Pirate Parade at 12 noon, all pirates welcome to join... Live Music – Fairground rides – Wimborne Militia Cannons – Tall Ship Meet Jack Sparrow and our very own Pirate Surgeon Sawbone Coffin Children’s Fancy Dress Competition & Treasure Hunt – Tall Ship Stocks – Tombola – Stalls – Ball & Chain – Face Painting & much more Pirates of Poole Shenanigans for all! Collecting on behalf of 3 local charities A huge thank you to our Sponsors
Volume 8 Number 21
May 2025
Pirate Plunder is an independent title published thrice a year in May, August and November for The Pirate Brethren of the British Isles. It aims to encourage the fundraising activities of pirate crews by promoting pirate festivals and other events where charitable pirates are to be found.
Front Cover. Main image: A defender on the deck of the Golden Hind in Brixham Harbour takes action to protect the ship against marauders. Inset: Two well-dressed young pirates pose by a ship’s wheel (both pictures courtesy of Chris Slack Photography. www.chrisslackphotography.com).
As I report in ‘Festival focus’ on pages 14-15, this year’s Brixham Pirate Festival was even more popular. In fact, visitor numbers at pirate festivals seem to be on the rise across the country. The August issue will feature Conwy’s event, which took place a week after Brixham and was also well-supported. After a successful launch in 2024, Faversham returns on 13 July as does the resurrected Withernsea on 19 July. The first Rye Pirates and Smugglers Day is on 9 August and festivals in both Ventnor and Burnham-on-Crouch (Hang ‘em or Burnham) are both back for a second year. I wish them every success for the charities they support.
Earlier this year, I sent a batch of subscription forms to all administrators/ representatives of pirate crews on the magazine’s circulation list, with a request that they pass them on to any member of the crew wishing to receive copies at their home address. I couldn’t make Brixham this year, but will be at three other pirate festivals, so if you need a form, just stop me and ask for one!
Scuttlebutt
4
News and rumours from The Pirate Brethren of the Seven Seas.
Broadside
Susan Hanley-Place, MBE, confirms that the Liverpool Pirate Brethren will be back, with a new ship, and there is a letter from Captain Smoo of the International Pirate Community.
6
More correspondence from the 10 Captain’s desk
Having been constrained to return to Port Royal, the Captain reads several letters that have arrived for his attention.
Pirates at the Museum
11
The major exhibition Pirates at the National Maritime Museum traces the changing depictions of pirates throughout the ages and reveals the brutal history often obscured by fiction.
A Hampshire haunt of smugglers 12
The Turfcutters Arms at East Boldre is one of the few remaining traditional pubs in the New Forest.
Festival focus
The organisers of the Brixham Pirate Festival promised even more excitement and adventure in 2025 and fans of the event were not disappointed.
Running Conwy 18 Pirate Festival
A community interest company, Conwy Pirates CIC, has been set up to run the Festival – Jon Servaes provides a guide for event organisers.
Shantyman
The organisers are preparing for this year’s Harwich International Shanty Festival, when the streets and alleyways of the historic seafaring town come alive with traditional shanties and sea songs.
A shop for punks and pirates
Pandemonium is noted for being Whitby’s original shop for alternative fashions, serving goths, punks and pirates looking for eyecatching styles.
Trading post
Weapons, clothing, boots, hats, eye patches, earrings, tankards for grog and all manner of gear for pirates.
How to become a pirate
List of active pirate crews from the coast of South Devon up to the shores of the Forth and Clyde.
Where to see pirate action
Calendar of festivals or re-enactment events either organised by pirates or likely to be subject to a pirate attack.
Fantasy pirates at Fort Amherst
The Family Fantasy Festival held at Fort Amherst, near Chatham in Kent, from 20-21 April promised an ‘out-ofthe world experience
for all the family’ and this was duly provided, including an appearance by the Sheppey Pirates.
On Easter Sunday and Monday, the historic tunnels of Fort Amherst were transformed into
Darkblade drops anchor in Mossley
The online LARP shop Darkblade has moved to new premises at Woodend Mill, 1 Manchester Road, Mossley, Ashton-underLyne, OL5 9RR.The company’s telephone and e-mail address remain unchanged (see advert on page 27).
Using the finest
leather, the firm has been designing and making leather gear and accessories for over 20 years. It also supplies weapons for pirates and other categories of role play.
a child-friendly fantasy world of make believe and science fiction. In addition to pirates, the famous tunnels under the fort became home to a spectacle of fairies and goblins, Star Wars characters, Doctor
Sheppey Pirates line up to fire a volley (picture courtesy of Snaps by Bex).
