AN EXPLORER from Chester has brought home the remains of a pioneering British paddle steamer that transported fellow adventurers into the Arctic wilderness 170 years ago.

Dominic Mee had to abandon his expedition in September when he attempted to follow in the footsteps of Sir John Ross' ill-fated voyage of 1829.

But Dom hailed the mission a success after reaching the magnetic pole of 1831, gathering cultural and geographical information about the region and bringing back a spanner and a bearing cover from Sir John's ship Victory.

Dom, 33, who is originally from Upton, came across the engine parts during a conversation with an Inuit leader. Steve Alukee, who had been unaware of their significance, returned them to Dom on condition he put them on public display on his return.

Dom, who hopes the parts will go to the Ross collection at the National Maritime Museum, said: 'The expedition was about finding out historic information and about the Ross expedition. I spent time hunting with the Inuit. I went through maps with elders concerning the areas I was interested in.

'Steve, the Inuit elder, had pieces of metal from this place. He said 'OK I will give them to you if you donate them to a museum' because it was from 'my people'.

'Steve didn't realise the significance but through my investigations and telling him where the Ross expedition went, he does now.'

'I spoke to the Catholic Mission which has kept Steve up to date with what has happened,' added Dom, whose mum and dad Ruth and Gerald Edwards of Liverpool Road, Chester, are kept on tenter hooks by their son's exploits.

Experts at the Bristol Industrial Museum have verified the parts are from Victory, which was built in London and Liverpool. The bearing cover was part of the steam engine's crankshaft.

The ship was abandoned in the ice in 1832, but the engine had been thrown overboard earlier after it was found to be unreliable. Sir John reverted to wind-power by using masts from a wrecked ship.

Dom, who was lucky to escape with his life on his latest adventure, began his 400 nautical-mile voyage from the Inuit settlement of Gjoa Haven, on King William Island, on August 20, using a 17ft folding Klepper kayak.

He soon discovered time had not made the route any easier. He found his way blocked by polar bears and arctic bison and feared the onset of winter. At one point he was trapped for four days, 35 miles from his destination in the Northwest Passage, because of polar bears. He was marooned on a ledge at the mouth of Lord Mayor Bay and was forced back rather than press on to Victoria Bay, where the Ross expedition foundered.

On another occasion he was charged by a musk ox, which he forced to retreat by firing his pump-action shot gun at close range.

He spent several weeks on the Boothia Peninsula and it was here that he struck up a friendship with the local Inuits.

'They had a lot of respect for me because I was living alone in an area even they were cautious about visiting solo,' said Dom, who lives in Somerset. 'I also earned their respect by using a kayak, like their ancestors, and because I was living off the land on my own.'

Dom is planning to return to the region next year after gleaning information about where to find other artefacts relating to exploration although he is being deliberately vague on details at the moment for fear of 'pirates' attempting to beat him to it. 'Anything we find will not be going on the black-market,' he said. 'We want it to be done properly and we want any artefacts to go on public view.'

Next year's mission has delayed his other project by a year. In 2005 he will attempt his biggest feat to date: 'The Quest', a solo circumnavigation of the world via both poles.