Model of historic trawler prepares for maiden voyage

Viola, the handiwork of retired seaman Alan Richardson from Hessle, near Hull, will eventually set sail not on the High Seas but the lake in East Park. Mr Richardson, who served in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, has visited the actual vessel, thought to be the oldest surviving steam trawler in the world with her engines still intact, on trips to South Georgia to offload stores.

More than 90 per cent of the 4ft remote-controlled model is made from recycled bits and pieces; the white cover round the bridge is sewing machine tape and the funnel, a 40mm sink waste pipe. It has all the detail – right down to individually crafted fish, made from jelly moulds, in the hold.

Mr Richardson, a member of Hull Boat Builders, has been working hard on the model for nine months. “It keeps your brain ticking over, keeps your mind going and I enjoy going down and having a natter with all the other modellers,” he said.

During the First World War, the trawler, built at Beverley for the Hellyer Steam Fishing Company Ltd, was requisitioned as a minesweeper. She spent 50 years as a sealer before finally being mothballed in the early 1970s, and is now a tourist attraction for Antarctic visitors on cruise ships.