Artist's fight to prevent Amy Johnson plane leaving city

Prisoners at Hull Jail built the Gipsy Moth over a six-month period as part of the Hull 2017 Creative Communities Programme.

The Queen is among passengers arriving at Hull Station to have seen the Gipsy Moth, which is hanging from girders over the concourse. But it has to come down early next year.

Artist Leonard Brown, who was awarded half the £10,000 grant to work on the project, is appealing to local businesses to come forward and offer it a home after learning that the plane is destined for the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington. Apparently neither Hull and East Riding Museums nor Sewerby Hall, which has an Amy Johnson display, has room for it.

He said: “Amy Johnson was an especially big hero for the city because she was in a man’s world and in those days it was a hell of a man’s world. It was built for the city and should stay in the city.”

However the Prison Service said: “HMP Hull has worked hard to secure a permanent home for the replica of Amy Johnson’s Gipsy Moth which was built by prisoners as part of the Made in Hull season.

“We are delighted that the Yorkshire Air Museum will house the plane alongside its other Amy Johnson exhibits in the Pioneers of Aviation exhibition.”