Keswick's flood-hit pencil museum is set to reopen with a revamped look today.

The Southey Works attraction has been closed since Storm Desmond in December 2015 but museum manager Dawn Walker believes it is now one of the county’s best tourist attractions.

The museum, cafe and shop have been transformed and the entrance is now an interactive replica of a graphite mine including lights, smells and sounds to recreate the experience.

The museum then goes on to tell the story of how pencil production changed over the years.

Dawn said: “I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved because it’s gone from being a design in my head to us putting the museum back together again.

“The whole of the building has been redesigned from one end to the other.

“It’s been a journey but we’ve had fantastic people to work with like the project manager, Patrick Seed, and our architect, Peter Milburn.

“The design is absolutely superb and this building is a real asset.

“I honestly believe it’s now one of the premier tourist attractions in Cumbria and a fantastic new place to go in the town.

“The museum is modern, light and contemporary; it’s been a major refurbishment so it’s nothing like it used to be. It’s open but very industrial because it’s been designed that way to reflect the heritage of pencil-making in Keswick.”

Although most exhibits were salvaged, one limited edition collection was destroyed and had to be replaced through a collector.

Renovation and work to move the building’s utilities took longer than expected but Dawn compared the finished building to city museums and said it would be a new experience even for people who had visited before.

It includes a drawing room, secret WW2 pencils with hidden maps and the largest colour pencil, measuring almost eight metres, while artists will also be in residence during winter.

The museum is due to reopen at 10.30am today.