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Archive for category: Conserve

Shackleton’s Whisky

January 31, 2010 - , ,

In January 2010 our conservators found five crates encased in ice under Shackleton’s 1908 Antarctic base – three contained Mackinlay’s whisky and two contained brandy.

The three whisky crates were excavated and one crate was flown to New Zealand to be carefully thawed by the Trust in a purpose-built environment and public gallery at Canterbury Museum. Eleven bottles of the 114-year old whisky were revealed, still sheathed in their paper and straw packaging.

After delicate conservation, the then owner of Whyte & Mackay (which owns the Mackinlay brand), flew to New Zealand to see the extraordinary find. Under permit from the New Zealand Government, he transported three bottles to Scotland on his private jet for scientific analysis by Whyte & Mackay and The Scotch Whisky Research Institute.

In a unique opportunity for the whisky world, the bottles were subjected to sensory and chemical analysis to establish the flavour and composition of a product manufactured a century earlier. In April 2011, Whyte & Mackay’s master blender, Richard Paterson, successfully recreated an exact replica of the century-old whisky and Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky was born.

Artefact Programme Manager Lizzie Meek working on the straw bottle covers at Canterbury MuseumAntarctic Heritage Trust

Artefact Programme Manager Lizzie Meek working on the straw bottle covers at Canterbury Museum


Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky Antarctic Heritage Trust

Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky

The whisky proved so popular that in late 2012, a second edition, ‘The Journey’, was released. Both editions have resulted in a substantial donation to the Trust’s conservation work in Antarctica.

The National Geographic Channel’s Expedition Whisky documentary and author Neville Peat’s excellent book, Shackleton’s Whisky, have both recorded the whisky’s journey from obscurity to world-wide attention. Meanwhile, whisky lovers the world over are enjoying the replica whisky. They are in good company. The whisky has been gifted to, and by, heads of state and royalty.

In January 2013, the Shackleton whisky story came full circle with New Zealand Prime Minister the Rt Hon. John Key repatriating the three bottles of original whisky to the Trust’s staff in Antarctica. The final stage in a remarkable journey for the world’s best aged and travelled whisky was the return of the original crates to Ernest Shackleton’s 1908 base at Cape Royds.

Shackleton’s Nimrod hut sits on an ice-free area of rock at Cape Royds, next to Pony Lake.Antarctic Heritage Trust

Shackleton’s Nimrod hut sits on an ice-free area of rock at Cape Royds, next to Pony Lake.

An Update from Port Lockroy

November 15, 2018 - , ,

Trust Programme Manager Al Fastier joined the UKAHT Port Lockroy Conservation Team under the Trust’s partnership to share its conservation knowledge and expertise developed during the Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project. The team will spend five weeks at Port Lockroy and will undertake emergency repairs, do a full architectural survey, install solar power and schedule future conservation work.

The historic Base A, also known as Bransfield House, was built at Port Lockroy in 1944 as part of Operation Tabarin, a secret war time operation to establish a permanently occupied British base in Antarctica. The base was first conserved in 1996 and is now a living museum, a post office and a shop selling Antarctic souvenirs, which helps to fund the conservation project.

Base A at Port LockroyUKAHT

Base A at Port Lockroy

Challenges include living on a small 3 square acre island, working within a Gentoo penguin colony, snow and, at times, rain. Al said it is a fantastic location to work, with this historic hut being surrounded by snowcapped mountains rising steeply from the sea and with the hut that is rich in artefacts giving the site a real spirit of place and a strong connection to the past.

Prime Minister Launches ‘Hillary’s Antarctica’

November 1, 2018 - ,

The Trust was honoured to have New Zealand Prime Minister Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern launch a new book, ‘Hillary’s Antarctica’, at an event in the New Zealand Parliament Grand Hall in late October.

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Conserving Stonington Stories

July 4, 2018 - , ,

“Like seeing Antarctica for the first time” is how Lizzie Meek (Programme Manager – Artefacts) described her experience at Stonington Island on the Antarctic Peninsula.

