Drake's Island, sits opposite Millbay Docks, today no more than 500 metres off the shore of Plymouth Hoe. The Geologists tell us that up until around three thousand years ago Drakes Island was still attached to Cornwall. In fact, looking closely at the OS 1:25000 Map, the closest point of the Island across to the Cornish shore is actually called, "The Bridge". Looking across from Devil's Point Car Park to the Mount Edgecumbe shore on a mega low Spring Tide the WW2 anti-invasion "Dragon's Teeth" blocks can clearly be seen above the rocks almost marking a present day causeway.

With many thanks to Organiser Extraordinaire, Helen Redden, who arranged an interesting guided u3a trip to Drake’s Island. This is her trip report, including some of the photos taken on the day.

On the 13th August, twelve of our u3a Members took a trip to Drake’s Island. Opting not to attempt to cross via "The Bridge" this group of intrepid explorers caught the Ferry from the Barbican, which took no more than 10 minutes to cross to the Island. We were met by two guides who really knew their stuff, and for two and a half hours we were given the full history of the Island. I was amazed at how large the island was. It was a really lovely day, hot and sunny, so it was good to be able to cool off in the many tunnels the Island has. For this we had to use torches to see our way about. At one stage, having put my torch away, I followed Mel Hammond with her light but I couldn't see anything, which was a bit scary. However I realised that I still had my sunglasses on, senior moment or what? We arrived back at the Barbican at 2pm and seven of us had a meal at Monty's Cafe. Well worth a try when in the area. Then it was a walk  back to the bus stop for our trip home. Whilst it had been quite a long day everyone enjoyed the outing.   HELEN REDDEN