This monument to Sir Francis Drake, Elizabethan explorer, privateer, slave-trader and naval Admiral can be found on Plymouth Hoo.
In a story, which may be apocryphal, it is recorded that Drake received the news of the approaching Spanish invasion fleet, the Armarda, whilst playing bowls on the Hoo. He is reported to have told his companions that there was plenty of time to finish their game and still beat the Spaniards too. A combination of the English navies tactics and the weather conspired to force the fleet to sail north up the English coast and around Scotland in order to escape. More than a third of the fleet of 130 ships never made it back to Spain.
