Only front half of Henry Blogg’s historic Cromer fishing boat can be saved - but you can buy the rest

But the back end of the workaday vessel once skippered by Cromer lifeboat legend Henry Blogg will not sink without trace - it will be cut up into collectable chunks to raise funds for the project.

The aim is to display the restored bow of the Q J and J in a clifftop garden near a bust of Mr Blogg which scans the seas where he caught thousands of fish, and saved hundreds of lives.

A new preservation trust of volunteers is behind the venture, and wants to have it ready for the Cromer and Sheringham crab and lobster festival in 2015 - the centenary of the hoveller's completion by Sheringham boatbuilder Robert 'Calla' Emery.

The boat was used by Mr Blogg for five years in the 1930s and was named after his children Queenie and Jack and nephew Jimmy.

Attempts by Cromer Town Council to save it all proved too expensive when the price tag topped £150,000, but the volunteers have stepped in to save what they can.

Preservation trust spokesman Duncan Abel said the front 10ft of the 24ft boat would be restored, for free, by the Museum of the Broads at Stalham.

The rest would be cut up for souvenirs, sold with certificates of authenticity, to raise the £5,000 for materials.

'This is the last remaining fishing boat owned by Henry Blogg - a piece of the Blogg story jig saw and important to the fishing heritage of north Norfolk.'

During Mr Blogg's 53 years' service, which began in 1894 at the age of 18, the Cromer lifeboat launched 387 times and saved 873 lives. He was awarded seven RNLI medals for gallantry; three gold and four silver - along with the George Cross and the British Empire Medal, making him the most decorated lifeboat ever. But he was also part of fishing dynasty whose relatives still harvest the local the seas.

A stand highlighting the Q J and J project will be at this weekend's Cromer community open day in the parish hall from 10am to 4pm on Saturday. Volunteers will be on hand to answer questions.