A KEEN writer will travel more than 6,100 miles to visit Lyme Regis after winning a Royal Commonwealth Society essay competition.

Nathan Swain, 11, will visit the world renowned Boat Building Academy after his winning essay was inspired by his father, who is a carpenter.

Nathan will travel from his home in Tristan da Cunha in the southern Atlantic Ocean after winning the junior category of the largest and oldest schools' international writing competition in the world.

The competition was founded in 1883 and received entries from young writes from 54 different nations. Nathan will also visit Buckingham Palace as part of his prize week in England.

In his winning essay, Nathan wrote: "I want to be a carpenter and a builder and learn the skills from the elder people on my island.

"As I learn, the skills will be passed from those people on to me. When I grow up I want to be just like my dad. I could also use my carpentry skills to build boats."

On Nathan's home island, boats are used for fishing and travelling to nearby islands, as well as sailing around the island to reach cattle that are kept there.

"We do not have an airport so the boats have to take the islanders off to a nearby ship," added Nathan.

"If the volcano ever erupted then boats can be used to evacuate people. Boats are very important on Tristan, so the more boats we have the better.

"In the future I can teach the younger people the skills and techniques that I have learnt and improve the buildings on Tristan. My dad told me that in carpentry and building anything is possible. I can build anything I want if I have the skills."

Tristan da Cunha has a tradition of building and sailing longboats, but modern hulls are more often made of fibreglass and traditional wooden boat building skills are dying out.

Nathan is hoping to take a look at the wide range of traditional boat building and carpentry skills on offer at the Boat Building Academy.

Yvonne Green, principal of the Boat Building Academy, said: "We were delighted to be asked if Nathan could add a visit to the Boat Building Academy to his itinerary.

"We are not as grand as Buckingham Palace, but Nathan’s essay articulately expresses the importance of practical crafts and skills and that’s what we practice at the academy.

"The boats being built in the main workshop are not far from launch, so there will be a lot for Nathan to see."

Nathan and his family will visit the Boat Building Academy on Friday, October 23.

For more information on the Boat Building Academy, please visit boatbuildingacademy.com