25th February 08
FIGHTING ladies have beaten off stiff competition, to claw their way to a fabulous top prize at Brunel’s ss Great Britain.
Pauline Jefferies and her daughter-in-law Rebecca Ward (pictured) have been rewarded for their vile behaviour on board ship with a balloon flight.
Winning entry - Pauline Jefferies (left) and her daughter-in-law, Rebecca Ward posed as two fighting ladies in steerage.
Throughout the Autumn visitors to Brunel’s ss Great Britain had the chance to enter a photography competition, recreating scenes from the ship’s ‘vile’ history.
Known as the ‘Vile Victorian Trail’, visitors were encouraged to find out about the darker side of life on board – from spitting gents to rats nibbling passengers’ toenails.
The ship’s history tells of two women travelling in steerage accommodation on their voyage to Australia who got into an argument over a man. It escalated into a fight, with on-lookers placing bets on each woman to win.
Pauline and Rebecca clearly enjoyed re-enacting this terrible tale and their photograph won them a balloon flight donated by Snap Survey Limited.
Pauline Jefferies, of North Somerset, who sent in the winning entry was on her 4th visit of the year and was visiting with her husband, son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, aged nine. She said:
“I was thrilled to receive a phone call telling me I had won a balloon flight for two!
Rebecca and I decided to ‘have a go’ at each other as was mentioned on the trail sheet where rough women squabbled (apparently) and fought like cats in the cheapest berths on the lower deck – my husband Tony took the photograph.
I would recommend everyone to visit and not just once as the tickets allow free return visits for a year. You can travel, using the earphones, either first or second-class and even follow the ship’s cat – it’s really realistic and most interesting. We take all our visitors on board and highly recommend it to everyone. The competition was great as it suited all ages and I’m really looking forward to flying high and visiting Brunel’s ss Great Britain again in 2008.”
The ss Great Britain Trust’s Assistant Education Officer Claire Reed, who devised the trail, commented: “We have had fantastic time preparing for the Vile Victorian Trail.
“We loved the winning entry because of how real the fight looked – you can almost hear Rebecca scream as Pauline pulls her hair!”
She added: “Congratulations to both Pauline and Rebecca, I’m sure they will enjoy their balloon flight in style. They have promised to be well-behaved.”
Peter Wills, CEO of Snap Survey Ltd,: “We are impressed with the lengths that competitors went to, re-enacting real-life history on board Brunel’s ss Great Britain. This was a great competition, and we hope Pauline and Rebecca enjoy their balloon flight.”
For your own ‘vile Victorian’ experience, visit the multi award-winning Brunel’s ss Great Britain – named Enjoy England’s ‘Large Visitor of the Year 2007’ and ‘Europe’s Best Industrial Museum 2007’ – with admission tickets allowing unlimited free return visits for twelve months.
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