Who players, fantastic creatures, dragons and some other exciting surprises. Enactments are always fun to watch and the pirates thrilled visitors with displays of musket fire and sword-fighting.
The Pirate Castle needs cash
London’s longestrunning community boating charity, The Pirate Castle, provides over 4,000 young and disabled people with access to the water from its base on the Regent’s Canal in Camden. It is now under siege from financial forces and needs help to
FLOAT (Fulfilling Lives: Opportunity, Activities & Training) its range of boats as it approaches its 60th anniversary next year. The charity has set up: www.crowdfunder. co.uk/p/float-ourboat and assures The Brethren that every doubloon will count!
DPirate-friendly publicans retire
ave and Sue Ballinger have finally taken welldeserved retirement from The Torbay Inn, Paignton, after 17 years as landlord and lady, including a two-year extension to their tenure caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. They organised the pub’s successful Charity Pirate Days in aid of the RNLI and raised over £7,400 in the last four years.
Now in charge of what is the town’s oldest public house dating back to the end of the 17th century is Dave Coram, who hopes to re-introduce Pirate Day
following this year’s event, which honoured
British heroes on VE
Day when all serving personnel and veterans could enjoy their first
pint for just seven pence, the same price they would have paid in 1945!
Scuttlebutt
Pirate Festival returns to Faversham
Following its successful debut in 2024, the Faversham Pirate Festival returns this year in the town where the inspiration for Jack
Sparrow began his career. John Ward, also known as Jack, is thought to have been born in the town around 1553. After the failed invasion of England by the Spanish Armada he became a
privateer under the protection of Elizabeth I, but was later pressed into service on a ship of the Channel Fleet called the ‘Lyon’s Whelp’. In Portsmouth, he deserted and with the help of his
PIRATE DAY at Heskin Hall
comrades, who elected him Captain, stole a 25 ton barque to begin a new career as a pirate!
Taking place from 10 am until 6 pm on Sunday, 13 July, the event will be a day packed with pirate-themed activities and entertainment. There will be pirate games, stalls and skiff boat rides on the town’s creek, and delicious food and drink to keep visitors sustained for adventure, as well as live music and shanties.
Cannon and weapon displays will feature the Sheppey Pirates and Canterbury Medieval Combat, plus appearances by Captain Jack Sparrow himself! Quieter entertainment can be found in Mermaid Cove and at a classic Punch and Judy show. Well-organised by Faversham Town Council last year, the festival appeals to all ages, so come dressed as a pirate and join the crew for a swashbuckling good time!
24th August 2025
Join the crew for our annual Pirate Day at Heskin Hall on 24 August from 11-4 pm.
Join in the competitions for best-dressed pirate (adult & children).
Get a photo taken in our stocks. Enjoy a delicious pizza on the Garden Terrace. For children there is a bouncy pirate ship, tug of war, learn to fight like a pirate, face-painting & other activities.
It’s a fact
Pirates established a method of dividing booty when a prize was taken. This prevented arguments over distribution of the loot. The Captain was allotted five or six shares, his second-incommand two shares and the crew a single share. Cabin boys were given half a share.
Broadside
The Liverpool Pirate Brethren will soon be back, with a new ship.
The Brethren were famed for taking their Brigantine ‘Zebu’ to Maritime Festivals, sailing in company with Scott Metcalfe’s tops’l schooner ‘Vilma’, there performing dramatic cannon battles with real cannons and combat scenarios. Featuring piratical characters drawn from history, the Cannon Battle attracted up to 80,000 spectators.
Sadly, the career of the elegant ‘Zebu’ came to an end in 2021 when a new ‘custodian’ wrecked her on the Welsh coast. Then
Head of the Brethren, I said, “The choice of custodian for one’s legacy is crucially important and did we get it wrong with that idiot whose name is now listed in the annals of infamy”.
The total loss of ‘Zebu’ saw the disbandment of the Liverpool Pirate Brethren, none of whom were inclined to ‘play pirates’ on land after the excitement of taking their magnificent ship to sea with a gunpowder box on the foredeck and cannons strapped to the mast.
The new ship, Helene , is again a Swedish-built vessel, which was recently brought to the UK by Andrew Lambe-McGovern –Irish ‘Captain Andrew Lambe’
of the Brethren, with Scott Metcalfe in command. The ship has been slipped for survey and maintenance on the East Coast and she is now signing on (experienced) crew for a return voyage to the North-West.
