IT IS very rare indeed to meet a ship which is practically a long-lost relative.

But Don Baird and his cousin Pamela Martin experienced such an emotional reunion on visiting Britain’s last wooden topsail schooner in Liverpool.

Their great-grandfather Walter Baird built the Kathleen & May in 1900 at his Ferguson & Baird shipyard, in Connah’s Quay, Flintshire.

The 100ft Kathleen & May is in the city for the Mersey Pirate Muster and Battle of Canning Dock, on Sunday July 18.

Don, 76, of Pensby, who is a keen amateur carpenter, said: “The ship is brilliant, a superb reminder of the craftsmen who built her and those who keep her going today.

“Being here is a little lad’s dream. It fills in the holes of how I got my enthusiasm.

“I often wondered where my dreams came from and this visit has put me in touch with my past.”

Pam, from Bryn-y-Baal, near Mold, touched the wooden saloon panelling and said: “I cannot believe my grandfather built this.

“It means everything to me – this ship is part of us. I have heard of her all my life and, now I have seen her, she is absolutely beautiful.”