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Archive for category: Antarctic Blog

Reinvigorating a City … and History

July 4, 2016 - Antarctic Blog

By Sue Bassett

Conserving artefacts from the early British Antarctic expedition huts whilst actually living in Antarctica is without doubt a unique, ultimately challenging and wonderful experience for any conservator. Truth be known, it’s life-changing.

The Trust’s current artefacts conservation team, working on the contents of the earliest and most remote British hut in Antarctica, is based in Christchurch. This is because it was logistically simpler to transport frozen artefacts from Antarctica’s Cape Adare to New Zealand for treatment, and then refreeze them and take them back. The Christchurch location offers the team a different set of opportunities, such as weekends to explore NZ’s spectacular South Island and a workplace in the centre of one of the biggest rebuilding projects in the Southern Hemisphere. Following the demolition of about 75 per cent of Christchurch’s CBD in the aftermath of the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes, the $40b rebuild of the city is now in full swing … on every street and on every corner, it seems.

As part of the inner city reinvigoration plan there is a Friday street-food market in Cathedral Square, alongside the tumbled ruins of the once majestic cathedral, so the team makes a point of going along for a coffee and a spot of lunch. We listen to the buskers and sometimes join the other clientele, mainly high-vis-clad construction workers and tradies, in reviving the community spirit with a leisurely round of quoits.

Quoits on a Friday in Christchurch’s Cathedral SquareAntarctic Heritage Trust

Quoits on a Friday in Christchurch’s Cathedral Square

And then it’s back to the lab to conserve … hang on … some century-old coffee, luncheon meat and quoits!  

Packets of historic coffee, 1899Antarctic Heritage Trust

Packets of historic coffee, 1899

 

Tin of historic preserved lunch tongues, before treatmentAntarctic Heritage Trust

Tin of historic preserved lunch tongues, before treatment

 

Handmade rope quoit, after treatmentAntarctic Heritage Trust

Handmade rope quoit, after treatment

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For Better or Worcestershire Sauce

June 27, 2016 - Antarctic Blog

By Josefin Jimenez

For the past weeks, as the paper conservator, I have been working on a collection of bottles of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce found in the loft of the Southern Cross expedition hut at Cape Adare in Antarctica. Some 30 bottles were found in the loft, in addition to others found in the dining area. Food for the expedition, even if in ample supply, was of little variety and Borchgrevink himself wrote: “Seal beef and roasted penguin flesh became a frequent repast as we grew frightfully tired of tinned food”.

Whether or not this went down well with a dash of Worcestershire sauce remains unsaid.

Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce was established in 1839 so would have been a household name by the time Borchgrevink went to Antarctica. The bottles themselves are beautiful objects and it’s stunning to see them emerge from the debris.

Before treatment image of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire SauceAntarctic Heritage Trust

Before treatment image of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce

When they arrive to the lab they are covered in grit and penguin feathers and often the sauce has spilled and dribbled from the bottle. Traditionally, the bottles were labelled with a decorative printed label and then wrapped in paper for transport. In some cases only traces of paper remain on the glass; at others, the spills have so impregnated the paper that it is no longer possible to distinguish the paper from the glass.

After treatment image of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire SauceAntarctic Heritage Trust

After treatment image of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce

But for a few of them, where the wrapper has remained, lifting the wrapper reveals a label of startlingly vivid orange colour and delicate blue printing and borders.  Much of the printing is often lost but in good examples the following can be read:

‘Lea & Perrin’s Worcestershire Sauce Pronounced by Connoisseurs as The Only Good Sauce For enriching Gravies, and for use in Game, Steak, Cold Meats, Soup & Curries. It forms an agreeable addition to SALAD & CHEESE. As spurious imitations of this are offered to the public, ensure with each purchase that the name of LEA & PERRINS is on the Wrapper and Labels as well as on each Bottle and Patent Stopper. Manufactured solely by LEA & PERRINS, WORCESTERSHIRE, and sold by CROSSE AND BLACKWELL, and the Warehousemen, London: JOHN DUNCAN’S SONS, NEW YORK, and vendors of sauces generally throughout the world.’

Detail of lifting the wrapper to reveal the label underneath.Antarctic Heritage Trust

Detail of lifting the wrapper to reveal the label underneath.

