Commemorate the homecoming of Brunel’s mighty ship

July 2010 will mark the 40th anniversary of the return of SS Great Britain to Bristol docks, where the ship was originally built. Preparations for the celebrations are already underway and a campaign has been launched to ask people to share their memories of its homecoming.

Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the ship was by far the largest vessel afloat when it was launched in 1843 to serve as a passenger steamship on the transatlantic Bristol to New York route. It was later converted to a sail ship, before being taken out of service in the Falklands in 1884.

In 1970 the mission to return the ship home captured the world’s imagination, as it was tugged some 8,000 miles across the Atlantic on a pontoon, before heading up the River Avon, beneath the Clifton Suspension Bridge – another of Brunel’s creations.

Over the next few months, postcards and ‘Memory Collection Boxes’ will be distributed across Bristol and the Falklands to capture people’s recollections of the historic mission. Those from further afield are invited to email their memories to: salvage@ssgreatbritain.org  

The best 40 memories will take a starring role in the exhibition taking place on the SS Great Britain next year.