Grimsby's Grim and Havelock statue restored

The statue of Grim and Havelock has been restored by Will Hennessy

A statue of the fabled founder of Grimsby has been restored, 18 years after it was taken down after being vandalised.

The statue of Grim and Havelock was unveiled outside Grimsby College in 1973 and stood there for 33 years until it was removed in 2006.

It has been restored by retired Lincolnshire businessman Will Hennessy at his workshop in Louth and is due to go on temporary display at Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre.

A new permanent home has been found for the statue but is still to be announced.

The 50-year-old statue depicts the legendary story of Grim, a Danish fisherman, rescuing a young Havelock, a Danish prince, off the Lincolnshire coast.

Grim and Havelock before the statue was pieced back together again

The damaged Douglas Wain-Hobson artwork went on show last year at the Turntable Gallery in Grimsby and was then taken away to be restored.

Mr Hennessy told BBC Look North it was in a sorry state when it arrived at his workshop in Louth, but said it was important to have the statue back on show.

"It's good looking after the past and gives people something to look back on," he said.

"It's nice to have Grim back and nice to have it back with the people of Grimsby on its return."

Will Hennessy spent four months restoring the statue for free in his spare time

The Equality Practice in North East Lincolnshire has a display about Grim and Havelock at Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre and the newly refurbished statue is due to be added.

Tracy Todd from the Equality Practice said: "We do have a permanent home for it but, at the moment, we're not allowed to say where that's going to be.

"But we hope to unveil the statue in the Fishing Heritage centre before the end of June."

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