Sir Francis Drake playing bowls on Plymouth Hoe English pointer Pond Street

Pond Street

Plate 17 from The zoological miscellany

Tommy Cooper opening the Oasis outdoor swimming pool in Holborn for the season

Plate 30A from the book Historia testudinum iconibus illustrata by Johann David Schoepff (Erlangen

Sir Francis Drake playing bowls on Plymouth Hoe English pointer Pond StreetSir Francis Drake playing bowls on Plymouth Hoe, 1588 (c1900). The famous game of bowls supposedly played by Sir Francis Drake whilst awaiting the arrival of the Spanish Armada. The story, probably apocryphal, goes that when Drake was informed that the Armada had been sighted, rather than putting to sea immediately, he decided that he had time to 'finish the game and beat the Spaniards too'. From Peeps into the Past by Trelleek, published c1900.