SS Great Britain, Brunel’s design, this week for the second and last time. This picture, ‘borrowed’ from the Internet, shows the ship as it is moored in Bristol’s floating harbour for the remainder of its long life. It must be about what the passengers saw when approaching the ship for the journey ahead of them to whichever destination.

A collection of cabin trunks and the likes, waiting to be loaded onto the ship.

Where would the number of passengers -initially 360, later increased to 730- and crew (130) have been without potatoes…

…or fruit and vegetables…

…or salted cod??

Meat was transported alive, thus making it easier to preserve it and to consume it as fresh as possible. The lower box seems empty but believe us, there was a pig inside! To make it all the more realistic a tape with mooing and grunting was already audible from a distance.

A part of the supply, available to the cooks.

One of the kitchens. Although it’s the only one we’ve seen, there must have been more of them. At least for the first class passengers, one tends to think, as this kitchen is pretty confined and seemingly designed for preparing huge amounts of the same food. Not very refined, in other words.

Accommodation in the lowest (3rd?) class. No privacy at all.

A bit more privacy in what seems to be the 2nd class. At least it was possible to separate the sexes or to close off one’s bed. Well, it’s something…

View of a slightly better cabin, although it’s impossible to swing a cat… Anyway, there seem to be two bunk beds, a desk and a toilet – and even a tiny porthole! (Imagine lying in bed next to someone using the toilet.) When looking at the (oil-)lamp one wonders how almost inevitable fires were avoided.

This toilet offers a lot more privacy then the one visible with the last picture. We were intrigued by the stains on the front-part. Was it impossible to avoid this or did people have dirty legs in those days?? Again, see the scorched area above the lamp. Luckily it’s all electric these days.

On to the 1st class now. And don’t you dare to go there if you are not a first class passenger!

A tad more luxury in the 1st class one can say without any exaggeration.

Entertainment like playing cards, roulette, dicing and so on in the 1st class. The set of cards looks as being from the 19th century indeed.

A typical 1st class dining table – that’s for sure. Note the design of the settees’ backrests. We have seen this often on boats, especially on the upper deck of cruisers and thought it to be modern and a clever idea. It’s still a clever idea but by no means ‘modern’ as this picture proves!

When looking at the used materials, the design and the available room one immediately knows: this is a cabin for the well-off ones.

A mother and her offspring, in this case in a luxury family-cabin with portholes. For the extremely well-off ones.

Of course there was a physician on board, too…

…and a barber.

Some people tend to become seasick, unfortunately. This is what happens when struck by this rather uncomfortable condition.

Differences of opinion are sometimes resolved by sheer physical force. When necessary there’s always the physician…

A cheerful event to end with this time: birth. What would have been the answer to the question: ‘place of birth?’ on this child’s birth-certificate?