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A SMALL army of volunteers will be collecting and sifting through thousands of memories over the next year in the run up to the 40th anniversary celebrations of the ss Great Britain’s return to Bristol. |
The ss Great Britain’s salvage captured the world’s imagination 39 years ago and eight million Britons watched the BBC 2 ‘Chronicle’ documentary ‘The Great Iron Ship’. Magnus Magnusson introduced an outside broadcast for the BBC covering the ship’s re-entry into her Dry Dock.
The world media championed the story and the ss Great Britain made headlines in the national and local press – from The Times, The Observer and The Daily Express to the Bristol Evening News.
Contributions are also being sought from Avonmouth dockworkers who prepared the ship for the final leg of her extraordinary voyage up the River Avon and from those who lined the banks to witness the spectacle. It was the first and only time the ss Great Britain has been seen with the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Over the next few months volunteers will distribute postcards and ‘Memory Collection boxes’ across Bristol and in the Falklands.
The best 40 memories will take a starring role in what promises to be a fascinating exhibition on site at Brunel’s ss Great Britain and online, and will form a central part in 2010 of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the ship’s return.
Already two of the main people involved in that epic feat have promised to add their memories to the project.
Lord Strathcona, the Trust’s Vice President, precariously stood with Prince Philip on what remained of the Weather Deck as the ship was eased in to her Dry Dock.
The BBC documentary producer Ray Sutcliffe has vouched to share his memories of the dangerous demands of filming the documentary – in an age before extensive risk assessments and health and safety.
Materials donated to the Trust include a wonderful family cine film (now uploaded to the Trust’s website www.ssgreatbritain.org) and a copy of a magazine fashion shoot showing beautiful models in 1970 fashions posed on the ship’s crumbling historic deck.
Part of the Trust’s remit in running the project, is to celebrate the astounding vision of those involved in the salvage and what has been achieved over the last 40 years – from abandoned and rusting hulk to multi award-winning museum and visitor attraction.
Ewan Corlett OBE was the man arguably responsible for the salvage, who undertook the original survey into the ship’s state of repair and whose letter published in The Times in 1967 galvanised support. He lived to see the ship’s return to her former glory and ‘Re-launch’ in 2005, following completion of major conservation and restoration work, and sadly passed away only one week later.
Many of those involved in the ship’s salvage are now in their 60s, 70s and 80s, which makes it so important to gather their memories before they are lost forever.
Household names involved in the original project include tycoon Sir Jack Hayward, former owner of Wolves Football Club, the Getty family, Sir David Attenborough, who commissioned the filming of the BBC2 documentary, and Lord Owen who as Navy Minister gave his political support.
The project will also include a high quality animated film, and schoolchildren who will learn how to interview older people who witnessed the ship’s homecoming.
The ss Great Britain’s Director Matthew Tanner MBE commented: “We are delighted to be launching ‘The Incredible Journey’ oral history project as part of the 40th Anniversary Celebrations for 2010, and are grateful for support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, members, and volunteers.
“Today the ss Great Britain is regarded as a national treasure and Bristol icon, recognised internationally and with many prestigious awards. None of this would have been possible without the heroic vision of a few and the support of many. The ss Great Britain’s salvage captured the world’s imagination. We want to celebrate their role, their stories, and what they have helped to achieve. Brunel’s ss Great Britain is one of the world’s most important historic ships. She could so easily have remained in the Falkland Islands, abandoned and breaking up in Sparrow Cove.”
Rhian Tritton, the ss Great Britain Trust’s Director of Museum and Educational Services, commented: “This project gives us a wonderful opportunity to gather the fascinating stories of people involved in the ss Great Britain’s epic salvage, her incredible last voyage home, and those who witnessed her return.
“These memories will play a key part in the ship’s 40th anniversary celebrations in 2010. We are asking people to come forward with their stories, to fill in the postcards and to use the memory collection boxes which will be placed throughout Bristol and in the Falkland Islands.”
• Please use the memory collection boxes or email your memories to salvage@ssgreatbritain.org
• Clips of the BBC film ‘The Great Iron Ship’ (part of the Chronicle history series) can be viewed by logging on to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2005/12/06/pwaod_ship_002_feature.shtml
SALVAGE FACT FILE
• The salvage team arrives in Port Stanley, the Falkland Islands on March 25 1970;
• The ss Great Britain floats for the first time on April 7;
• She is berthed on to the salvage pontoon Mulus on April 11;
• The ship leaves the Falklands on April 24;
• The ss Great Britain arrives in Montevideo, Uruguay, on May 2. The world’s media descends to capture the start of the ss Great Britain’s incredible journey across the Atlantic Ocean on May 6;
• She arrives in Avonmouth on June 23 and is floated from her pontoon on July 1;
• The ss Great Britain is towed up the River Avon on July 5 (one day after the planned date) and returns to her Dry Dock on July 19;
• The salvage operation was underwritten by millionaire Sir Jack Hayward.
1970 FACT FILE:
• Fashion – Maxi dresses were the big fashion story;
• Food – Prawn cocktail and tuna bake were the dishes de jour; Favourite sweets were love hearts, space dusts, Barratt’s shrimps and golf ball bubble gum;
• Television – ‘The Goodies’ and ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’ split audiences; Children’s favourites included ‘The Clangers’, ‘Tom and Jerry’ and ‘Top of the Pops’; BBC launched the Nine O’clock News and BBC Radio 4 became a wholly speech network;
• Films – ‘On Her Majesty’s Service’ and ‘Catch 22’;
• Music – Hits aptly included The Beatles ‘Let It Be’ and the Jackson Five’s ‘I Want You Back’, with Mungo Jerry taking pole position on July 19 with ‘In The Summertime’; Simon and Garfunkel released their final album ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ and The Beatles split up. Michael Eavis held the first Glastonbury Festival, headlined by T-Rex; 600,000 people attended the Isle of Wight Festival - the largest rock gathering of all time;
• Engineering – Concorde is still in development, with the first test flight in 1969; the first Pan Am Boeing 747 jet landed in Heathrow heralding a new era in global travel; the Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed;
• Births – Matt Damon; Debbie Gibson; Queen Latifah and Naomi Campbell;
• Deaths – Jimi Hendrix dies of barbiturate overdose in London;
• Politics – Prime Ministers were Harold Wilson (to June) and Edward Heath; Richard Nixon was the US President;
• Popular toys – Barbie, Sindy and Action Man;
• Vehicles – the Ford Cortina Mark iii was Britain’s biggest seller and Ariel introduced a three-wheeled motorbike;
• Money – The last year before decimilisation; the average house in Britain cost £5,000;
• Other 1970 phenomena – The first New York marathon, the stylophone, x-ray specs and Farah Fawcett Shampoo.
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