O Christmas Tree!

This year, there is a spectacular 26ft Christmas Tree on Bristol’s harbourside, hosted by the SS Great Britain Trust on Brunel Square and sponsored by engineering company, Renishaw.

The grand unveiling of the tree took place on Tuesday 26 November and brought an eye-catching Victorian scene to the harbourside with falling snow, costumed characters, a choir and even Old Father Christmas wearing his traditional green robes. Mr Brunel, of course, oversaw the proceedings.

The free event to see the tree’s lights switched on marked the start of the festive season at Brunel’s SS Great Britain, with the choirs and costumed characters serving as a taster of our much-loved Victorian Christmas Weekend which took place on 7 – 8 December.

The tree is generously sponsored by local engineering company Renishaw, who also support the SS Great Britain Trust’s Future Brunels programme, a five-year STEM learning programme which aims to address inequality and barriers into engineering and STEM careers. Providing a contemporary engineering twist, the tree was decorated with 3D printed baubles created by some of the Future Brunels. Twelve Year 10 students visited Renishaw’s state of the art headquarters where they designed and printed an eclectic mix of bright orange baubles.

You may have spotted these baubles at St Mary Redcliffe Church last week where they were exhibited for their annual Treefest. If you missed them, however, then fear not; they are now on display in our gift shop for all to enjoy. Why not pop down and take a look while you do some last-minute Christmas shopping?

Thank you again to Renishaw for their generosity and to the Future Brunels for their creativity.