HOW reassuring to see the return of the Newport ship to your centre pages last Tuesday. Its origins and prospects still in doubt, this waterlogged wonder of the Usk continues to haunt the thoughts of ... well, those who think about that sort of thing.

However, one overriding concern remains; what to do to preserve it for posterity or for obscurity – take your choice. We have seen lottery grants, we have seen vigils and petitions, we may yet see armed rebellion. What we are most unlikely to see is any semblance of a ship as such, at least in our lifetime.

Patience, we hear, is a virtue but not one, in this case, that is likely to be its own reward.

I have, however, had an idea: why not try the traditional “ship in a bottle” presentation? In one-to-one scale, this would certainly be a unique attraction in Newport’s non-existent tourist industry, not to mention a welcome resurrection in the fortunes of Pilkingtons glassworks. Let’s give it a go – what’s to lose?

Julian R Powell, Larch Grove, Newport