The grand old lady of paddle steamers is back in business on the River Dart.

The Kingswear Castle made her first official cruise trip on the river in almost 50 years over the Easter weekend. The trip raised £3,500 for the paddle steamer charity which owns her.

Now the last working paddle steamer in the UK is in action taking paying customers on regular cruise trips and down the river.

The charity trip – labelled the Kingswear Castle's Homecoming Charity Cruise – was in aid of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society which still owns the 88-year-old steamboat.

A large number of local people shelled out and braved the wind chill to be part of the historic trip, including officials from the paddle steamer charity and Robin Cox – the grandson of the man who designed the vessel.

The sightseeing round trip took them past Bayards Cove, Kingswear and Dartmouth castles, Britannia Royal Naval College, Dittisham Village, Sir Walter Raleigh's boathouse, Greenway Quay and the estate of the late Dame Agatha Christie.

The Kingswear Castle was built on the Dart and carried passengers until she left in 1965.