Cash appeal launched for Matthew

The wooden Matthew was built in 1996 and needs re-oiling and re-varnishing

A campaign has been launched in Bristol to raise £25,000 for a much-needed makeover of the Matthew.

The replica of John Cabot's ship is nearly 15 years old and is showing signs of wear and tear.

It is hoped that the work can be completed in January or February 2010, or it will have to be in 2011 if the money can't be raised in time.

Skipper Ben Jones says it will cost £5,000 alone to lift the tourist attraction out of the water.

"The major problem is that it's a wooden ship really and wooden ships have massive maintenance schedules," said Ben.

"It's not that any one thing has particularly gone wrong. She needs completely re-oiling and re-varnishing in order to protect the wood.

"It's preventative maintenance before any rot sets in. It's just the scale of the job that's the problem."

More than 500 years ago John Cabot and his crew set sail for Asia aboard the original Matthew, hoping to trade goods and commodities with the people who lived there.

However, he finally arrived on the coast of Newfoundland and therefore was the original discoverer of North America, not Christopher Columbus as most people believe.

Today the replica of the Matthew sits in Bristol harbour for all to see.

In 1997 the replica Matthew followed the same course as John Cabot did in 1497 and sailed across to Newfoundland.

It carried the same number of crew members as the original and took the same amount of time to complete the crossing.

Anyone interested in the campaign can find out more via the Matthew website, or by calling the Matthew's headquarters on 01179 276868.