If there’s one school trip that sticks firmly in the mind of Bristolians everywhere, it’s a trip to the Bristol landmark that is Brunel’s SS Great Britain.
The historically important ship seemed so impressive yet almost daunting at the same time, when visiting as a child.
You may remember the mannequins dotted throughout the vessel, there for the purpose to bring history to life; we won’t mention that one classmate who swore blind that he saw one of them move and single-handedly terrified an entire class of primary school children (there was always one).
You may even have been lucky enough to have had an actor dressed as Isambard Kingdom Brunel giving you the grand tour, whilst sound effects and certain fragrances wafted under your nose.
For decades, the very realistic odours of a nineteenth century passenger ship have been pumped into the museum as a way to make visitors feel fully immersed in Brunel’s experience.
It allows you to imagine being on the iconic ship with passengers, crew and livestock living in the space for up to 60 days during voyages to Australia.
Self-titled the ‘world’s smelliest museum’, you can expect an almost overwhelming variation of scents including dirty laundry in steerage through to the more pleasant freshly baked bread.
One smell that didn’t exactly prove to be as popular belongs to a certain cabin where the fictional passenger appears to be struggling with sea sickness.
The pungent aroma was even referenced in one of the more humorous Trip Advisor reviews left for the museum by user ‘CompassSpinner’, saying: “Fascinating but almost ruined by the deliberately vomit-scented cabin, intended to mimic seaborne illnesses but vile and awful to experience in reality. Please remove his feature as it is disgusting.”
Well, maybe the full immersive experience isn’t exactly desirable to everyone, but you certainly have to give the museum kudos for embracing the reality of what life aboard the ship must have been like.
If you have memories from visiting Brunel’s SS Great Britain, let us know in the comments section below.
