Comms, Author at Antarctic Heritage Trust

About Comms

This author has not written his bio yet.
But we are proud to say that Comms contributed 348 entries already.

Entries by Comms

Cape Evans

Exhausted with desperation, in the dimming light of the Antarctic Autumn, the heroic men of the Terra Nova expedition left back at Cape Evans knew with certainty that the South Pole expedition had failed. It would be another 6 months until the first light of day gave any hope of finding the bodies and learning the terrific and terrible tale of Robert Falcon Scott. Jars full of salt on the walls, wheels of cheese high above, and at both ends of the hut were two ovens that would have radiated lifesaving warmth. Seal fat still to this day dripping from […]

Antarctic Blog

From the Terra Nova Hut at Cape Evans

From Cape Royds we moved on to Cape Evans, camping near the Terra Nova hut where we spent four days on the monitoring and maintenance work. There was a lot more snow at this site and the team have been very busy, excavating the snow away from the hut and exterior objects and checking the roof for snow ingress. Part of my job was the conservation cleaning and treatment of mould growth around the hut, and this was particularly important around the exterior walls and bunk spaces. The environmental conditions inside the hut are very cold, but in the summer temperatures […]

News Story

Let’s Turk about Cape Adare

An avid adventurer, Mr Bradshaw designed a prototype for an emergency backcountry ski hut in Arrowtown. Antarctica New Zealand has commissioned him to provide three for the southern continent. The tanks, called ‘turks’ (not a tank, not a hut, not a yurt!), have a 10m² floor area and cost about $15,000 each. They’re being transformed into a living area, a work shed and a store room for Cape Adare. They’ll stay put there for the next four years as a temporary base for New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust experts conserving the first building on the continent – the hut of […]

Antarctic Blog

Camping On Ice

Scott Base is situated on Ross Island which is connected to the mainland by the Ross Ice Shelf. Before venturing out onto the ice shelf and go exploring we had to go through Antarctic Field Training. This is as exciting as it sounds, spending the night out on the snow in a polar explorer tent, which uses the same design as the original tents used for the early Antarctic expeditions. After getting everything organised and briefing the team, we loaded up the Hagglund (an off road monster) out to our campsite to pitch the yellow triangles of tents. We were […]

Antarctic Blog

Visiting the Nimrod Hut at Cape Royds

We have now had a whole week out in the field, visiting the historic huts. Our first trip was to Cape Royds by helicopter, as the sea ice is already too unstable to travel over. We came here to complete the annual maintenance and monitoring work on the hut, starting off by digging away all the snow and ice that had built up around the hut walls over the last year. Stepping into the hut was an amazing experience, and for me this was a very long-anticipated moment. What really struck me was that even after so much time reading the accounts […]

Antarctic Blog

Human Ice Block

Has there ever been something that has always held your curiosity, but you never thought you would be able to experience? For me this was something that always captivated me every time I would fly out of Christchurch. From the moment I set eyes on this majestic aircraft in 2011, I have always wondered what it would be like to be inside one. Today I finally got to step onto the C17 Globemaster and it did not disappoint! More importantly, I boarded this beast to fly to ANTARCTICA! In the late 19th century only the most driven, brave and brash […]

Antarctic Blog, News Story

Antarctic Field Training

Antarctic Heritage Trust Conservation Ambassador Diana McCormack shares her experience of Antarctic Field Training. Everyone who comes here has to complete Antarctic Field Training, which means spending a night camping out on the ice and learning how to cope with the conditions outside of the base. We have just finished our training before heading into the field to work at the historic huts. Now I have been camping before, but this was camping and then some… First of all the location is pretty hard to beat, with a stunning view of Mount Erebus just outside the tent flap. The tents […]

Annual Reports

Annual Report 2016-2017

News Story

Conservation Ambassador – Diana McCormack

Congratulations to Diana McCormack who has been selected as the Trust’s first Conservation Ambassador. This new role, which was advertised globally, sought a new conservator (within five years of graduating) to join the team in Antarctica this season. Diana is from Belfast, Northern Ireland, and originally worked as an archaeologist before training in conservation at Durham University. Since late 2012 she has been working as a conservator at English Heritage, the Science Museum, National Museums Scotland, and the National Museum of the Royal Navy, where she is currently employed in the Historic Ships team. Her day job involves conserving some […]

Antarctic Blog, News Story

Introducing Chris Ansin!

Hello! Welcome to the adventures of the 2017 Sir Peter Blake Antarctic Youth Ambassador! My name is Chris Ansin and I am absolutely ecstatic about joining the team going to Antarctica this year, something which I have been dreaming of since I was a kid. Antarctica? How does one even get to go to Antarctica? Thankfully for me, through The Sir Peter Blake Trust, an incredible youth Blake Ambassador programme to encourage young people to explore and bring awareness of the world that we live in. The Trust partners with organisations such as Antarctic Heritage Trust, Antarctica New Zealand, Department […]