Nonesuch Silver Prints The Great Britain 1969

1969 March - Falkland Islands [Malvinas]. The hulk of the Great Britain was beached in Sparrow Cove about 3.5 miles from Stanley in 1937. The ship was built as a steamship but in the early 1880s was converted to sail. The masts have been described as the largest of their kind ever made. The huge spar on the mainmast is just visible.This view from the bow looks to the 95 foot high, 18 tonne foremast. We found that the 'weather deck' which was new in 1882 was treacherous to walk on and some more recent decking just in front of the camera was totally rotten and lichen covered.

Camera - Nikon F 35mm with Nikkor 28mm F3.5 lens. Film - Kodak Plus X Pan 1/250 second F8. Developed by hand in Stanley in the darkroom of local photographer John Leonard using Kodak Microdol at normal dilution.

In 1970 the original hull designed and built by William Paterson was taken from the Falkland Islands [Malvinas] to Bristol, England. After many years the hull has now been restored and forms the basis of the splendid reconstruction of the 1843 steamship SS Great Britain, conceived by the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The masts and original rigging were cut down in the 1970 salvage.