Doncaster couple's £2k DIY pirate bar - featuring wheel from real shipwreck

Zoe Bradshaw, 41, and her husband Paul Bradshaw, 52, celebrated eight years of engagement on April 5, 2025.

The pair tied the knot last May dressed head to toe as pirates and decided to host a party with the same theme.

They spent three weeks building their own make-shift bar - which they named the Ship Inn - and spent £2,000 in materials.

They even found a £550 ship wheel from a shipwreck to add as a feature - found on an antique site.

Paul, a plasterer, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, said: "Our ships wheel was part of a shipwreck. The ship was built in 1843 and sank in 1865. We have a wheel that is impossible to find.

"The windows are from the 1920s - we got them from marketplace for £50 and put LED lights behind them so that bit is supposed to resemble the stern of the ship with the windows in.

"We had 32 people down at our house, all pirates, all dressed up.

"So, we stayed in our bar and in the garden, and then we went into town. They had a pirate night on in Doncaster."

Zoe and Paul decided to base their wedding on a pirate theme after attending Brixham Pirates Festival in May 2023 and becoming obsessed.

They tied the knot a year later on the first day of the same festival.

Paul dressed as Jack Sparrow and Zoe had a £1,000 custom-made pirate dress with a black and red corset with matching roses, and a black and red wig with a pirate hat.

The pirate enthusiast knew the only way to celebrate their engagement anniversary was with a themed party.

They spent three weeks planning the do - decking their garden with a make-shift bar filled with antiques, cobwebs and BARRELS OF RUM?

Paul said: "All our pirate friends say it's the best pirate bar in the country. We can fit 20 people in there easily."

The couple then went into Doncaster for the evening.

Paul said: "There's a new group called purple pirates. They come down all dressed in purple. We had three Jack Sparrows and I was the Jack Sparrow's dad.

"I mean it was proper proper, good night. It was sunny, and we had a garden full of pirates!"

For their wedding anniversary, on May 4, 2025 the couple will attend the Brixham festival again.

Paul said: "The plan is we're just going to get all the friends back together, go on the ship and just drink and stuff on there, and then have a party on there, bit of music, take some more pictures.

"We've got new costumes and everything now."

For Zoe and Paul, the pirate fun continues all year round - attending events and festivals all across the country.

Paul said: "We do the events all the way through the year. So you've got, Weymouth, you've got Whitby, Conway. They're just all over the country, but thousands and thousands of people go to all these.

"Brixham is the main one of the year. It's the first one and it starts the pirate festival off in May, and then the pirate festival finishes in October, but there's something happening every month.

"And when there isn't anything happening, we get everyone down to our bar."

The couple love the pirate community as it has allowed them to make new friends in an "amazing" atmosphere.

Paul said: "When you go out to pubs, the attention that you get, you feel like a rock star, like a celebrity... people recognise you - it's just constant pictures and people buying your drinks.

"We've met hundreds of new friends. it's just fun - just to get dressed up and go out and celebrate with everybody."