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Raising the Roof

March 27, 2018 - , ,

Antarctic Heritage Trust has finished the last major job of saving Sir Edmund Hillary’s hut at Scott Base – installing a new roof.

The Trust raised nearly a million dollars to save the hut, also known as the TAE/IGY Hut, which was built by a team under Sir Ed’s leadership in 1957 just before his famous dash to the South Pole.

While working to conserve Hillary’s (TAE) Hut in 2016, the need for a weather-tight long-term roofing solution was identified.

Programme Manager Al Fastier says the Trust wanted the roofing solution to last a minimum of 35 years but more likely 50 to 100 years. A plan was then developed to overclad the historic roof, meaning the original roof remained intact.

A key feature of the newly restored hut is the painted aluminium roof, complete with new battens painted in the original bright orange.

“It gives it a real point of difference,” says Fastier, a long time visitor to the ice.

Assembling the battens for the roofAntarctic Heritage Trust

Assembling the battens for the roof

For specialist Standing Seam roofer, Mike Burgess, the conditions provided a job unlike anything he had ever tackled.

“I’ve never been that cold,” says Burgess, who had to race indoors on the odd occasion to regain feeling in his hands.

The project manager for Architectural Metalformers is used to working through complicated roofing projects in rural, commercial and urban environments – less so in the world’s harshest environment.

“The opportunity to waterproof such an important New Zealand building with our product, while endeavouring to make it visually similar to the original aesthetic could not be passed up, regardless of the weather complexities,” Burgess says.

Not one to opt out of a challenge, Burgess combined his more than 20 years in the business, with further research, to come up with the robust long term waterproof roofing solution.

The Trust acknowledges, Architectural Metalformers, Pacific Coilcoaters, Sika NZ, Nexus Foams and Dulux New Zealand for their donated products and technical assistance.

Chris Ansin, Al Fastier and Geoff Cooper taking a break on the roof of the hut.Antarctic Heritage Trust

Chris Ansin, Al Fastier and Geoff Cooper taking a break on the roof of the hut.

Antarctic Programme Manager Al Fastier working on the roofAntarctic Heritage Trust

Antarctic Programme Manager Al Fastier working on the roof

Stunning Stonington

March 26, 2018 - ,

The Trust is delighted to have our team assisting UKAHT on the Antarctic Peninsula as part of the new multi-year agreement.

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Final Touches go on Sir Ed’s Antarctic Hut

December 19, 2017 - , ,

The Trust raised nearly a million dollars to save the hut, also known as the TAE/IGY Hut, which was built by a team under Sir Ed’s leadership in 1957 just before his famous dash to the South Pole. The fundraising campaign included a 2012-kilometre tractor journey from Piha Beach to Mount Cook, collecting donations on the way.

Hillary's hut

Assembling the battens for the roof

The team are now thrilled to have completed conservation work on an iconic piece of Kiwi history.

New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust programme manager Al Fastier says it’s been a long and successful road to save the hut and conserve the hundreds of artefacts within it.

“As a historic site, its significance is that it’s the birthplace of New Zealand’s presence in Antarctica and the link to Sir Ed’s famous tractor trip to the South Pole.”

Antarctic Programme Manager Al Fastier working on the roofAntarctic Heritage Trust

Antarctic Programme Manager Al Fastier working on the roof

New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust programme manager Al Fastier says it’s been a long and successful road to save the hut and conserve the hundreds of artefacts within it.

“As a historic site, its significance is that it’s the birthplace of New Zealand’s presence in Antarctica and the link to Sir Ed’s famous tractor trip to the South Pole.”

While working to conserve Hillary’s Hut last season, the need for a weather-tight long-term roofing solution was identified.

Fastier says the Trust wanted the roofing solution to last a minimum of 35 years but more likely 50 to 100 years. A plan was then developed to overclad the historic roof, meaning the original roof remained intact.

Antarctic Youth Ambassador Chris Ansin working on the hut roofAntarctic Heritage Trust

Antarctic Youth Ambassador Chris Ansin working on the hut roof

A key feature of the newly restored hut is the painted aluminium roof, complete with new battens painted in the original bright orange.

