Brixham's beautiful boat

The Golden Hind is a famous Brixham landmark and borderline heirloom to JOE READ, who explores its ongoing part in the town’s tourism industry

- JOE READ

The Golden Hind sits at the heart of Brixham harbour, as eye-catching as a swan in a pond of ducks. It’s a full-sized replica of the galleon famously voyaged around the world by Sir Francis Drake in the late 1500s.

The ship was originally built for a TV show about Drake’s adventures that aired in 1962. No historically accurate drawings existed, so constructors had to work with whatever rough dimensions were known; 120 tonnes in weight, 90-100ft in length, 18 cannons and inhabitable for a crew of 70-80 men.

The foundation was based on a trawler hull adorned to pass as a galleon. As a floating vessel, it needed relentless maintenance, having been only designed to withstand whatever ITV needed to throw at it for the duration of their shoot. My grandfather, John Read, was thought delusional when he went ahead and bought it in 1970.

A decade later, the mooring chains broke The Hind’s back like a dodgy hip. Dartmouth had the nearest shipyard fit to operate and it set off on a trip it would never return from. The Golden Hind sunk off of Blackstone in 1986 and John was left with a harrowing ultimatum: face bankruptcy at 60 years of age, or build a new ship.

Undeterred by interest rates of 14%, John took a bank loan to fully fund the project. With his entrepreneurial instinct, he assumed a burden that could have crippled his livelihood beyond recovery. A team of eight men, including himself, began the reconstruction of what would become Brixham’s emblematic attraction.