Nonesuch Silver Prints The Great Britain 1969

1969 March - Sparrow Cove, Falkland Islands [Malvinas]. Two huge wooden masts of the Great Britain. These masts said to be the largest of their kind ever made were on the hulk of the old sailing ship Great Britain converted from a steamship in the early 1880s.The foremast here is 95 feet high and weighs 18 tonnes. Above this and mounted through the eye at the top was a foretopmast of 54 feet and above that a fore t'gallant and royal mast of another 54 feet. Truly an enormous structure. Behind is the main mast 95 feet and 19 tonnes with a mainmast yard made from iron 105 feet long and weighing almost 3 tonnes. The top of the mizzen mast 79.5 feet high is just visible at the bottom of the picture behind the mainmast.

Camera - Nikon F 35mm with Nikkor 28 mm F3.5 lens. Film - Kodak Plus X Pan 1/30 second F5.6. Developed by hand in Stanley in the darkroom of local photographer John Leonard using Kodak Microdol at normal dilution.

IIn 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.