DOZENS of knitters put their needles to the test in Corsham over the course of half a year knitting a lifeboat complete with crew, seagulls and sea for the local branch of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

After knitting furiously for the last six months, members of the Corsham Kitting and Crochet Group presented their woollen masterpiece to John McIver of the RNLI at the Springfield Community Campus on Thursday, February 2.

"We were contacted by the RNLI last year and asked if we could knit a boat so we agreed, put it to our members and got some volunteers," chair Sandra Davis said. "We had about 20 to 25 people working on the project with some doing the sea while others did the boat, the crew, the beach or the seagulls.

"We were quite surprised how well it turned out and we are quite proud of it actually because it is jolly good!"

The group's creative prowess will be shown off around the area as RNLI speakers John McIver and John Box take it to display at fairs, talks and meetings throughout the year.

Corsham Knitting and Crochet Group, which was set up in 2000 and now have more than 100 members, also regularly knit blankets and a variety of other items for Operation Orphan and hospitals in the county.

"We like to say that the group keeps the old ladies off the streets and stops them from getting lonely," the chair added. "We are quite proud of what we have achieved."

Anyone interested in attending the next meeting can join the ladies on the first Thursday of the month from 10am-12pm at the Springfield Community Campus.