South Westto receive a £9 million boost for museums, libraries and cultural venues By Tanya Waterworth 21MAR2023BristoLive
The SS Great Britain is one of Bristol’s most famous and popular visitor attractions.
(Image:mattbuck)
Bristol tourist attraction the SS Great Britain is toget a funding boost of over
£700,000 for urgent repairs. The cash injection was announced by the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport as part a £60 million fundingboost
across the UK.
The cash will fund work on the weatherdeck, the primary access point for
visitors. The SS GreatBritain said in a statement on social media: “The SS
GreatBritain Trust is extremely grateful to the DCM Sand Arts Council England
for essential funding towards replacing the weatherdeck.
“The vital work will help conserve the world’s first great ocean liner which the
charitable trustcares for on behalf of the nation, protecting the interior iron work.
It will improve accessibility, particularly for mobility and sight impaired visitors
and communities, as theTrust continues its conservation, STEM education and
community engagement programmes.”
PhilGibby, SouthWest are a director for the Arts Council said: “It’s fantasticto
see so many of our treasured regional museums and local library services
announced as recipients in this latest round of Cultural Investment funding from
the government.
“At theArts Council, we believe in the power of creative and cultural
experiences and we are passionate about more people having access to a
range of excellent arts, culture and creativity right on their doorstep- sowe’re
delighted that these museums, libraries and venues are helping us to make that
happen.”
When the SS GreatBritain was launched in1843, she was called ‘the greatest
experiment since thecreation’. She was fitted with a 1000HP steam engine, the
most powerful at that time to be used at sea and instead of paddle-wheel, she
had a screwpropeller. This was cutting edge maritime technology andt he
combination of the two changed the shipping industry.
In 1886, the ship was badly damaged during a wild storm off CapeHornand
was forced toseek shelter in the Falkland Islands, the first port ofrefuge. The
cost of repairs was exorbitant and the vess el was sold to the Falklands Island
Company. After a long workinglife, the ship’sworking life ended in 1933. She
was abandoned and left torust, but in 1970 was refloated by an expert salvage
team andb roughtback to Bristol on a huge floating pontoon pulled by tugs.
