Project 94: Sir Francis Drake

This week's project was chosen because the Golden Hinde (the full-size replica of Drake's Golden Hind), is easily accessible from the Thameslink railway; it is literally a stroll from Blackfriars bridge that even a 3 year old can make it without too much fuss.

We started the week with a couple of documentaries - watching the CBeebies My Story episode on Sir Francis Drake, and the Channel 5 Great British Ships documentary on The Golden Hind. The kids found them both interesting, and even the Great British Ships documentary (originally broadcast at 9pm) was easily accessible to a 5 and 6 yr old.

Everyone enjoyed the Golden Hinde. It doesn't matter how many films you see or books you read, nothing quite makes history come alive like the real (or at least replica) thing. It's a small working ship, rather than a museum, but we still spent about 50 minutes doing the self-guided tour.

Golden Hinde

On a three year circumnavigation of the world there would have been a lot of ship's biscuits eaten, so we made our own following the recipe from the Royal Museums Greenwich. They were actually surprisingly tasty, so we may be forced to find a less enjoyable recipe next time!

Ship's biscuits

Finally we watched an old black and white film - Drake of England. The nice thing about old films is that they are generally quite family friendly, rather than today's docudramas which are seemingly the historical fantasy of teenage boys. Nonetheless the dialogue and special effects were of their time (1935), so it was a bit of a push for the children to stay focused all the way through. 

Drake of England

Next week's project: Films.