TED Cavill crosses the Severn every day to work at Aust – but if dreams could become reality he would love to turn back the clock and make the journey on the former ferry boat the Severn Princess.
Mr Cavill, of Martin Road, Bulwark, Chepstow, has almost completed a working model of the Princess and hopes to trial her in the spring after fitting her out with radio control equipment.
It has been a labour of love for Mr Cavill who has had a lifelong interest in the ferry boats which once plied their trade between Beachley and Aust.
Though he crossed the estuary on both the Severn Queen and Severn King he was working in London when the Princess was in use.
"By the time I returned the ferry and the Princess were no longer working so the chance was gone," said Mr Cavill.
A keen member of the Caldicot Model Club, Mr Cavill has used his all his skills to make perfect models of all the ferry boats in cardboard.
He is a member of the Severn Princess Restoration Group and, encouraged by chairman Tim Ryan, set about the task of making a working model of the Princess over a year ago.
Much of the detail has come from old photographs and from his own study off the Princess which is now on the banks of the Wye having been recovered in a state of decay from Ireland.
Mr Cavill has some minor work to complete on the model's superstructure and he will then fit a six channel radio in readiness for trials in the spring.
He has plans for further models of Chepstow ships including the steam cargo vessel Ravenswood and the steamer Chepstow.