A MEMENTO of a famous explorer's happiest day will soon be on show for everyone to see.

Middlesbrough Council has bought a handbag made from a piece of silk from the wedding dress worn by the bride of Captain James Cook, and two pieces of cloth brought back by the circumnavigator from his travels.

The items were bought for an undisclosed sum at auction.

Phil Philo, senior curator at the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, said: "The handbag could have been made by Mrs Elizabeth Cook, or a relative or acquaintance of the Cook family, either during her lifetime or after her death in 1835."

The exhibits will go on display after conservation work.

The council revealed it had outside help to secure the return of the items to the North-East.

The curator at the Cuming Museum, in Southwark, London, undertook a conservation report on behalf of the Birthplace Museum, while a representative of the South London Gallery did the bidding at auction on Middlesbrough's behalf.

Half the purchase cost came from a Victoria and Albert Purchase Grant Fund.