WHEN seaman Bill Brazier quit the Merchant Navy in 1970 the thrill of the waves never left him.

So, in a bid to recapture his time on the world's oceans, the 65-year-old turned his sea faring hands to making replicas of the ships on which he loved to sail.

And in 19 years he has managed to create 11 meticulously designed, radio controlled boats.

And in the run up to Christmas, thousands of Bolton shoppers were able to see them on display in the The Gates Shopping Centre.

Manager Pat Duckett thought they would be ideal to celebrate's the country's contribution to the shipping world.

He said: "I was very impressed with the ships. We know Bolton was well connected with shipping and we were looking at doing something to mark it. When I found that Mr Brazier had made a few boats I asked him if he had any available for an exhibition. We were delighted when he said he had."

Mr Brazier was in the merchant navy for a total of 11 years before he left for a career in industry.

He now devotes most of his time to creating the boats, which can take anything up to 50 hours to make and can fetch up to £3,000 despite his reluctance to part with them for money.

The Breightmet pensioner said: "I do them for myself and for friends. They show you what boats used to be like. Nowadays they are very basic, built purely to save money and they destroyed when they start to cause a problem.

"In fact just three boats do the same job as 42 did many years ago for a much cheaper price. But there's no character to them any more which I want to create with my replicas."

His favourite model is the Liberty ship, originally made in America in 1944. It is on show at the shopping centre along with the Sunderland-made MV Strath Dear of 1967, the SS Cyclops of 1948 to 1975, the MV Africa Star of 1975 and the MV Alice Bowstar of 1956.

He added: "I enjoy making them. When I left the Navy I found I would get fed up. Now I'm retired I make loads of them."

The ships formed the basis of a competition in which contestants had to guess the age of each boat. It was eventually won by Eric Melling, from Atherton, and Roger Jones, from Radcliffe, who both received hampers. Norma Crowther, from Bolton was the runner-up, winning a millennium clock.

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