Nonesuch Silver Prints The Great Britain 1969

1969 March - Sparrow Cove, Falkland Islands [Malvinas]. The interior of the Great Britain an old sailing ship beached there in 1937. The Great Britain was an historic iron steamship from her launch in 1843 to 1882 when she was converted to sail. In this picture the original cast iron frames and construction conceived by the Victorian engineer Isambard Kindom Brunel are still sound in spite of the sea water that rose inside during each tide. The reflection of iron on water is just visible near the bottom of the picture. The design and construction of the hull were the work of William Patterson a shipbuilder in Bristol [England]. The ladder is modern and was put there so maritime surveyors could work.

Camera - MPP Microflex Twin Lens Reflex with F3.5 77.5mm Taylor Taylor Hobson lens. Film Kodak Trix X 1/30 second F 4 Developed by hand in Stanley in the darkroom of John Leonard a local photographer 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.