Up she rises: how Brunel’s great hulk, SS Great Britain, finally came home

Fifty years on, Marion Morrison tells how she followed the return to Bristol of SS Great Britain for the Observer

As it made its slow way up the Avon in July 1970, people lined the riverbanks to see the 127-year-old incredible hulk return home. After an 8,000-mile, 87-day journey, SS Great Britain was back in its place of birth.

Approaching the port of Bristol, the extraordinary ship built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel passed under the Clifton suspension bridge, another of the great engineer's masterpieces. Flags were flying, people were roaring and clapping," recalled one witness. Something took hold of the people of Bristol," said another.