The Irish Captain of ‘Helene’ is Andrew Lambe of the Brethren, with Scott Metcalfe in command, and the ship is now signing on (experienced) crew for a return voyage to the North-West.
Presently featured in the European listings of Heritage vessels rigged as a gaff schooner, it is planned to convert ‘Helene’ to squarerig similar to ‘Zebu’, which will incidentally make her currently the only British Brigantine under sail.
Susan Hanley-Place, MBE Liverpool, Merseyside, Lancashire
Avast ye scurvy varmint, £18 o’ my hard-earned cash and not a penny more!
I ain’t keeping ye in yer fancy silks, yer passin’ strumpets or yer legendary consumption o’ rum (Editor: I strenuously deny fancy silks and passin’ strumpets, but accept my love o’ rum).
More correspondence from the desk of Captain James Summer 12th April, 1674
To the honourable Captain Summer dwelling at Lady Mondegreen chapel within the Deanes yard near the schoolhouse.
I thank you for your recent missive concerning rats, but confess myself rather perplexed as to some of the content therein.
I appreciate the passion and strength of feeling with which you write, but what do you mean when you say ‘my ruuum has been
stollen by pie rats’. Firstly, stollen is pastry not pie. Secondly, room is spelled with o’s not u’s. Thirdly, I’m not sure how to proceed as the meaning of this sentence eludes me.
Good
I insist you stop writing to us, If you don’t like the hats we produce, simply cease your purchase of them. Your recent letters have been increasingly ungentlemanly and charmless.
sir
Your last offering was just a parchment soaked in rum bearing a crudely drawn image of what I believe was supposed to be me being mounted by a bull and o’erwritten with a string of misspelled profanities.
My lady wife saw it and was overwhelmed with such a fit of vapors I was forced to summon a physician at not inconsiderable expense. You bought the hat and hath worn it. We will not return your money so stop asking.
I appreciate your insistence that I’m the only one you can trust, the faith you place in me is humbling. I am, however, absolutely certain I’ve never met you and am unsure
why you think a cleric’s assistant will be able to bring the ‘full weight of his majesties navel’ to bear on the perfidious rodent who vexes you. Or indeed what his royal highness’ belly button could do to stop its pilfering ways, magnificent as it undoubtedly is.
Thank you for your interest, but please do not persist. I have found this communication in equal parts unsettling and off-putting.
Yours, Jeremy Ellison
Dear most honourable sir Captain James Summer
I have heard many tales of your reliability and Godfeering and Christian value. Praise God.
I know my message is surprised to you, but permit me to speak busyness relationship for then now.
these are worth many times the sum of 15 pounds sterling. Please give me 15 pond sterling to go back to my home country and collect my things of wich I give yiu get many times the sum of 15 pound sterling.
Yours in frustration, Mister Hawthorn
The desk of Messrs Hawthorn and Carr
My name is Oromeka Nzelu and I am a prints in my home country, but then war! Forgive my excitement, I am very scary and must continue. Praise God. War made me a flea, leaving behind many valuables and crowns and suchlike things that I want,
Please give the 15 pounds sterling to my friend Arthur Daily at Whitechapel in the alley near the big laundry. You can defanitely trust him. And me also. Praise God.
Yours hopefully, Oramaki Nazelu
Pirates at the Museum
The major exhibition Pirates will run at the National Maritime Museum until 4 January, 2026, tracing the changing depictions of pirates throughout the ages and revealing the brutal history often obscured by fiction. It will illuminate the realities of pirate life, including those of the pirates Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Teach, William Kidd, Anne Bonny and Mary Read.
In Britain today, we think of pirates from the Caribbean seas, but historic piratical activity was farreaching, taking different forms throughout the world.
The first section of the exhibition ‘The Pirate Image’ will explore popular culture and why pirates generate such fascination. Whether as comical characters, like Captain Pugwash, villains like Captain Hook and Long John Silver or antiheroes like Captain Jack Sparrow, pirates have captured the imagination for generations. Moving beyond fiction, ‘Real Pirates’ will delve into tales of specific pirates focusing on the so-called ‘Golden Age’ of piracy from the 1680s to the 1720s.
‘Global Pirates’ highlights objects of interest, including a hanging captured from a junk in the fleet of the Chinese pirate Shap Ng-tsai, who was active in the mid-nineteenth century.
