The steam yacht Gondola was originally commissioned by Sir James Ramsden, a director of the Furness Railway Company in the late 1850s.

The local railway was then used to transport the raw materials mined in the Coniston Fells to Barrow in Furness from where they were shipped out to their final destination.

Sir James Ramsden saw the potential for the railway to transport tourists to the Lake District.

He therefore commissioned Gondola to sail Coniston Water with tourists that had travelled on the Furness Railway Paddle steamers from Fleetwood to Barrow in Furness.

Gondola's first and third class carriages reflect her close connection to the Furness Railway and can be seen today.

The original Gondola sailed from the southern end of Coniston Water to the north daily from 1859 till her decommission in 1936.

From 1946 until the early 1960s she spent her life as a houseboat at the southern most tip of Coniston Water until she was beached following a violent storm which wrenched her from her moorings.

©Ruskin Museum

During the early 70s, a group of National Trust enthusiasts decided that Gondola should be saved for the nation.

When the vessel was floated and then surveyed, the hull was found to have deteriorated more than expected. The so-called restoration soon turned to a quest to raise funds to build a new Gondola through a national campaign.

The funds were raised and Gondola was effectively rebuilt at Vickers Shipyard in Barrow in Furness.

In 1980 a pristine Gondola was launched and a new era began.

© National Trust