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Being Brunel in Bristol

A new family-friendly exhibition at Bristol’s SS Great Britain reveals the man behind the engineering legend — and famous stovepipe hat

April 4, 2018 11:13
ssGB_BeingBrunel_Interiors_01 CREDIT Adam Gasson_BrunelÔÇÖs SS Great Britain
1 min read

The first thing you see is Brunel himself, dressed in his trademark stovepipe hat to welcome visitors in formal Victorian style. The second is rather more imposing, an eight metre high model of the visionary engineer and architect’s head, dominating the new Bristol museum dedicated to him.

One of the titans of the 19th century — involved in the Great Western Railway, Thames tunnel and designer of the Clifton suspension bridge, Bristol’s most iconic sight — the new £7.2 million Being Brunel attraction collects together never before seen artefacts and interactive exhibits to bring the man himself to life.

Because if his achievements are famous, not least the SS Great Britain next door, once the world’s longest passenger ship, the man himself is even more fascinating.

A talented artist from an early age, his attempts to draw in a rocking train carriage inspired a wish for smoother, more efficient transport; getting the chance to climb into a simulation carriage and attempt a circle on the special pads shows just how tricky it would have been.