The boat's rare features were installed by the Manchester Ship Canal Company in 1936 to create more sumptuous surroundings for VIP guests such as King Fuad of Egypt, the Danish Royal family and General Dwight D Eisenhower who rode on the historic vessel when visiting the area.

This glamorous role transporting guests around the waterways represented a new life for SS Daniel Adamson which had previously towed barges and carried livestock between the docks at Ellesmere Port and Liverpool. However, she was taken out of service in 1985 and was destined for the scrapyard in 2004 before being saved by local campaigners.

It's now all change with the help of a £3.8M grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), and the UK’s last remaining steam tug-tender is set to return to the North West’s waters. HLF is paying for repair and restoration works which will bring the vessel back to full working order. Once completed, she will take passengers on  cruises on the Rivers Mersey and Weaver and the Manchester Ship Canal.

When not in use, the characterful tug will be moored outside some of the area’s waterside museums. Visitors will be able to get on board and find out more about the region’s important industrial and maritime history.

Dan Cross who started the campaign to save the vessel and is now Chairman of the Daniel Adamson Preservation Society said: “This huge vote of support acknowledges the massive effort put in by literally hundreds of volunteers and supporters over the last eleven years, without which the vessel would have been consigned to history years ago.”