Two Lincolnshire craftsmen have been chosen to turn wood taken from Nelson's ship, HMS Victory, into furniture.

From their small workshop alongside their home, carpenters Jim and Gabrielle Harris carve out furniture from ancient oak.

The pieces, carved in the little workshop in Saltfleetby, near Louth in Lincolnshire, will be sold, alongside others made by craftsmen elsewhere, after touring the country.

It is a plan to raise money to refurbish the famous warship which helped Admiral Nelson win the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

Victory 'stripped'

Mr Harris said it is a challenge they were delighted to take up.

"It is very rough wood to work with. It is full of nuts and bolts so we have to be very careful because of the machinery.

"We have to remove everything that is metal before we even start working on it."

You do feel close to the people who were actually there

Gabrielle Harris

About 34 tonnes of oak and 10 tonnes of copper have been stripped from HMS Victory over the past eight years as part of its refurbishment to make the ship lighter.

Some of that oak has found its way into the Harris' workshop and Mrs Harris explained why the scheme has come about.

"They (HMS Victory Ltd) have taken a lot of the wood and copper out of the ship.

"They have been renovating it and what they are trying to do now is put together a collection.

Back in time

"Craftsmen from around the country have been asked to make pieces in limited editions which they are obviously going to sell off.

"The proceeds from the sale of the original pieces go to renovate the Victory."

She said the work they are carrying out has taken them back 200 years.

"You do feel close to the people who were actually there.

"It does make you think about the terrible life they had. The hard work, the blood and gore.

Harbour 'hulk'

"We do feel for them when we are actually in contact with the wood - it just brings you that much closer to them."

HMS Victory was launched on 7 May, 1765 at Chatham Dockyard in Kent and took part in many famous battles before Trafalgar.

By 1920, HMS Victory had become a "hulk" moored in Portsmouth Harbour. Many of her timbers were rotting and a great deal of restoration needed to be done.

The ship remains in dry dock at Portsmouth.

Cash raised from the sale of artefacts will go towards commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 2005.