Paper short abstract:

ss Great Britain, built by Brunel in Bristol in 1843, is now a museum and visitor attraction.In 1970 she was salvaged from the Falkland Islands and towed back to Bristol.In 2010 an oral history project recorded the memories of the salvage team and some of the Bristolians who saw her return.

Paper long abstract:

The oral history project interviewed key members of the salvage team as well as local residents. For many, seeing ss Great Britain's return was one of their strongest memories. For the salvage team (now all elderly) this brave operation confirmed their role as technical experts, while for Bristolians it occasioned a sense of local pride and belonging. Many commented that the ship is "part of Bristol". Others who were not in Bristol remembered where they were. Many respondents recorded particularly the moment the ship passed under the Clifton Suspension Bridge, the first time Brunel's two great masterpieces had collided. This underlines the iconic nature of the ship, and the emotive power of her homecoming. It is argued that from her launch the ship has been woven into Bristol's DNA, and that the oral history project enabled the exploration of the ship's role as a place-making icon and symbol of what it means to be Bristolian.