Here be treasure!

 A trip to the seaside today resulted in the discovery of an ancient pirate map washed up in a bottle on the beach.  Number 1 son was most excited when he discovered it wedged under a rock (shortly after I had carefully planted it).

Ye olde treasure mappe.

 A trip up the nearby "Beeston Bump" took us to the Ordnance Survey Triangulation Point shown on the map.

Directions to the treasure.

 A check of the compass bearing showed us the direction to take.  Now, would that be 16 5-year-old paces or 16 grown-up pirate paces I wonder?

Taking the bearing.

A few pokes with a plastic beach spade swiftly uncovered undreamt-of riches...

The hoard.  Probably not "treasure trove".

What magnificent finds!

£2 worth of brass from charity shops.

From a junk shop for 20p.

Treasure chest 99p, 3 coins for 60p.

Less than £4 for the pirate hoard but well worth every penny for the excitement that resulted!  I always enjoy the process of hunting down props for things like this, you never know what interesting items you'll find.  The ship plaque was an especially fortuitous discovery for only £1.50, splendidly nautical for a piece of pirate treasure.  The map was fun to draw too.  I turned up the brightness on my tablet to full, then traced the outline and main geographical features in stages in pencil before going over it and adding detail using a range of waterproof drawing pens.  Some tea-bag antiquing (dried in the oven), burnt patches round the edges and carrying it round in a pocket for the day gave a reasonably aged look.