Exploring Barbary piracy, the exhibition focusses on the Bombardment of Algiers in 1816 by a combined British/Dutch force to resolve the longstanding issue of piracy on the North Coast of Africa.
More information from www.rmg.co.uk/pirates
Cap firing Flintlock Pistol specialist, many tailor-made styles & sizes, individually hand-crafted to fire 2, 3 or 4 caps. Swords, Skulls, Buckles, Blunderbusses, Water & Confetti Cannons, plus much more.
Proud member of the Pirates of Poole
A Hampshire haunt of smugglers
Lying between Lymington, Brockenhurst and Beaulieu in Hampshire, the Turfcutters Arms at East Boldre is one of the few remaining traditional pubs in the New Forest. The village was originally a hamlet known as Beaulieu Rails, reflecting the fact that the settlement had grown up alongside the wooden railings defining the Western boundary of the Manor and parish of Beaulieu. In 1834, five years before East Boldre became a parish in its own right, the residents were described in a parliamentary
The Pirate Guys
All around the world and even hundreds of miles above it on the International Space Station, people celebrate ‘International Talk Like a Pirate Day’ on 19 September. To discover how it began by chance in 1995 visit: www.talklikeapirate.com
report as “for the most part smugglers and deerstealers”!
The settlement dates to at least 1700, but the area has been inhabited since prehistoric times and over 30 Bronze Age barrows lie within the parish boundaries. During the smuggling era, turf (peat) was harvested here as an important source of fuel and is how the pub acquired its name. This originates from the ancient rights of ‘Turbary’, which applied to the chimney and hearth of a property to cut a certain amount of turf for use as fuel in that hearth alone.
John (Ol’ Chumbucket) Baur
Mark (Cap’n Slappy) Summers
Ship’s tankard
King’s shilling tankard Round porthole flask
Usquabae thistle skull and hearts pocket flask
A collection of vintage turfing spades decorates a wall of the pub’s bar. Due South of East Boldre, on the marshy Hampshire foreshore, is Pitts Deep where local author, Walter Frank Perkins, wrote about the smugglers’ activities: “The kegs of spirits, roped together, were sunk and marked with a float, about one quarter mile from the shore, in the Pitts Deep stream, at a spot known as Brandy Hole. The kegs were floated ashore by punts, as by this way it was easier to sink them if a coastguard arrived. The kegs were carried from the shore by a gang of local men to carts, which were waiting a
short distance away, but if dangerous for the carts to load up, the kegs were slung across the shoulders, generally one in front and one behind. The pay for a tub man was two shillings and sixpence for each keg carried. To assist the coastguards, a mounted man called a Riding
Officer lived in a cottage near Pylewell Home Farm. The smugglers did not mind this man as he could easily be watched.”
Another tale related to East Boldre recounts how, when a tub of brandy fell from a horse and smashed on a rock, the whole party of smugglers, who liked to
be known as free traders, drank their fill using their shoes as improvised cups.
Smugglers no longer haunt the Turfcutters Arms, which is now much more than just a pub with rooms. It has established a deserved reputation and is famous locally for serving up some of the most outstanding food in the area at very reasonable prices.
It provides a cosy fireside in Autumn and Winter, a large sheltered and enclosed childfriendly pub garden in Summer and a warm welcome all year round. More information from www.the-turfcutters-newforest.co.uk
Festival focus
Booming Brixham
GCaptain Blackheart draws his cutlass (picture courtesy Dar Paul Photography).
Captain Blackheart draws his cutlass (picture courtesy Dar Paul Photography).
ranted the coveted title of ‘Finest International Pirate Festival in the World’ in 2024, this year’s Brixham Pirate Festival (BPF) from 3-5 May was even more popular. To paraphrase the words of Chief Brody, played by Roy Scheider in the film Jaws, “We’re going to need a bigger town”. A change of location is, however, unthinkable as this South Devon resort is now internationally recognised as the mustattend venue to launch the UK’s pirate festival season and attracts thousands of British buccaneers and pirate
enthusiasts from around the world. The organisers promised even more excitement and adventure in 2025 and fans of the event were not disappointed. Main features included: a parade of pirates through the streets of Brixham, showcasing creative costumes and spirited revelry; skirmishes and reenactments of historic pirate battles, bringing the high seas to life; and popular pirate and sea-themed music on the main stage, with other performance areas for shanty crews and entertaining artists. There was also a
shanty market where visitors could buy pirate goods and experience the sights and sounds that transported them back to the 17th century. One of the aims of the organisers is to preserve the spirit of pirate lore and anyone who was at BPF must concede that this laudable intention was achieved with great success. Huzzah!
