THE project capturing the memories of the ss Great Britain’s
epic salvage and return from the Falklands Islands to Bristol is speeding ahead
– thanks to the work of volunteers.
The ss Great Britain Trust museum and educational services
team are delighted with the response of the general public, and media support,
just one month after the official launch of ‘The Incredible Journey’. They have
under a year to gather the memories, to choose the best 40, and to create an
exhibition about the rescue and salvage at Brunel’s ss Great Britain in time
for the 40th anniversary celebrations in July 2010.
Volunteers have already helped distribute ‘memory collection
boxes’ throughout Bristol.
Members of the public are urged to jot down their memories
of July 1970 on special postcards, supplied with the boxes. Dozens of postcards
and emailed messages have been received from Bristolians who remember seeing
the ship come home. Many completed postcards are already on temporary display
in the Dry Dock next to the ss Great Britain.
A trained team of volunteer oral historians have interviewed
several key figures from 1970. Interviewees so far include Lord Strathcona, who
led the mission in the Falklands and still remains close to the Trust as its
Vice President; diver Stuart Whatley, who worked on the salvage operation in
the Falklands and Avonmouth; and those involved in the filming of the BBC 2
Chronicle documentary Ray Sutcliffe, and Tony and Marion Morrison. Other
interviewees include ss Great Britain Trust Trustee Liz Mackenzie, who
witnessed the ss Great Britain come up the River Avon; and Commander Blake, the
main salaried officer in the charity’s early days following the ship’s return.
Forthcoming interviews include Andrew Harris, First
Lieutenant on the minesweeper which met the ss Great Britain in the Bristol
Channel; Malcolm Macleod of the Ordnance Corps Royal Marine volunteers in the
Falkland Islands; and Peter Millam, the navy chaplain in the Falkland Islands; John
Prior, whose father was publican of The Albion on Bristol’s Cumberland Road;
and Maurice Price, captain of the lead tug which guided the ss Great Britain up
the River Avon and into Bristol’s Floating Harbour.
But the museum and educational services team is urging more
people to come forward with their memories of the ship’s return. They are
especially keen to gather recollections from dockworkers who helped to patch up
the ss Great Britain’s hull and prepare her for the last stretch – up the River
Avon – of the 8,000 mile journey, as well as those who lined the river banks
and who have their own special stories to tell.
Responses sent to the Trust’s website capture the momentous
and emotional nature of the ship’s return, with contributors referring to a
‘magical day’, people’s friendliness, and the ‘amazing sound’ of the ship’s
sirens, as well as the stench of the ship as she was raised from the sea bed in
Sparrow Cove in the Falklands.
The Trust’s ‘memory collection boxes’ are at the Central
Library, the Harbourmaster's Office, Trinity Church Hotwells, Avonmouth
Community Centre, the Tobacco Factory and Bristol Old Vic theatre bars, Clifton
Suspension Bridge visitor centre and Bristol Port Company, in addition to the
Dockyard Café and shop at Brunel’s ss Great Britain, the BBC and Bristol
Evening Post receptions, and the ITV canteen. The team is planning to distribute
more boxes to local libraries in Clifton and Bedminster, and the City Museum,
plus a ‘memory collection pub crawl’ around the Floating Harbour.
- Please use the memory collection
boxes or email your memories to salvage@ssgreatbritain.org
- To
support Brunel’s ss Great Britain in the ‘British Travel Awards 2009’ please go
to the www.ssgreatbritain.org home
page and click on the links (voting ends September 30).