THE inspiration of a Victorian railway manager to bring more tourists to the Lake District will start another season of pleasure trips on Saturday, April 1.

Steam yacht Gondola was commissioned by Sir James Ramsden, of the Barrow-based Furness Railway Company and was launched in 1859.

Gondola started commercial services on Coniston Water in 1860 to link in with railway services and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2010.

Cumbria’s visitor attraction of 2016 needs plenty of pampering to keep her in tip top condition.

This winter, in addition to the usual maintenance programme, Gondola has been treated to a beautifully re-upholstered aft saloon with the help of Coniston- based company Loungy Upholstery, a classic car and boat specialist.

The intricate work was carried out by India Polkinghorn and involved individually pressing 3,200 buttons on to the saloon cushions as well as cutting out and sewing 192m of piping.

Bill King, Gondola’s operations manager, said : “It’s been great working with Loungy who’ve really done us proud, helping Gondola to retain her luxurious look and feel and complementing our gleaming gold sea serpent figurehead, which was re-carved last year.

“We are particularly pleased with our new comfy cushion for the poor helmsman, who up till now has never had a comfy place to sit.”

Crewman Jack McDonagh has also been hard at work putting his carpentry skills to good use and replaced the window frames in the first class saloon which had started to rot.

The original Gondola was decommissioned in 1936 and from 1946 to the early 1960s was a houseboat on the lake.

It was beached during a storm and became a slow decline to a near wreck.

In the 1970s a group of National Trust enthusiasts decided to do what they could to save the boat.

A restoration turned into a full rebuild which was carried out at Vickers in Barrow.

The new Gondola was launched on March 25 in 1980.

Special events this year include Easter egg hunts take place during the school holidays from April 14 and nautical knot cruises in August, talks on the Gondola’s design by National Trust curator Harvey Wilkinson and a cruise and guided walk with afternoon tea about Coniston’s Beatrix Potter connections.

Full details of Gondola’s timetable and special events can be found on the website at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/steam-yacht-gondola