BRUNEL MONUMENT AT PORTSMOUTH

It is really exciting to me writing these next few words, ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL was born at Portsea, Portsmouth on the 9th of April 1806, Brunel´s father, a french refugee named Marc, supervised the installation of his machines for making ship´s blocks in the Dockyard, they were the first all metal machine tools in the world, they still can be seen today at Portsmouth Dockyard. In 1833 Brunel was appointed engineer to the Great Western Railway linking Bristol to London, other of his achievements include the design of Clifton Suspension Bridge at Bristol and the revolutionary building of three steamships the "Great Western", "Great Britain" and "Great Eastern". My favourite work of Brunel was the SS GREAT BRITAIN, this wonderful old ship was an exciting example of early Victorian engineering, Brunel did not want to see the transatlantic trade dominated by American ships, he applied all his energies to designing and buiding an innovative ship, she was the  first true ocean liner, the first with an iron hull, the first driven by propeller and with a double bottom and bulkheads. the SS GREAT BRITAIN is of course preserved at Bristol, the same dock where she was built, open to the public and a must visit destination, there are a lot of books about this amazing vessel, I still recommend THE IRON SHIP by EWAN CORLETT, photos above, monument at Portsmouth and two images of an incredible book