The Pirate Captains &

the Beautiful Devon Country Club

Woodbridge Country Club
Staying at Devon’s ‘Five Star Luxury’ Woodbridge Country Club, Set amid landscaped gardens, with a renovated 15th-century coaching inn with an authentic thatched roof as it’s centrepiece.

A one-off special tour which can never be repeated!!
Hear the stories of
‘Blackbeard’
‘Captain Kidd’
‘The Real Robinson Crusoe’
The Pirates of the Caribbean
In illustrated talks by Brian Halliwell
Whilst living in the Lap of Luxury
& with Day Tours around Devon & Cornwall

11th April 2010 - 8 Days £345 (£295 for past Pirate travellers)
Including all transport, Day Tours, Evening Talks, 7 nights self luxury catering accommodation, site facilities - heated indoor swimming pool, indoor whirlpool, Solarium, Gymnasium, Sauna, Squash, Table Tennis, Beauty Salon, Library, Hairdressing, Gift Shop, 15th Centaury Thatcher’s Public Bar and Restaurant

Tour Itinerary
(Pro forma)

Day 1
Drive down to Devon and check into the Woodbridge Country Club in the afternoon, giving time to take in the Country Club estate grounds and facilities at your leisure, before dinner. On the way down we will stop off at a supermarket for food shopping.
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Day 2
Tour – Arthur’s Tintagel, Bude & unspoiled Clovelly
On our day tour today we will visit Tintagel, the legendary birth place of King Arthur, with it’s Dark Age cliff top castle overlooking the cave of Merlin. After time in the town we will visit Bude, one of the most unspoiled coastal towns in Cornwall and also Clovelly a village built on a 400ft cliff with narrow cobbled streets leading down to a 14thC harbour. This fishing village has hardly changed in the last 300 years. Sledges and donkeys are the only means of transport through the village.

Evening Talk
CAPTAIN KIDD: PIRATE OR SCAPEGOAT?
The most Ruthless and Notorious Pirate of the so called "Golden Age" or was he ? The talk will explore his amazing story
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Day 3
Tour – The Captain’s, Sir Francis Drake & Robert Colliver, Plymouth & Loose
Today we will take a look at the area of Captain Sir Francis Drake’s birthplace near Tavistock, before visiting Plymouth Hoe and his statue, overlooking Plymouth Sound with its spectacular sea views. We will then head off to the picturesque old fishing town of Looe, where in 1666 Robert Colliver, one of the most bloodthirsty pirate captains on the Indian Ocean and who was also a member of Captain Kidd's mutinous crew was born. We will have free time here.

Evening Talk
THE PIRATES OF THE CARIBEAN
As piracy entered a new age we will discuss the lives of Black Bart, Howell Davis & others who lived during a unique period of history that became known as the ‘Golden Age of Piracy’.
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Day 4
A well earned rest day and opportunity to make use of the wonderful facilities of the Country Club. (Please see the Woodford Bridge Country Club page).
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Day 5
Tour – Bodmin Moor, the Knight Templar, the Ancestors, the Pirate’s Jamacia Inn, the Lady of the Lake and Excalibur
A day on Bodmin Moor taking in a little known Knight Templar Church and a couple of the moors amazing ancient mystical sites such as the Hurler’s stone circles and the Cheese-rings formation, which stand on a ley-line, stretching the entire width of England. After a lunch stop at the famous Jamaica Inn, with it’s history of piracy and smuggling and with it’s very own ‘Piracy Museum and Gift Shop’. The inn stands on the edge of the village of Bolventor, which is synonymous with smuggling on the moor. Near by is Dozmary Pool, a lake about a mile in circumference.

The lake has a number of legends associated it, perhaps the most well known is that of Excalibur, King Arthur's sword given to him by the Lady of the Lake. It is said that after Arthur was mortally wounded he ordered that Excalibur be thrown into the Dozmary Pool. This was done and after the sword was cast into the lake a woman's hand caught it and held it aloft before taking it under the surface. (no overly strenuous walking involved)

Evening Talk
BLACKBEARD THE PIRATE
The most Notorious Pirate in the history of seafaring. Known as the "The Devil Incarnate" to his victims.
The talk will explore the Legend that was Blackbeard. One of the most lethal of the "Pirates of the Caribbean
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Day 6
Tour – Mysterious Dartmoor, Spiritual Totnes & Historic Brixham the home of the ‘Golden Hind’.
No week spent in Devon is complete without an exploration of the mysteries of Dartmoor and today we will be taking in this eerie place. The moor has some amazing ancient stone row alignments and other stone monuments and an interesting visitor’s centre near that remote prison. After our time on the moor we will head for a break in Totnes, the spiritual centre of Devon and Cornwall. Our final visit for the day will be ‘Big Hearted Brixham - the Little Gem in Torbay, the English Riviera’. This town with it’s port, marinas and working harbour has been a seafaring paradise for hundreds of years. It is also the home to the magnificent ‘Golden Hind’, the ship which Sir Francis Drake sailed around the World and which successfully took on many marauding Spanish Galleons.
Evening Talk
THE "REAL" ROBINSON CRUSOE:
The spellbinding "True" story of the greatest castaway of all time - Alexander Selkirk and his epic feat of endurance which inspired Daniel Defoe’s world famous Novel.
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Day 7
A relaxing free day to take in the facilities pack and prepare for the party!!

Evening
A Party evening and get together to view a large screen viewing of the photos and events of the week. Neil and Brian will host a get together in their lodge. Please bring your left over food with you and a bottle.
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Day 8
Today it is time to head north with our memories of what has the makings of an amazing and unforgettable week.