{"id":275,"date":"2011-09-21T14:39:46","date_gmt":"2011-09-21T14:39:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.daysoutblog.me.uk\/?p=275"},"modified":"2014-09-16T11:08:44","modified_gmt":"2014-09-16T11:08:44","slug":"ss-great-britain-bristol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.daysoutblog.me.uk\/?p=275","title":{"rendered":"SS Great Britain, Bristol"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SS<\/a>
SS Great Britain, Dec 2006<\/figcaption><\/figure>When she was built, the Great Britain was the world\u2019s first screw-propelled, ocean-going, wrought iron steamship. The ship was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the great Victorian engineer. At the time of her launch in 1843 she was by far the largest ship in the world, over 100 feet longer than her rivals. She was built as a luxury transatlantic liner, but didn\u2019t prove to be a commercial success. Subsequently she had a long and chequered history, involving numerous alterations and changes of engines, changes of mast layout, and changes of decking, and different uses as emigrant ship, troopship, sailing ship, and coal hulk, before being beached in 1937.<\/p>\n

In 1970 the rusted hulk was recovered and towed back to Bristol for restoration and display. Restoration has continued from the 1970s to the present day.
\nI\u2019ve visited the ship two or three times, and seen changes each time. Today\u2019s visitor will see the innovative \u201cwaterline\u201d glass roof which looks like water from above, but below provides a low-humidity space to conserve the hull and allow the underwater shape and propeller etc to be seen. The hull has been conserved and holes patched with fibreglass, decks have been repaired and renewed, a 1845 replica steam engine has been fitted, and replicas of various cabins and the passenger saloon have been fitted.
\nIn addition to the ship itself, there is a museum of artefacts from the ship\u2019s history, and a dock where other vessels are moored.
\nSept 2014: No huge changes since my last visit, but there are now lifelike mannequins posed in various cabins. There is a realistic recreation of the stokehold forward of the lower engine room. The galley is fully fitted out (it even has a rat and dirty dishes), as are the steerage sleeping areas and the first-class promenade deck and dining room. In fact most of the ship is now fully fitted out to replicate its early layout and usage, with the exception of the forecastle (closed) and the forward hold (a stripped-out hole) and boiler room (a modern function space).
\nIt looks that the ship’s boats will be added next, as replicas are on the quay-side.
\nWell worth a visit if you are at all interested in history, or Britain\u2019s maritime heritage.
\nFinding the ship may be easier with satnav, but it is possible to find it by following the brown anchor signs. There is a pay car park \u2013 the parking meter makes one pass an IQ test on parking one\u2019s car, entering the numeric half of the car registration. However long you park, you only have to pay \u00a32, as you can claim the rest back when buying your Great Britain ticket.
\nIt is possible to see the ship in about one and a half hours, but there is a historic dockside nearby that is worth a stroll.
\n

\"Buildings<\/a>
Museum hall, 2006<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When she was built, the Great Britain was the world\u2019s first screw-propelled, ocean-going, wrought iron steamship. The ship was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the great Victorian engineer. At the time of her launch in 1843 she was by far the largest ship in the world, over 100 feet longer than her rivals. She was … Continue reading “SS Great Britain, Bristol”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.daysoutblog.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.daysoutblog.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.daysoutblog.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.daysoutblog.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.daysoutblog.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=275"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.daysoutblog.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":592,"href":"http:\/\/www.daysoutblog.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275\/revisions\/592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.daysoutblog.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.daysoutblog.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.daysoutblog.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}