A HISTORICAL society has donated a piece of equipment to a ship-building project which hopes to make history of its own.

The Harwich Society has donated a whetstone sharpener to the Mayflower Project to help apprentices build a replica pilgrim ship.

The project aims to build a copy of the ship which sailed from Southampton England to Southampton Massateutetts in America before replicating the journey.

It is also teaching young and unemployed practical skills in ship building and engineering.

The Harwich Society said it was impressed by everything the project is achieving and was looking for a way to support it.

The sharpener cost £288 and has now been purchased and delivered to the Mayflower Project for use by its apprentices working at the project’s base at Harwich Station.