The cannon crew blasts across the harbour.
Festival focus
even more popular
The next generation of pirates take a break (picture courtesy of
Fresh from the sea are two young ladies.
The usual suspects pose by the quay.
Simon Lane).
Running Conwy Pirate Festival A guide for event organisers by Jon Servaes
The Conwy Pirate Festival has been running for several years and become a wellknown event in Wales and around the UK. This year, it has been listed in the finalists for Go North Wales Tourisms Best Event Category.
The running of the event has always involved a committee, but last year we formalised the set-up by forming the Conwy Pirate Group subsequently setting up a community interest company, Conwy Pirates CIC. For anyone interested in setting up a similar arrangement it has been suggested that we share some of our experience.
Forming a club or group with a formal constitution allows meetings to be run along proper guidelines and allows for democratic decision making and conflict resolution. This is important when relatively large sums of money are involved and grants etc are being applied for. Many organisations and banks want to see a copy of your constitution so that they know they are dealing with a bona fide organisation.
Constitutions are quite lengthy legal documents, but a search of the internet will reveal a
number of sample club constitutions that can be down-loaded freely and adapted to your specific needs and circumstances. By reading through the constitution, you will be able to understand the duties of the members and officers and how to conduct meetings including recording and minuting decisions. We were warned by various people of the financial perils of running a large festival. Failure can result in significant loss and personal bankruptcy. Hence, we decided that for personal protection we would set up a Community Interest Company or CIC. This limits the personal liability of the directors in the event
of a business failure to a specified amount. We subsequently found that having a registered company is of benefit again in reassuring the legitimacy of your business dealings and details were required by banks and organisations such as PayPal and ticketing applications.
To set up a CIC visit the HMRC website or Companies House website:www.tax.service. gov.uk/register-yourcompany/setting-up-newlimited-company
The fee to set up a CIC is currently £65.00 and the website will guide you through the process, but do make sure you have gathered all the personal details of your proposed directors such as full name, address, date of
birth, telephone number and e-mail. These details are needed for many applications so keep them on file! We learnt the hard way with repeated requests to directors for their dates of birth, etc.
Finances are the single biggest hurdle. The amount of money needed to run a successful event mounts year on year. Examples of our outgoing expenses are road closures, first aid cover, marquee hire, insurance, performer fees, ship hire, safety officer and safety equipment (barriers, radios, hi viz, etc) advertising, signage, black powder and many more.
To raise money, we seek grants and have been very lucky to obtain major funding from Gwynt y Mor wind farm. Conwy Town Council also sponsor the festival and we obtain some funding from local businesses in the town. We raise further funds by selling pitches in the marquee smugglers market. We also run a number of pirate-themed games, which not only bring in revenue, but add flavour and interest to the event. We continue to look for new sponsors and grants. This year, for the first time we have taken on outside commissions to perform at various venues such as The Ellesmere Port Boat Museum, Anderton Boat Lift,
Does Jack Sparrow plan to steal this ship from the quay?
Gloucester Tall Ships Festival, Bodrhyddan Hall, various local charities and groups. This has brought in added funding and recognition to the event. Next year, we have repeat orders and new venues, which we hope will bring in more much needed revenue. Many organisations offering grant funding are keen to see that you are trying to help yourselves, so we consider offering our services in this way whether paid or unpaid as an important step.
Our most recent endeavour is to set up a shop on our website to sell festival-related merchandise. Creating a website can be daunting, but there are a range of hosting packages that allow you to create a creditable website and shop with little or no knowledge. It is important to keep your website up-to-date, so a package that allows for easy maintenance
is essential. We have a variety of items for sale such as T-shirts, Flags, Tote Bags and more items in the offing. We have a strong relationship with the Conwy Knight Shop and will be offering many of their products for sale soon. Once again in setting up payment systems on the website, companies wanted the reassurance of our CIC status and full details of our directorship.
Part of our remit is to promote local businesses. To this end we have formed a relationship
with Snowdonia Craft Brewery, who manned our bar and produced our own brand Conwy Pirate IPA, lager and cider. We also offered Conwy Pirate Wines. Local distillery pHure Liquors produced a range of Conwy Pirate Rums in Dark, Spiced, Caramel and Coconut varieties. We sold these in both full-size bottles and smaller miniature gift sets. We continue to receive a commission from sales, which is another welcome revenue stream.
