Posted on 03/13/2020 8:28:30 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Three boatloads of people will be allowed to explore tunnels and crumbling fortifications
Every nook and cranny teems with history. The tales of war, adventure, death and crime are myriad but for 30 years the people of Plymouth have only been able to gaze across at Drake’s Island – but not set foot there.
But on Sunday three boatloads of visitors will make the short hop from the Devon city to explore the crumbling fortifications, the bramble-covered barrack buildings and its mysterious tunnels.
The island in Plymouth Sound has been off-limits since 1989 – when an adventure centre on the island closed down – but is now being developed as a luxury holiday resort, and before building work starts, people have been invited to buy tickets – the proceeds of which are going to a local hospice – to join exclusive tours.
Demand for the 210 tickets for Sunday and a second trip in May was huge. They were snapped up within minutes and St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth, which will benefit from the proceeds, reported that its website received almost half a million hits during the sale period, not just from Plymouth people but from fans of history and islands from across the UK.
Robert Maltby, the head of communications and marketing at the hospice, said the island was important to the people of Plymouth.
“It’s an intriguing place,” he said. “If you’re a Plymothian it is right there in front of you all the time. It’s a major piece of the city’s history and everyone wonders what it’s like.”
The 2.5-hectare (6.5-acre) island has been a place of pilgrimage, a refuge, a fort, prison and – until the late 1980s – the site of the Drake’s Island Adventure Centre.
Maltby has had a preview of the island, taking a trip
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Well, I hope they brought some pie with them.
Nothing like pie to make friends.
But, cinnamon rolls can be nice too.
A little dab of butter on the top.
With some cold milk.
I wonder if this island was the idea for the movei Wicker Man, which was quite creepy.
Also about a remote off-limits sort of island.
Or a lovely custard.
That might be a bit too much, though.
They could sit on wicker chairs and eat cherry pie.
That’s the way to make friends!
Man, that brings back the little pirate kid in me..........exploring caves..........climbing trees for vantage points..........digging deep in the tunnels for artifacts.........and I’d have been one of those little buggers claimimg sovereignty in the name of Plymouth. LOL My dad wouldn’t know whether to tan my hide for it, or ask me about everything I saw. Likely the latter, if I’d brought back a pocketful of old uniform buttons and other trinkets of the era.
And a rousing game of croquet!
“Good play! Have some pie!”
Bring plenty of clotted cream.
No thank you.
I will not strike some poor cow in her lady bag just to try and get some solids in my cream.
What??? No spotted dick???
Almost guaranteed to find a bunch of empty beer cans, a few toked out joints and a used condom or two.
Soon to be a very boring place.
I dont think they should go there, the world needs one place without WuFlu.
Nah, this island has an entirely different "vibe."
Stern-faced, silent gentlemen in top hats riding old-fashioned "Penny-farthing" bicycles, games of chess with living human chess pieces, a large, white, untethered weather balloon drifting across the landscape...
Regards,
Aha, the Village has been found! (And also in Wales of course)
Perhaps flan. It always seems more festive.
... and an overturned shopping cart.
Britt Ekland - aaaahhh!
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