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Fighting Fit at 30 Below

June 15, 2016 - Antarctic Blog

By Ciarán Lavelle

The men of Scott’s 1910 expedition would have been at the peak of their physical fitness on the eve of their expedition south. The harshness and physical demands of not just their sea journey but also their time in the icy south required a great deal of both mental and physical strength and stamina to face the trials and tribulations of such a harsh foreboding environment. In our modern fitness and gym-obsessed world it is interesting to think about these virile men and how they organised their own fitness regimes to keep their strength and stamina at the required level.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

The punching ball before conservation.

This highly degraded rubber object is a fascinating insight into one aspect of their potential fitness regime. Initially documented as being the bladder of a rugby ball it has captured the imagination of the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust team due to the nation’s obvious obsession with the sport. Unfortunately for those rugby enthusiasts among us our initial zeal was dashed as it was discovered that it is not in fact a rugby ball but a punching ball. Renewed excitement followed at the realisation that this may be the very punching ball described in Raymond E Priestley’s personal account of Scott’s Northern Party. Priestley recounts the importance of strenuous exercise for team mate Abbott who turned the old Southern Cross hut into his personal gym for Swedish exercises (our own resident Swedish teammate is still trying to figure out what exactly they are).

Priestley has this to tell us about the ball itself:

‘We had brought a punching-ball with us from the Terra Nova, and for some time this afforded us quite a lot of exercise, but so soon as the temperature fell the rubber of the ball became brittle and useless and a puncture soon followed. It was no use attempting to mend this, and so we did the next best thing. The ball was stuffed with seaweed and from the Gibson Quilting, and though it was very lifeless it was very lifeless it was still of some use.’

Antarctic Heritage Trust

Ciarán creating a protective mount for the punching ball.

The historical account of the damage the ball has suffered links up with the physical condition of the remaining fragments of the ball. Although the majority of the ball has been lost, what remains is a fragile and brittle jigsaw. The nature of the degraded rubber limits what we can do to the object and since the damage is historical it was decided that stabilisation and display of the object in a way that it can be identified as a punching ball was the best option. The fragments were sandwiched between two layers of a netting and each fragment was sewn into its own individual pocket so as to keep them contained and protected.

The punching ball after conservation.Antarctic Heritage Trust

The punching ball after conservation.

The end result is that we can display the ball in a way that it can be identified while being protected from further loss from fragmentation. Now when I look the ball I can picture fragments of seaweed and rubber falling to the floor as the members of Scott’s Northern Party took their turn to pummel it by candlelight in the gloom of the Southern Cross hut so as to keep fighting fit in the freezing Antarctic cold.

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A Discovery Below Penguin Guano

June 2, 2016 - Antarctic Blog

By Stefanie White

Looking through the magnification lens, I take a breath through my respirator and reach for the micro spatula. The belt is encrusted with layers of dried penguin guano and dirt. It stinks. With the spatula, I lift thin sheets of the encrustations to reveal a stained leather surface. Tweezers hold penguin feathers fast and I remove them from within the encrustation with some force. And then finally I role cotton swabs dampened in deionised water across the leather surface and begin to reveal the original surface. The process is slow, deliberate, meditative and satisfying in that oddly pleasurable way.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

As time passes, I notice the wear marks in the belt and notice which punch hole was used most often. I think about the size of the owner’s waist. I see handmade punch holes and contemplate the dramatic weight loss the owner must have experienced while based at Cape Adare. I think about why the owner left his belt behind … perhaps he forgot it, perhaps he suffered from T3.  The buckle is interesting. It’s square, elegant and made out of nickel.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

As I swab, I tune into the New Zealand radio playing in the background and into conversations happening in the lab. I continue to swab and swab and swab the leather belt. And then from beneath the residue of the penguin guano, I see something. I see a gold printed letter. I turn and shout to my colleagues ‘The owners name is on the belt’ and together we decipher the printed letters.

George Murray Levick was a naval surgeon and zoologist on Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition of 1910-13. Being a part of the Northern Party, he spent the summer of 1911-1912 at Cape Adare.  Levick and possibly all members of the Terra Nova expedition were gifted a leather belt by the leather manufacturing company Leckie and Co. based in Walsall, England. They received this gift especially for this British Antarctic Expedition. The discovery of the gold printed letters was a highlight this week in the lab. The discovery is one-of-a-kind as no other belt survives. Information previously unknown was uncovered and it’s always exciting for a conservator to be able to attribute an owner’s name to an artefact.