Our other source of income is the utilisation of the marquee in the evening to host a ticketed event featuring a major act. Our close relationship with the well-known ‘Old Time Sailors’ continues to be a draw. Tickets for these concerts are sold through one or more of the online ticket selling apps. We have tried a couple of companies as commission and utility vary. We opted to pay the ticketing fee up front, taking a gamble on selling a full house as that reduced the overall fees.
A major loss of income for us was not being able to take card payments as few people carry cash. We chose not to use card readers at the 2024 event due to poor 3G coverage across our event area. However, there was a promise to have better coverage this year and we have experimented with specific readers borrowed from our members to check workability. Consequently, we had a card reader ready for 2025.
We realise that there are an increasing number of festivals growing around the country and we have visited several. We don’t see other festivals as competition and have created a Facebook group for Pirate Festival organisers to share experience and help to each other. If any genuine festival organisers wish to join then contact Jon Servaes on Facebook or any other member of the group, which already includes organisers from Brixham, Whitby and other events. We want to help each other succeed!
Black powder is used at festivals to fire muskets.
Local distillery pHure Liquors produced a range of Conwy Pirate Rums.
Plans well underway for Harwich Shanty Festival
Excitement is mounting as the organisers prepare for this year’s Harwich International Shanty Festival, when the streets and alleyways of the historic seafaring town come alive with traditional shanties and sea songs, and pirates and mermaids will roam abroad once again in celebration of a rich and fascinating maritime history. The festival will take place from 10-12 October and is the 19th to be held.
Some wonderful
shanty artists are coming, including
The Keelers from Northumberland, who have enjoyed 40 years of shanty singing and have performed many times with the late, great Stan Hugill and at Tall Ships’ events all over Europe. Other performers include Jim Mageean, who has sung all over the world for many years and was the foremost proponent of the revival of shanty singing in the 1970s.
De Kaapstander will be attending from Oudewater,
near Gouda, in The Netherlands. This is a 40-strong mixed shanty choir, who have enjoyed singing together since 1998 and sing in Dutch, English and French accompanied by accordion, violin, guitar and banjo. Perly I Lotry, a six-piece acapella group are coming from Poland to thrill audiences with their amazing harmonies and from France there will be A Band On Ship and the Aude Shantymen. Other international guests include Gunnar
Wiegand from Germany, singing songs from the maritime world with guitar accompaniment and the popular four-piece group Scheepsfolk, will be returning from The Netherlands. They have been performing for 30 years and accompany their singing with guitar, banjo, harmonica, bass, washboard and cajon. Other highlights this year will include Foresail, a fourpart harmony group from Cornwall, Joe Whittaker singing the songs of Cyril Tawney
A Band On Ship from France.
Hans Weehuizen with his bones.
Shantyman
and Quaynotes, a three-piece female harmony group, who sail on the River Deben. They like to perform sea-themed songs, illustrating the part women have played in maritime history, and accompany these with Celtic harp, guitar and autoharp.
Harwich welcomes back the Silver Darlings, a six-piece all female harmony group from Southend, who are now in great demand at home and abroad. The popular local choir Harwich Sing will also be performing again. In fact, the organisers look forward to seeing many other familiar
names to the festival, some of whom have supported the event since the beginning. Beach activities will be provided for children, as well as the return of popular attractions at the Redoubt, featuring Inner State Theatre, with their Viking Longship, and maritime crafts, which will include rock painting for the first time.
Pirates will again be well-represented, with the River Rogues and the Sheppey Pirates causing mayhem for the King’s German Artillery and the Sea Fencibles, who valiantly attempt to
resist their attacks at the Redoubt, where there will be musket drills, cannon firing and sword displays, as well as the return of the gruesome barber surgeon! There will be a beach skirmish with dastardly smugglers demonstrating their sword-fighting expertise and fearsome pirates will also be present to keep everyone in order on the popular shanty train. There will also be a wide variety of workshops as such as the popular Jig Dolls with Martin Judkins and Corine Nugteren, and Playing the Bones with ‘Dutch Uncle’ Hans Weehuizen. The unique town of
10-12 October 2025
Harwich is steeped in a wealth of maritime history and was the home port of the Mayflower, which carried the Pilgrim Fathers to America in 1620. Visitors to the festival can learn more by booking a cruise on the Thames Barge Victor, with shanty singers on board, taking part in guided tours of Old Harwich, the Redoubt and Beacon Hill Fort, and viewing the house of Christopher Jones, the Mayflower’s Captain, which will be open to the public.