“It gives it a real point of difference,” says Fastier, a long time visitor to the ice.

For Fastier, there was an even greater connection to the restoration effort, New Zealand and Hillary, given he slept in the hut on his first trip to the ice in 1987.

Chris Ansin, Al Fastier and Geoff Cooper taking a break on the roof of the hut.Antarctic Heritage Trust

Chris Ansin, Al Fastier and Geoff Cooper taking a break on the roof of the hut.

As if the project itself did not provide enough of a challenge, the team had to work around extreme weather systems that included snow and wind storms.

Temperatures averaged -8 to 15 degrees Celsius during the project, with a few -25 and -30 degree Celsius days thrown into the mix.

For specialist Standing Seam roofer, Mike Burgess, the conditions provided a job unlike anything he had ever tackled.

“I’ve never been that cold,” says Burgess, who had to race indoors on the odd occasion to regain feeling in his hands.

The project manager for Architectural Metalformers is used to working through complicated roofing projects in rural, commercial and urban environments in and around Auckland – and less so in the world’s harshest environment.

When he was granted the opportunity to join the conservation effort, Burgess did not hesitate to accept.

“The opportunity to waterproof such an important New Zealand building with our product, while endeavouring to make it visually similar to the original aesthetic could not be passed up, regardless of the weather complexities,” Burgess says.

Not one to opt out of a challenge, Burgess combined his more than 20 years in the business, with further research, to come up with the robust long term waterproof roofing solution.

Burgess and Architectural Metalformers offered their time free of charge.

Having now returned from the ice, Burgess remains under the Antarctic spell.

“It’s been an experience that I will never forget, images and my words certainly don’t do it justice” he says.

“The scale, beauty and the history of the Antarctic – I’ve been bitten by the bug.”

Burgess and the Trust would also like to thank Pacific Coilcoaters, Sika NZ and Nexus Foams for their donated products and technical assistance.

Century-old Fruitcake

August 10, 2017 - , , ,

Antarctic Heritage Trust conservators found a 100 year old fruit cake among the artefacts from Cape Adare.

Made by Huntley & Palmers, the fruit cake is still wrapped in paper and encased in the remains of a tin-plated iron alloy tin. The cake probably dates to the Cape Adare-based Northern Party of Scott’s Terra Nova expedition (1910 – 1913) as it has been documented that Scott took this particular brand of cake with him at that time. Although the tin was in poor condition, the cake itself looked and smelt (almost) edible.

Fruit cake after conservation treatment.Antarctic Heritage Trust

Fruit cake after conservation treatment.

Conservation treatment involved rust removal, chemical stabilisation and coating of the tin remnants. Deacidification of the tin label and some physical repair to the torn paper wrapper and tin label was also carried out. The cake itself was in excellent condition. Programme Manager-Artefacts Lizzie Meek said “With just two weeks to go on the conservation of the Cape Adare artefacts, finding such a perfectly preserved fruitcake in amongst the last handful of unidentified and severely corroded tins was quite a surprise. It’s an ideal high-energy food for Antarctic conditions, and is still a favourite item on modern trips to the Ice.”

Huntley and Palmer's fruit cake in wrapper.Antarctic Heritage Trust

Huntley and Palmer’s fruit cake in wrapper.

Fruit cake found at Cape Adare thought to be from Scott's Northern Party (1911).Antarctic Heritage Trust

Fruit cake found at Cape Adare thought to be from Scott’s Northern Party (1911).

Since May 2016, a team of four conservators have been working in the Canterbury Museum lab on the conservation of Antarctic artefacts from Cape Adare. The team recently finished the large project in July this year, conserving almost 1500 artefacts. The Trust is now planning to begin the conservation work on the buildings at Cape Adare. The huts were built by Norwegian Carsten Borchgrevink’s expedition in 1899 and later used by Captain Scott’s party in 1911. The buildings were the first in Antarctica and are the only examples left of humanity’s first building on any continent. The permit the Trust was granted to collect the artefacts stipulates that all of the items must be returned to the site following conservation, in accordance with the site’s status as an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA). This will happen once the huts themselves have been restored. The Trust is very grateful for the support it receives from its funders, Norwegian Government, Canterbury Museum for its facilities and logistical support from Antarctica New Zealand to get the artefacts out of and back to Cape Adare. Check out the Huntley and Palmers online archive.

