Rachel Roberts, Curator, Heritage at Windermere Jetty Museum of Boats, Steam and Stories, reveals the history of one of the exhibits

THE flagship of the collection at Windermere Jetty, Museum of Boats, Steam and Stories, Branksome sits in pride of place in the centre of the main exhibition gallery.

It is a steam launch with a clipper bow (a distinctively curved front of the boat) and counter stern (a back of the boat that curves out over the rudder).

It has its original panelling and upholstery, and if you peep through the windows you can see the marble hand basin and compact toilet. This is just one of the dozens of beautiful and varied boats on display at Windermere Jetty.

Branksome was built by George Brockbanks of Bowness in 1896, but it wasn’t always Branksome. It was built for Edna Howarth of Langdale Chase and was originally named Lily after her daughter.

Edna’s chrysanthemum tea parties were a highlight of the Windermere social scene and being invited on to Lily was reserved for the select few. Victorian steam launches like Branksome were built purely for pleasure and provided a refined way for the wealthy families that lived round the lake to experience life on the water.

In preparation for display in the museum Branksome was taken out of the water so that our conservation team could make repairs below the waterline.

The boat had also lost its original figurehead so our team set about designing and making a new one. Old photographs were scoured for clues and the team visited Langdale Chase to see the carvings in the boat’s original home. Finally, taking inspiration from Branksome’s original name they produced a beautiful figurehead featuring a lily design.

We wanted our visitors to be able to get up close to the original features of Branksome including the teak and oak, the compound steam engine built in 1896 by W Sisson & Co., and the Windermere steam kettle which could boil a gallon of water in just ten seconds. Branksome now sits in a specially designed cradle in a pit sunk into the gallery floor so that visitors can experience it in all its glory, seeing the beautiful craftsmanship above and below the waterline, and imagining themselves luxuriating on the lake.

l Windermere Jetty Museum of Boats, Steam and Stories is now open every day from 10am-5pm.