Green light for celebration mast

The mast will be similar in design to the mizzenmast of the Channel Queen

A 100ft-high ship's mast is to be built on Guernsey's seafront.

Planners have given the go-ahead for a replica of a 19th century mizzenmast to be erected on the Weighbridge roundabout in St Peter Port.

It is being built as part of this year's Sea Guernsey celebrations and the team behind the mast aim to have it in place by Liberation Day.

They hope to find it a permanent home once it is removed from the roundabout after Trafalgar Day in October.

'Accurate proportions'

The dimensions of the structure are based on the mizzenmast of a 74-gun vessel commanded by Guernseyman Admiral James Saumarez, which was typical of the type of vessel seen in Guernsey waters in the 19th Century.

Deputy Stuart Falla said: "The proportions of the Memorial Mast are accurate, so it will give locals and visitors an idea of what St Peter Port's seafront would have looked like around 150 years ago.

"It's typical of the sort of mast that our predecessors built for a living."

A total of 300 vessels were built in 14 major shipyards on Guernsey's coast during the nineteenth century