It’s the tallest mast on the most famous and tallest ship in Bristol’s Floating Harbour but now bosses at the SS Great Britain have launched an appeal to replace it. The Topmast Number 2 on Brunel’s famous iron ship needs replacing urgently, say the trust in charge of the restored Victorian visitor attraction, and the work will cost around £65,000.
The SS Great Britain Trust has launched a fundraiser to find £15,000 of that from donations. The Trust said replacing the topmast will restore the rig to its former glory and ‘ensure that this significant part of our nation’s heritage remains shipshape and Bristol fashion for years to come’.
When the ship was salvaged and brought back to Bristol from the Falkland Islands in 1970, it had long since lost its masts, but they were recreated as part of the 1970s restoration. New masts were installed in 2007, and the Top Mast Number 2 is the one which is used for visitors to climb.
.png?w=600)