Dr Edward Wilson Watercolour

June 12, 2017 - , , ,

 

New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust has discovered an almost perfectly preserved 118 year old watercolour painting among penguin-excrement, dust and mould covered papers found in an historic hut at Cape Adare, Antarctica.

 

Canterbury Museum

The water colour was painted by Dr Edward Wilson who died with Captain Robert Falcon Scott and three others on their return from the South Pole in 1912.

 

Dr Edward WilsonCanterbury Museum

Dr Edward Wilson

“I opened it and there was this gorgeous painting… I got such a fright that I jumped and shut the portfolio again. I then took the painting out and couldn’t stop looking at it – the colours, the vibrancy, it is such a beautiful piece of work. I couldn’t believe it was there.” The painting is labelled ‘1899 Tree Creeper’ and has the initial ‘T’ on it. It depicts a Tree Creeper bird specimen. The discovery was made in September 2016, but has been kept confidential until now to enable the team to focus on restoring all of the 1,500 artefacts from Cape Adare.

 

Antarctic Heritage Trust

 

Antarctic Heritage Trust

The Trust’s Programme Manager – Artefact Conservation, Lizzie Meek says it wasn’t immediately clear who the artist was given that two expeditions had based themselves at Cape Adare. “The Cape Adare huts were built by Norwegian Carsten Borchgrevink’s expedition in 1899 and later used by Captain Scott’s party in 1911. We knew the artist was likely to be among the men on those expeditions,” says Lizzie.

 

Borchgrevink’s hut at Cape Adare is built amongst a colony of over 400,000 breeding pairs of Adelie penguins.Antarctic Heritage Trust

Borchgrevink’s hut at Cape Adare is built amongst a colony of over 400,000 breeding pairs of Adelie penguins.

As the Trust was working to identify the artist, Josefin attended a lecture at Canterbury University on Dr Wilson. “The presenter showed some of Dr Wilson’s artwork… as soon as I saw his distinctive handwriting, I knew he had painted the Tree Creeper. This made sense as there was also a 1911 newspaper article from the Lyttelton Times in the papers and Scott’s party went to Antarctica via New Zealand.”

 

Antarctic Heritage Trust

Lizzie Meek says Dr Wilson was a remarkable man. “He was not only a talented painter, but a scientist and a medical doctor who was an integral member of both of Scott’s expeditions to the Ice.” Josefin is not surprised the painting survived in such excellent condition. “Water colour paintings are particularly susceptible to light so the fact this work has spent more than a hundred years tightly packed between other sheets of paper in completely dark and cold conditions is actually an ideal way to store it.” Lizzie Meek says how the painting came to be in the hut is still something of a mystery. “It’s likely that Wilson painted it while he was recovering from tuberculosis in Europe. Clearly, he could have taken the painting to Antarctica on either of Scott’s expeditions but we think it’s more likely the artwork travelled with him in 1911, and somehow made its way from Cape Evans to Cape Adare.”

 

Antarctic Heritage Trust

The permit the Trust was granted to collect the artefacts stipulates that all of the items must be returned to the site following conservation, in accordance with the site’s status as an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA). This will happen once the huts themselves have been restored. The Trust’s General Manager Operations and Communications, Francesca Eathorne says finding the painting is a poignant reminder of the inspiring legacy the early polar explorers left behind. “More than a century later we are still sharing stories about those expeditions. We’ve been able to create a high quality facsimile of the painting so we are now looking forward to sharing it with the rest of the world. We are in no doubt this will attract global interest – particularly from our friends in the UK.” Visit Cheltenham’s art gallery and museum The Wilson: www.cheltenhammuseum.org.uk

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