Launched in 1843 in the port of Bristol the ship was initially built as a luxury cruise liner, adapting to passenger immigration and eventually the role of war vessel. The SS Great Britain was finally left to rot in the Falkland Islands before being dramatically rescued and hauled back to Bristol after almost a century of sea worthy service. It is a growing tourist venue and has recently been in receipt of considerable funding from a number of sources. Developing and expanding its potential continually, the ship offers the average visitor a unique experience.
Dry Dock
On arrival at the historic vessel polite and friendly staff greet visitors on the admissions desk. At a cost of £10.95 per adult this is a slightly more expensive alternative day trip. However as a charitable heritage attraction requiring constant upkeep and maintenance the cost seems relative. In addition the ticket is valid for a year, enabling the buyer to return whenever possible within that period.
An accessible lift takes the visitor down to the Dry-dock. An exceptional space with a calming effect emanating from the water and glass canopy above creates a magical setting for the ship’s hull. The visitor is provided with useful explanatory text panels dotted around with large accessible fonts and comprehensive bite size chunks of information. Within this space are volunteer staff. Friendly and approachable they engage in question and answer based conversation which is useful at this stage to establish the context of the ship itself.
Dockyard Museum
It is a little disorientating entering the galleries that accompany the ship itself. And the temperature plummets in an attempt to create atmosphere and no doubt aid conservation. The Alan Villiers film from the archives of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich is a visually engaging device as you enter the space, as is the interactive helm if you can get passed the queues of children all eagerly awaiting a turn. Visitor flow is an issue here and increases in irritation the further you penetrate the galleries. The galleries themselves act as a timeline and are laid out accordingly to represent the four life cycles of the ship.
1843 as an Ocean liner, 1852 as a Clipper transporting emigrants, 1882 as the Windjammer and 1970 returning to Bristol.
It is a good simple and effective way of interpreting the ship’s History.
Objects are incorporated into the education/visitor space. With block and tackle and ropes and pulleys demonstrating the close relationship between education and object. curation.
One criticism of this space is the lack of stewards or front of house staff available. Whether this is deliberate or that there just happened to be none on duty that day. It would have been beneficial to ensure the presence of one member of staff for assistance or to ask questions of.
The sounds of the steam whistle and the voice booming orders from the interactive helm all contribute to set the scene for some inspiring maritime action
Audio guides
Collecting the audio guide is easy and demonstrated well. There are recurring problems with it constantly re-setting and then repeating which forces the listener to resort to punching the room numbers in physically when walking around, which is a little distracting. Having once made the decision to listen to a guided tour from a third or first class passenger perspective or that of an Archaeologist it is frustrating to then realise that once the selection is made it is not possible to dip in to a different interpretation.
The open cabins encountered along the way exhibit the types of people and scenarios that would occupy the ship, although the accompanying smells are somewhat over-powering at times.
Having an audio guide makes the experience quite personal and isolating leaving the visitor at times devoid of sharing the experience. Although the narrative is composed of the actual diary extracts documented from materials taken from the ship itself and builds the atmosphere further.
In addition the way SS Great Britain is currently presented to the public, it only provides the context of the ship as a vessel for transporting emigrants to Australia. Perhaps some parts of it should represent aspects of other roles, although this might be confusing and best interpreted through different Educational activities.
Catering services
The shop is nicely presented, but might benefit from retailing some ever popular Organic West Country fare, establishing a local focus and supporting local businesses.
The café is light and airy and the chocolate and caramel cake a joy. With Cream Teas only available between 3-4pm it seems a wasted opportunity when potentially catering to tourists seeking traditional dishes.
There is a necessity to commit a good few hours when planning a visit to SS Great Britain. But those hours are guaranteed to be wisely spent.
