A TALENTED matchstick modeller and efforts to connect a heritage railway with the main line will be praised by a royal visitor.

Dorset is welcoming HRH The Duke of Gloucester tomorrow who will be attending special events in Weymouth and Purbeck.

He will first visit the Nothe Fort in Weymouth where he will make a presentation to matchstick modeller Philip Warren.

Mr Warren has been building his 'matchstick fleet' for 70 years and has been displaying his model ships and aeroplanes at the Nothe for 25 years.

All of his displays are made entirely from matchsticks and wooden match boxes and meticulously hand painted.

Mr Warren built his first ship in 1948 at the age of 17 and in total has completed 483 ships and thousands of aeroplanes, mostly from the Royal Navy. He has just completed HMS Queen Elizabeth and this will be on show at his exhibition this summer.

The fleet can be seen at the Nothe from June 9 to July 1 and August 10-27.

The Duke will then hop on a train before presenting volunteers with an award to recognise work to connect Swanage Railway with the main line and running a train service to Wareham.

He will travel on a steam train from Swanage to Corfe Castle to present the the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service award to six volunteers.

Recognising excellence in voluntary activities by community groups, the citation for the Queen’s Award praises the Swanage Railway Trust for "developing the heritage railway to reinstate services between Swanage and Wareham for the benefit of the community."

Swanage Railway Trust chairman Gavin Johns said: "The presentation of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service to the Swanage Railway is a tremendous public recognition for the huge amount of work put in by so many volunteers over the last 45 years.

"To have all that dedicated and devoted hard work marked in this way by Her Majesty the Queen is very special indeed and something that we will treasure.

“Several generations of dedicated volunteers have worked tirelessly to rebuild the branch line from Swanage to Corfe Castle and onwards to Furzebrook after it was closed by British Rail in 1972."

A trial train service ran between Swanage and Wareham last summer. A planned return of the service has been delayed until next year, although a few trains will run in the autumn.

The Duke will also unveil a plaque in the booking hall at Swanage station.

He will be introduced to directors of the Swanage Railway Company as well as volunteers and staff who have worked on the Project Wareham initiative for more than 20 years.