To the delight of visitors young and old, the Ragged Victorians are back for Christmas at the SS Great Britain.
With their authentic costumes and stories, the brilliant group of actors add something so special to Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s grand ship. From the oranges seller and the book stallholder to the police officer and the rat catcher, they all have tales to share. We’re suckers for a good historical fact so we were very excited after being invited to experience one of the SS Great Britain’s Victorian Christmas weekends.
With a snow machine and Old Father Christmas in his distinguished Victorian green costume adding a proper festive mood, our six-year-old nephew particularly enjoyed his visit to Bristol’s famous ship. We’ve been plenty of times before as we can never resist the excuse of taking visiting family or friends to fuel our need for a trip back in time.
There is always something new to discover though as our now teenage daughter will attest after her many visits over the years! We love to step onto the SS Great Britain to discover how 19th century passengers travelled and imagine ourselves en route to far away Australia.
I’d never visited Being Brunel, the on site museum, before and I was delighted to find out more about the eccentric and sometimes cantankerous genius behind the tall hat.
A visit to the SS Great Britain is brilliant at any time of year, but like characters straight out of a Dickens novel, the Ragged Victorians make the experience even better. Don’t miss the final SS Great Britain Victorian Christmas weekend for 2021 on 18-19 December.
We were invited to the SS Great Britain for a complimentary visit but all views are our own.
