool.
- Sew a line of light green inside that line.
- Fill the centre in with white stitches.
- Leave the base unstitched.
- Sew the base of the sides to the base of the box using light green yarn.
- Sew up the corners using light green yarn.
- Sew around the rim using light green yarn.
Please note that the material on this blog is for personal use and for use in classrooms only.
It is a copyright infringement and, therefore, illegal under international law to sell items made with these patterns.
Use of the toys and projects is at your own risk.
©Christina Sinclair Designs 2015
Quick Quiz Answers
- a gold field
- a gold mine
- a gold nugget
- a gold finch
- a golf fish
- a gold smith
A gold finch
A gold nugget
