SS Great Britain Comes Home

Exactly 127 years after its launch, the SS Great Britain returns home to her birthplace in Bristol.

This film is narrated by Magnus Magnusson and was originally shown on the BBC in 1970.

In 1970, the world’s first propeller-driven, ocean-going iron ship was salvaged from the icy waters around Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands in an operation made possible by the property tycoon and philanthropist Sir Jack Hayward.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s ship almost ended her days as a rusting hulk but was rescued from decay by a dedicated team of salvage experts who oversaw the process of preparing the ship and sailing her back across the Atlantic to her homeport of Bristol.

The most difficult part of the voyage was the journey along the River Avon into the heart of the city’s docks, where the infamous Horseshoe Bend was successfully negotiated. Had the tugs made the slightest error of judgement, we could now be visiting the SS Great Britain as an out-of-town attraction!

DVD