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Bristol's Albion Dockyard to get PS Great Western replica

SS Great Britain Trust Albion Dockyard in BristolSS Great Britain Trust
The expansion is also expected to provide 189 new jobs

The trust that runs the SS Great Britain has announced a £20m plan to create another replica of a Brunel vessel.

The project will see regeneration of Bristol's historic Albion Dockyard, complete with a full size model of Brunel's first ship, PS Great Western.

The Grade-II listed dock will be preserved, maintaining a working dry dock and reinstating the original clocktower.

The attraction should be open by 2027.

The world's first transatlantic ocean liner, the PS Great Western, was built in Bristol in 1838.

She took passengers to New York for eight years before being sold to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company and was scrapped in 1856 after serving as a troop ship during the Crimean War.

PA Media SS Great Britain sits in dry dock at Bristols Great Western DockyardPA Media
SS Great Britain was the number one visitor attraction in 2022, according to TripAdvisor

The SS Great Britain Trust want the regeneration to "protect and enhance Bristol's unique harbour heritage and ecology" alongside its existing attraction.

Initial funding of £600,000 has been granted by the National Lottery Heritage to go towards a proposed £5m grant.

The expansion is expected to provide 189 new jobs.

The plan is for the PS Great Western to create "an engineering learning environment" for families and school pupils.

The SS Great Britain Trust will also use it to further community engagement and education programmes to inspire future generations of engineers.

Matthew Tanner, chief executive of the SS Great Britain Trust, said he was "delighted" about the grant, which will "make a massive difference for the whole of the West of England region."

Mr Tanner said he hoped the plans would equal a "world class heritage experience that will protect and transform the Albion Dockyard while providing far-reaching benefits for the harbour and the whole region, growing the tourism economy and maritime and shipbuilding industries."

Patricia Yates, chief executive of VisitBritain, said: "A project of this scale and ambition will also be a much-needed hook for international markets, supporting tourism's recovery, creating jobs and boosting the regional economy."

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