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Multi-Millionaire Builds Pirate Island
A multi-millionaire family has built a pirate island on a lake in their 60 acre private estate – just five miles from the historic city of Cambridge. James Challis, a member of the Dickerson family who have been established in the area for nearly 90 years, has created the amazing pirate paradise in memory of his grandfather.
Challis Island, which comes complete with a mock pub, day chalet and sun deck, has been built on a site originally bought by the late John Dickerson, who ran numerous successful businesses in Cambridgeshire. It is located between industrial lands and includes a beach with a stream, lagoon and waterfall for the family and their guests to enjoy.
The lake was created in the 1970’s, when James’ great-grandfather Maurice Dickerson’s company extracted sand and gravel from the site. After 30 years the lake had become full of silt and desperately required maintenance to sustain the wildlife that it supports. It has now been drained, dredged and levelled and the material used to form the pretend 18th century colonial island, which has been built from scratch.
It holds Georgian-style colonial buildings, which were prefabricated by a company called The Master Wishmakers and designed to look as though they have been abandoned. They include The Black Doubloon, which is a place to entertain, and Coffer’s Cabin, which is a day chalet built in the style of a military commander‘s office. Lubbers Locker is a small beach hut, whilst Dead Man’s Deck is a sun deck for barbecues built in the style of the ruins of a military post. The whole island was hand-built by The Master Wishmakers, based in Kettering, Northants, who specialise in making their wealthy clients’ dreams come true.
"We pride ourselves on our attention to detail and this is why we have worked with only the best scenic artists to add those final touches that really make Challis Island the most spectacular pirate adventure since the 18th Century," said a spokesman for the company.
Despite the island looking like a million dollars, the Master Wishmakers have used clever design to keep the cost down – and a townhouse in the centre of Cambridge would actually be more expensive.
James Challis and his family have longstanding business interests in Cambridgeshire. His great-grandfather, Maurice Dickerson, founded a haulage contractor firm in 1937 and the company was kept busy during the war carrying bombs and munitions from the Midlands to the East Anglian docks. The company also bought the site, which has been turned into Challis Island, for the extraction of sand and gravel.
"After the land had been restored, our family took it on privately and used it as their own personal recreation area and we worked on encouraging wildlife to the site," said James Challis, the owner and namesake of the island. "The lake had been left for so many years that it suffered greatly from a build-up of silt that encouraged weeds to grow and starved the oxygen out the water to such a degree that when the lake was drained, only nine small fish were found."
The island is largely covered by wildflower to help reintroduce wildlife and has now been adopted by nesting coots and swans. James said the family hopes the site will benefit greatly from its new dual purpose and will be enjoyed by future generations for many years to come. He added: "We hope that John Dickerson, who made it all possible, will be remembered through it."
pirate island – kalóz sziget
acre – hold (mértékegység)
estate – birtok
to be established – megalapítva/felállítva lenni
in memory of – valakinek az emlékére
to come complete with – valamivel kiegészülve lenni
mock – hamis, utánzat
chalet – faház
sun deck – napozóterasz
the late – a néhai
to run a business – üzleti tevékenységet folytatni
numerous – számos
to be located – valahol elhelyezkedni
industrial land – ipari terület
stream – patak
waterfall – vízesés
great-grandfather – dédnagypapa
to extract – kihúzni, eltávolítani
gravel – sóder
desperately – kétségbeesetten
to require – igényelni, megkövetelni
maintenance – fenntartás, karbantartás
to sustain – elviselni, fenntartani
wildlife – vadvilág, élővilág
to be drained – lecsapolva lenni
to be dredged – kiásva lenni
to be levelled – kiegyenlítve/felszínre hozva lenni
pretend – színlelt
colonial – gyarmati
scratch – törmelék
Georgian-style – György-korabeli
prefabricated – előre legyártott
to be abandoned – elhagyatva lenni
military commander – katonai parancsnok
ruin – rom
military post – katonai állomáshely
wealthy – vagyonos, gazdag
to pride oneself on – büszkélkedik valamivel
detail – részlet
scenic artist – díszlettervező
final touches – utolsó simítások
spectacular – látványos
spokesman – szóvivő
despite something – valami ellenére
to keep the cost down – alacsonyan tartani a költséget
townhouse – városi lakás
longstanding – régóta fennálló
business interest – üzleti érdekeltség
haulage contractor – szállítmányozó
munitions – lőszer
dock – dokk, rakpart, kikötő
extraction – itt: kinyerés, lefejtés
to be restored – visszaállítva lenni
recreation area – üdülőhely
to encourage – bátorítani, előmozdítani
namesake – névrokon
to suffer – szenvedni
build-up of silt – felgyülemlett hordalék
weed – vízi növény, gyom
to starve – éheztetni, elvonni
to reintroduce – újrakezdeni, újra bevezetni
to be adopted – elfogadva/örökbe fogadva lenni
nesting coot – fészkelő szárcsa
swan – hattyú
benefit – haszon, jótékony hatás
dual purpose – kettős cél