More information from www. harwichshantyfestival. co.uk
Sea shanty festivals
Sharp-eyed readers may have spotted that the list of shanty festivals in the previous issue was inadvertently repeated from the previous issue. The person responsible has been deprived of his rum ration for a month as punishment!
Weston-super-Mare’s festival looks like it will be the biggest yet, with acts travelling from France and the
Paimpol, Brittany, France 8-10 August, 2025 www.paimpol-festival.bzh
USA. Pirate crews are welcomed to the event and the organiser asks why not dress as your favourite pirate and join in the fun? The Festival du Chant de Marin is held against a backdrop of traditional boats in Paimpol’s harbour. Brancaster Staithe’s festival brings together the rich maritime traditions of the area and raises funds for National Coastwatch and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, as well as
Quayside Shanty Festival Exeter, Devon 13 September, 2025 www.exetercustomhouse.co.uk
local charities. Quayside Shanty Festival offers a fantastic day and evening of folk songs of the sea suitable for all ages. The Harwich International Shanty Festival needs no introduction, but visitors can be sure that it will not disappoint. The Mevagissey Shanty Festival is being held a week later than usual due to the high Spring Tides that mean the Jetty Marquee would be flooded!
Mevagissey Shanty Festival Mevagissey, Cornwall 17-19 October, 2025 www.mevashantyfest.co.uk
A shop for punks and pirates
Established in 1999, Pandemonium is noted for being Whitby’s original shop for alternative fashions, serving goths, punks and pirates looking for eyecatching styles in men and ladies’ clothing, shoes, jewellery, gifts and a dazzling range of accessories. It is run by Elaine Horton,
doyen of the Whitby International Pirate Society, so it is no surprise that Brixham’s buccaneers, as well as online customers from further afield, have become satisfied customers for its wide range of piratical gear.
Pandemonium is located on Golden Lion Bank (near the harbour). This fascinating shop offers a comprehensive
choice – even babies are and skirts, trousers and tops, corsetry,
light-catchers, mobiles, stationery
choice – even babies are catered for – and there’s literally something for everyone. The range includes coats and jackets, hats, dresses and skirts, trousers and tops, corsetry, hoodies, gloves, scarves and bandanas, boots and shoes, hosiery, underwear, clothing for kids, jewellery, belts, hair accessories and hair dye, make-up, bags and wallets, badges and patches, wristbands and collars, studs and fixings, masks, wind chimes, light-catchers, mobiles, stationery items and much more. There is also a large pre-owned
section to browse. Three examples of drinking vessels, a long chest and a map chest are illustrated here, but the shop’s full range can be explored on its website given in the advert on this page.
more. There is also a large pre-owned
Trading post
Woollen tricorn hat
Anew product from Larp Inn is a handmade tricorn hat (Ref: CL13326) made from 100% wool, which provides great value for money. The thick
waterproof, making it a stylish complement to any pirate’s costume. Only available in black, the supplier has advised that this tricorn should be dry-cleaned when necessary.
Leather tricorns in brown and black are also available from Larp Inn, but cost considerably more
More information www.larpinn.co.uk Larp from
PIRATES
When buying any of the fine products featured in these pages, I’d be much obliged if ye’d mention Pirate Plunder
OLD HARRY’S LOCKER
in Swanage, Dorset, for Nautical Curios Antiques and Collectables
Tel: 07961 572032
E-mail: cw1@gmx.co.uk
Box for playing cards
A leather box designed to hold approximately 120 standard playing cards measuring 3.5 x 2.5 inches is one of a range of useful accessories made by Darkblade.
Crafted from 2 mm thick Italian leather, with 3.2mm thick side panels to make it more rigid, it
is available in black or brown. To ensure the box can never come undone by accident, it is fastened with a buckle.
Darkblade also offers the option of a belt loop, which will fit a belt up to 50 mm wide.
More information from www.darkbladeuk.co.uk
Roguish spiced rum fit for a smuggler
A Jack Rat product called ‘Lugger’ is a blend of the finest Caribbean rum, aged to perfection in charred ex-bourbon oak casks by St Austell Brewery, then infused with a full profile of spices of orange peel, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon and a touch of vanilla.
Jack Ratt products are named after notorious West Country smuggler Jack Rattenbury and the name ‘Lugger Rum’ was inspired
by the fishing boats that Jack Ratt would have used to smuggle contraband into Lyme Bay in the 18th Century. Fast, agile and often painted black, these Luggers were almost impossible to catch when operating under the cover of darkness. This roguish spiced rum has an ABV of 40% and is available in 70 cl bottles designed for stability on board during rough weather (Editor: I was given a 5 cl miniature last Christmas and very good it was too).
