Historical Dorset fishing boat rebuilt by student

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A Weymouth boat builder is looking for information on a historical Dorset fishing boat he is rebuilding, The Witch of Worbarrow.

A Weymouth boat builder is recreating a century-old Dorset fishing boat, the Witch of Worbarrow.

Ian Baird, a student at the Lyme Regis Boat Building Academy, is looking for information about the boat, thought to be the last one left of its kind.

It was built in Weymouth 1902 and used as a crab and lobster fishing boat in the waters off the Dorset coast.

Mr Baird said: "I want to find out more about the boat as it's a window to Dorset's past. She's one of a kind."

Local craftmanship

The original 14ft (4.2m) boat has been preserved in the National Maritime Museum in Cornwall since 1979.

Mr Baird's replica, currently under construction, will be used by the museum to discover more about how it would have behaved on the water.

Up until the 1920s, fishing boats in Dorset were individually built from wood to specifications best suited to the local environment, and it is this craftmanship that interests Mr Baird.

He said: "What I really need to do is find out more about the original boat.

"We know she was worked by the Miller family at Worbarrow Bay [near Lulworth Cove], and then used as a pleasure boat at Poole Harbour."

Mr Baird's replica Witch of Worbarrow will be launched on 9 December at Lyme Regis Harbour.