Historic ship is to be animated

Crowds lined the Avon to see ss Great Britain tugged home to Bristol

Memories of people involved in salvaging the ship ss Great Britain are to be turned into an animation to help the story reach a new generation.

Visualising Voices is part of a project called the Incredible Journey to mark the 40th anniversary of the steamship's homecoming to Bristol.

The project's leaders will speak to Bristolians who saw the rusting iron hulk return from the Falkland Islands.

Crowds watched as the ship was tugged up the River Avon into Bristol in 1970.

'Cutting-edge animation'

The Brunel-designed vessel was returned to the Great Western Dockyard from where it was launched from in 1843.

Visualising Voices is a collaboration between the University of the West of England (UWE) and the ss Great Britain Trust.

ss GREAT BRITAIN Designed by Isambard Brunel Built in Bristol in 1845 The world's first propeller-driven, iron-hulled, ocean-going ship Had been in The Falklands since 1886 after being damaged Sunk and used by the Falkland Islands Company for storage Towed from the South Atlantic back to Bristol Arrived 127 years to the day after it had left

Project leader Gill Sandford from UWE said: "This project is unique - this is the first time that a museum has worked with an animation production team in this way.

"The project will involve several interdisciplinary teams of staff and students from UWE's School of Creative Arts.

"The way the material will be presented will vary, but some of the voices will be taken directly from the oral histories and used as a soundtrack."

Rhian Tritton, director of museum and educational services at the ss Great Britain Trust, said: "The Visualising Voice project will employ cutting-edge animation, it will be exciting visually and will be a highly imaginative way of representing the 20th Century salvage to audiences in the 21st Century."