More information from www.lymebay winery.co.uk
Custom-printed crew apparel Barrel-style moneybox
Barrels were used aboard sailing ships to store and preserve provisions, including water, salted meat and, most importantly, rum!
Nauticalia’s barrelstyle moneyboxes are made from solid
polished Acacia (a sustainable hardwood), with brass banding. A screwed flap at the bottom allows access to the precious contents.
It stands five inches tall. More information from www.nauticalia.com
Corsair pirate’s cutlass and baldrick
Recently introduced by Southern Swords is a pirate cutlass favoured by Corsairs, which features a wide curved blade made for chopping during tasks on board or in a raiding party. It has a forged high carbon steel blade that is resilient and tough enough for just about any adventure on the high seas, pirate festival or cosplay event.
The ambidextrous design of the lavishly-cut steel guard allows this weapon to be used right or left-handed, while the grip has been covered in ray skin for a sure hold. All the steel fittings have been expertly blackened,
giving them a dark and villainous look.
The cutlass is supplied with a matching leather scabbard and a suede side baldric, which is fully adjustable and has the sign of the high seas octopus embroidered on the face.
This sword is not sharpened and is properly tempered for WMA as well as fight choreography, film and stage productions.
The overall length of the cutlass is 74cm, with a blade length of 57 cm and a width of 5 cm. It weighs 1,417 g.
More information from www.southernswords.co.uk
A family-run firm, HKCB Designs offers pirate crews and shanty groups high quality T-shirts, hoodies, caps, tote bags and other merchandise customprinted using the latest technology.
The company also of T-shirts from its which can be viewed
The company also stocks a vast range of T-shirts from its Original Pirates range, which can be viewed online.
The company’s website also hosts the official merchandise page for the Blackwater Pirates, an Essex-based pirate cosplay group that sails
across the country raising funds for various charities through exciting events and appearances.
More information from www.hkcb-designs.co.uk
Unless ye intends to steal a ship or become a mutineer if ye are already on one, then the best course of action is to sign on with one of the active pirate crews listed on these two pages. If retired from a life of piracy, then ye’ve a duty to keep faith with The Brethren by celebrating ‘International Talk Like a Pirate Day’ on 19th September every year!
Swanage Pirate Festival www.facebook.com/purbeckpiratefestival?locale=en_GB
The Jolly Rogers – Dorset www.jollyrogersdorset.co.uk
The Pirate Castle www.thepiratecastle.org
The Pirate’s Rum Bible www.facebook.com/groups/3461839360611139
The Purple Pirates www.facebook.com/groups/458658597005173
UOM Pirate Society (University of Manchester) Instagram: @uompiratesoc
Ventnor Pirate Festival www.facebook.com/groups/257241670734903
Whitby International Pirate Society www.whitbypirates.co.uk
Withernsea Pirate Festival www.withernseapirates.co.uk
Rye’s ambitious pirates
Just formed in East Sussex, Rye Pirates and Smugglers have two main ambitions. The crew’s first task will be to recognise and encourage a new tradition of pirating in Rye with a day dedicated to the town’s nautical heritage (Editor: Date and contact details are given on next page).
It will also raise funds and for the local community, support charities and have a great time on the voyage!
Sea Dragon Pirates
Heart of the South West
Rye Pirates & Smugglers
Withernsea Pirate Festival
Where to see pirate action
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this calendar, but like the weather, dates may be subject to change, so you are advised to check the forecast with the organiser’s website afore setting sail. The Editor of Pirate Plunder would also be much obliged if those arranging festivals would let him know of any changes to location, duration or even cancellation of their events due to battles with bureaucrats, plagues from Far Cathay or other circumstances beyond their control.
All around the Globe 19 September, 2025 www.talklikeapirate.com
Weymouth Pirate Fest
Weymouth, Dorset
3-6 October, 2025 www.weymouthpiratefest.com
The Rumfest
ILEC Conference Centre, Earls Court, London 11-12 October, 2025 www.rumfest.co.uk
ISLE OF WIGHT
WEDS 13TH - SAT 16TH AUGUST 2025
Grab your finest pirate attire and set sail to the historic coastal town of Ventnor, where tales of smuggling and pirates run in our blood. Join us in this FREE festival of three days and four nights to celebrate all things pirate!
