A PENSIONER who was inspired by a black and white sketch in a history book has spent three years bringing the drawing to life.

Danny Moralee was captivated by a picture of the ancient Parthenon in Greece when he saw it in a book.

Although he was no expert in Greek civilisation - or even model making - he felt passionate enough about the 3,000-year-old temple to dedicate three years to re-creating it as a colourful model.

Mr Moralee's finished design has been on display in the Skerne Park Hotel, in Darlington, for the past week.

It took him nine hours to assemble in the pub. It includes miniature bowls of olive oil in scallop shells and models of Greek gods Athena and Poseidon.

"I wanted to see what it would look like in real life, as it would have looked 3,000 years ago," said Mr Moralee, 65, who lives in Skerne Park.

The Parthenon was built as a temple to the goddess Athena overlooking Athens.

Mr Moralee built his Parthenon from a number of materials, including wood, concrete and plaster of Paris. He recreated the murals in the colours used at the time.

"It has taken me three years, but not constant work, I had a break in that time because I was in hospital," he said.

Skerne Park Primary School pupils created artwork and models inspired by the Parthenon, which were on display alongside the model.