THIS piece of British history was a prominent feature on the Leigh foreshore for 28 years as home to Essex Yacht Club.

The Bembridge was a familiar landmark on the edge of the Thames Estuary until it was sold by the club in 2004.

Now, the pilot cutter is undergoing a renaissance in Poland as an ambitious restoration process nears completion.

When the Bembridge was sold in 2004, it was moored off the Kent coast as its new owners worked on plans to turn it into a floating restaurant.

But after the restaurant plans failed, the 1938-built Bembridge was left rotting on a mooring in the Medway, before Polish shipping company Magemar stepped in and bought it last year.

Now the team is nearing the end of a painstaking restoration process which has seen the ship faithfully restored to its former glory, and ready to begin its new life as the company’s floating offices in Szczecin, in north-west Poland.

Rafal Zahorski, general manager at Magemar, said: “I came up with the idea to buy an old vessel, one so attractive the harbour authority would accept it as an attraction of the port and give us permission to keep her inside the harbour, near our stock.

“Additionally, for a shipping company like us to have an office on the vessel is perfect, and we are the first company in Poland to have its offices on a vessel, and additionally on a historic vessel.”

However, the Bembridge came within a hair’s breadth of never making it to her new home, after she was hit and holed by an iceberg while being towed up the river to Szczecin.

After her dramatic arrival in Poland, work on the Bembridge got under way, becoming a labour of love for all involved, despite the huge amount of work required.

Mr Zahorski said: “We were forced to replace the whole deck. The stern deck simply did not exist, because it was removed in 1972, and we rebuilt it as it was in 1938.

“The hardest part were the repairs to her hull. We were forced to replace 80 square metres of steel plates. Now she looks almost like new.”

The restoration team is working hard to put the finishing touches to the Bembridge, including sourcing original fixtures and fittings, and a hunt for the original ship’s bell.

The craft will eventually house its own museum, showcasing memorabilia from the Smith’s Dock shipyard, where the Bembridge was built in the Thirties, plus the history of the pilot class of ships and the Bembridge herself.

Mr Zahorski said: “In the future, I see the Bembridge being an active vessel, fully restored, attracting many visitors and students, as well as being an attraction for our city, supporting the maritime culture of the port, city and area.

“All of us are in love with our old lady Bembridge. She deserves now to be a girl who can be admired again.”

For more information about the transformation of the Bembridge, visit the website www.bembridge.pl To share any information about the craft or its original owner, Trinity House, e-mail rafal.zahorski@bembridge.pl