SS Great Britain July 2005

We visited the grand re-opening weekend of the SS Great Britain on Sunday July 17th, after the ship had completed a massive refurbishment program. The SS Great Britain built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, it was the world’s first great ocean liner. Launched in 1843 to provide luxury travel to New York, the ship set new standards in engineering, reliability and speed. She was the world's first large iron ship and the first to be driven by a screw propeller. There is one tremendous feature that the ship now has for visitors since it's refurbishment, apart from it's amazing history and beauty, it is the fact that it is has probably the best example of disabled facilities that I have ever seen at any museum or tourist attraction. You can get full access to the ship and the dry dock, by using a series of disability friendly lifts. Visit the SS Great Britain website Here!

SS Great Britain at The Great Western Dockyard in Bristol Harbour

The SS Great Britain Museum...

Is open 10.00 to 17.30 April to October, 10.00 to 16.30 November to March.

Closed December 24th and 25th. Guided tours by appointment

Brunel’s steam ship, the ss Great Britain, is a unique survival from Victorian times and forerunner of all modern shipping: the world's first iron-hulled, screw propeller-driven, steam-powered passenger liner. Today, the ss Great Britain Trust has completed an ambitious £11.3 million programme of works, and it is an absolute bargain to visit with the following Prices:-

Adult £7.50
Child £4.50
Senior Citizen £6.50
Family Price £19.50

Where can you take a family for £20 these days ? SS Great Britain

The Bell Ringers

A room with a mast view

Whose Steering the Ship!

Canon Fodder

Technological innovation, inspirational design and some truly revolutionary features lay behind the development of the ss Great Britain, the world's first iron-hulled, steam-powered ocean going ship.
Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (Right), the ship was built in 1843 at the Great Western Dockyard in Bristol, under the supervision of Brunel and his colleagues at the Great Western Steamship Company & Thomas Guppy, Christopher Claxton and William Patterson.
From the outset, the ss Great Britain was unique. Widely regarded as one of Brunel's finest works, she was built to serve the burgeoning transatlantic passenger trade. On 26 July 1845, the ship undertook her maiden voyage to New York, a journey completed in an astounding 14 days.
This achievement marked the beginning of a rich nautical history, and the ss Great Britain is now widely recognised as one of the technological forerunners of much modern shipping. She is also viewed by many as exemplifying the industry and inventiveness of the Victorian era, while symbolising the birth of international passenger travel and world communications

Bunking Up

Engines

Bathing

History Today

Harley

Whatever you do... don't rock the boat!

No... that is not me s

Ready for Supper

Harley

I can see holes in the bow...

...Anchors away

Sing-along with Max

Bow

As there is so much to see... I knew if I blinked, I would miss something!

Walk the Flag Pole

On the Starboard

Above the Dry Dock

The Dry Dock

The Great Western Dockyard, where the ss Great Britain was built and now rests, is of great interest as the world’s first purpose-built integrated iron steamship works
The Great Western Steamship Company purchased the empty site in 1839, and built the dry dock, the large Steamship Engine Works and probably the surviving Drawing Office, and proceeded to construct the ss Great Britain here between 1839 and 1843. After 1852 the dockyard was leased to other shipbuilders and repairers until part of the site was compulsorily purchased by the Great Western Railway in 1874-6. The dry dock itself was separated off behind a tight boundary wall by Bristol City Corporation in c.1903. The dry dock continued with ship repairs while the rest of the yard was used for importing timber well into the twentieth century. In early 1941 bombing raids badly damaged the site, and left the Steamship Engine Works as a ruined shell

Following the salvage of the ss Great Britain and her return home in 1970, the ss Great Britain Trust took a lease for the dry dock from Bristol City Council. This reunited historic ship and historic dockyard, intensifying the significance of each
Thanks to Bristol City Council, a long lease for the remaining dockyard was agreed in 2002, and recombined all elements of the historic dockyard for the first time since 1874. This provides a secure home for the ss Great Britain. The dry dock is now Listed Grade II*. Ship and dockyard together are now under active consideration as part of the Great Western World Heritage Site

Inside the Dry Dock

I'm Propelled

Salvage and Conservation

Finally, in 1970, an epic salvage effort re-floated the ship, and she was towed back home across the Atlantic to Bristol. Her new life had begun, but it took 35 years to complete the painstaking conservation and restoration we can all now enjoy. Brunel's 160-year-old ship has suffered serious damage since she was scuttled and abandoned in the Falklands in 1935. Recent conservation work focused on all original, pre-1970 material as it is this original fabric which provides the most tangible and important link with the ss Great Britain's past. But iron corrosion was as at advanced stage.
Construction of a glass sea at the ship's water line provides the roof of a giant airtight chamber surrounding the ship's lower hull. Beneath the glass plate moisture is removed from the air using special dehumidification equipment. In this dry environment, the hull will no longer corrode. Never tried before, this groundbreaking method is akin to placing an historic artefact in a glass case but on a vast scale.
The glass sea is covered with a thin layer of water, so the ship appears to be floating. Visitors can descend beneath the glass plate into the dry dock, to see the ship's vast, curved flanks and her all-important propeller.

Although she will never sail again, Brunel's ss Great Britain is an invaluable educational resource and an international monument to British invention.

It says Deep Thought II... Not what you were thinking!

Please click here! to take a Virtual Tour of the SS Great Britain

The SS Great Britain Museum Shop... there are a few relics here I see!

Here you can get a number of Nautical Gifts, including ss Great Britain Souvenirs, Model ships, Maritime & local history books, Videos, Prints, Postcards, Clothing, Nautical Toys, Bristol Blue Glass Matthew & Brunel Souvenirs and much more

The Matthew

The Matthew is a modern recreation of the square-rigged caravel in which John Cabot sailed from Bristol in 1496. Struck by the success of Christopher Columbus and backed by King Henry VII and the wealthy merchants of Bristol, Cabot intended to find a new way to the riches of the Orient by sailing north west. Instead of China or Japan, he discovered what he called “New Founde Landes”, modern day Newfoundland, Canada, and claimed it for the King. On the way back the crew discovered the enormously rich cod fishing grounds known as the Grand Banks, which led directly to the development of the great Newfoundland cod fishery.
The new Matthew was built 1994-1997 in which year she re-enacted John Cabot’s historic voyage to celebrate its 500 year anniversary, and visited the east coast of North America before returning to Bristol in 1998. Today she is berthed in Bristol near the ss Great Britain and is open to the public to enjoy. She regularly carries passengers on harbour cruises around the city, and occasionally voyages further afield to attend maritime festivals at other ports in the UK and European mainland. She is available for hire for evening harbour cruises.