Nonesuch Silver Prints The Great Britain 1969

1969 March - Sparrow Cove, Falkland Islands [Malvinas]. The hulk of the Great Britain was beached here in Sparrow Cove in April 1937. Originally built as a steamship and launched in 1843 the ship was a classic of its time. The hulk of about 3000 tonnes was resting on the bottom and the tide rose and ebbed without giving a movement that could be felt aboard. When the ship was converted to sail in 1882 the iron hull was clad in pitch pine wood that discoloured over the years. The natural waterway entrance to Stanley Harbour is in the distance beyond a dark bed of kelp seaweed.

Camera - MPP Microflex Twin Lens Reflex with F3.5 77.5mm Taylor Taylor Hobson lens. Film Ilford HP4 1/125 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. The masts and original rigging were cut down in the 1970 salvage.