Windermere Jetty: Museum of Boats, Steam and Stories
Windermere Jetty: Museum of Boats, Steam and Stories (formerly Windermere Steamboat Museum) is a museum on the eastern shore of Windermere between Bowness-on-Windermere and the town of Windermere in Cumbria, England. It reopened in March 2019 after 12 years' closure and redevelopment work. History and media appearance. Windermere Steamboat Museum was opened in 1977 on the former Sand and Gravel Wharf on the eastern shore of Windermere, and was based on the collection built up by George Pattinson, a local builder and boat collector. It was operated by the Windermere  Nautical Trust charity. The original Windermere Steamboat Museum had a collection of a number of historically important steamboats, motor boats, yachts, and other important craft. This included the oldest mechanically powered boat in the world, SL "Dolly" (c.1850), and some of the finest steam launches from Windermere's long history of steam. Most luxurious was SL "Branksome" (1896), with its original velvet seats and marble wash hand basin; SL "Raven" (1871) was the cargo ship that took coal and other commodities to the settlements around the lake; and TSSY "Esperance" (1869) was the boat that Henry Schneider used to go  to work in Barrow via Lakeside. The museum was able to boast that most of the steamboats were floating and still in full working order. In 2007, the museum was closed to the general public when it was taken over by the Lakeland Arts Trust, a local charity (now Lakeland Arts) which also runs Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Blackwell and the Museum of Lakeland Life & Industry. Eleven of the Pattinson collection of boats were transferred to the Lakeland Arts Trust in 2007 under Acceptance in lieu arrangements, and the Windermere Nautical Trust, which had built up further collections, merged with  Lakeland Arts in 2009. In December 2011, the Lakeland Arts Trust announced that would redevelop the site and create a series of new buildings to house the boats and a conservation workshop where they would be restored and maintained. The museum, designed by Carmody Groarke, reopened under the new name "Windermere Jetty: Museum of Boats, Steam and Stories" in March 2019 with an official opening ceremony held on 8 April 2019 attended by HRH Prince Charles. It appeared as the venue of BBC One’s "Antiques Roadshow" in February 2021, filmed in 2020. Collection. The Museum's collection of boats  comprises 40 boats covering the history of steam launches, sailing and other boats on Windermere from the late 18th century up to the present. Four of the boats in the museum's collection are in the National Historic Fleet. They are: Buildings. The new buildings were designed by architects Carmody Groarke, working with engineers Arup. The museum re-opened in March 2019. The museum buildings won the RIBA North West Building of the Year Award 2021 and was shortlisted for the 2021 Stirling Prize. A major architectural feature is the oxidised copper used for the external surfaces of the buildings