Scott's Northern Party return to Cape EvansCanterbury Museum

Northern party on arrival at Cape Evans, 7 November 1912. Photographer: Frank Debenham. British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-13

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Meet the Team – Cape Adare Artefacts Conservation Project

May 24, 2016 - Antarctic Blog

By Josefin Jiménez

The work to conserve the artefacts from Cape Adare, the base established by Carsten Borchgrevink’s British Antarctic Expedition (Southern Cross) 1898 ̶ 1900, has just begun. Due to Cape Adare’s inaccessible location the artefacts won’t be conserved on the ice at Scott Base this winter but have instead been frozen and transported to Christchurch for treatment.

The team is made up of four conservators, some of whom are old hands with AHT and some of whom are new faces.

Sue Bassett, lead conservator, has led AHT Winter teams through 2013 and 2014, has experience with many interesting conservation projects in Australia and elsewhere, and has a passion for Antarctic history.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

Sue has selected the first batch of iron alloy objects that will undergo desalination! Objects include stove parts, dog chains, hooks and shackels.

Stefanie White, objects conservator, has also wintered in Antarctica twice before, working with AHT in 2013 and 2014 on objects from Captain RF Scott’s Discovery hut and Terra Nova hut.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

The newcomers to the Trust are Ciarán Lavelle, objects conservator, and Josefin Jiménez, paper conservator. Both have been following the project with interest for some time and are delighted to join the team. 

Antarctic Heritage Trust

Ciaran Lavelle

 

Josefin conserves the deteriorated labels on bottles of pickel and L&P's worcestershire sauceAntarctic Heritage Trust

Josefin conserves the deteriorated labels on bottles of pickel and L&P’s worcestershire sauce

Surprisingly the team has a strong Irish connection as both Stefanie and Ciarán are Irish and Josefin, albeit Swedish, has been living and working in Dublin for a year before coming to New Zealand.

It is going to be an exciting year with many fantastic objects to uncover. It is already amazing to see the new objects emerge and, as Borchgrevink’s hut is located in the middle of the world’s largest Adelié penguin colony (population 750,000), some of them are quite literally emerging … from vague shapes covered in guano and feathers, into recognisable historic artefacts (with a very distinct aroma).

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Favourites

February 22, 2016 - Antarctic Blog

By Sue Bassett

During the decade of work by the Trust’s on-ice conservation teams, many personal insights have been gained into the lives of the early expeditioners. Some of the paper items from Captain RF Scott’s hut at Cape Evans provide good examples.

In addition to a range of adventure stories and military novels, there are a surprisingly large number of paperback romances … and, judging by the degree of wear and sooty fingerprints, they were rather well read!

The stories seem to reflect the sensibilities of the era and are of variable quality – although almost all seem to feature prolonged bouts of blushing between the chief protagonists. One of the best (or worst) involves a hero called Dr Love who finds he has feelings for an impoverished actress and resolves to free her from the profession. The end pages are unfortunately missing, so we can only hope that it ends as a proper romance should.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

Many of the magazines, too, combine stories of popular interest with the frivolous and banal (not to mention articles on fashion for the ladies). To Scott’s men, who often had to survive gruelling conditions, such throwaway reading matter was likely valued as a diversion. Along the same lines are two scrapbook-style montages tacked to the wall in the officers’ sleeping area. One comprises a wonderful selection of images—all cut from magazines—mainly of women with big hats, parasols and big hair, all surrounding a large central image of a very well-fed cat. The other, a firm favourite of ours, is a collection of cut-out pictures of dogs pasted to the back of a plywood crate lid … presumably by someone very fond of man’s best friend and perhaps also missing his pooch back home.

Antarctic Heritage Trust
Antarctic Heritage Trust
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Dogs

October 28, 2015 - Antarctic Blog

By Sue Bassett

While Captain RF Scott wasn’t keen on the idea of using dogs as his main means of transport to the South Pole—largely because of the cruelty and sacrifice involved—he did take a team of 35 sledging dogs (and a collie bitch, ‘Lassie’) to Antarctica on his 1910–13 expedition.

Antarctic Heritage Trust - dogsRoyal Geographical Society

Antarctic Heritage Trust – dogs

The sledging dogs were collected in Siberia, moved by dog-driver to Vladivostok, and transported by steamer to Lyttelton, New Zealand, via Sydney, to be loaded onto the ‘Terra Nova’ for the 5-week voyage to Antarctica. There they lived in the expedition hut’s stables at Cape Evans under the control of their handler, CH Meares. Each had a name and their antics, personalities, highs and lows are referred to frequently in Scott’s journals.

Later, Ernest Shackleton’s 1914–17 Ross Sea support party also had a small team of dogs at the hut. Ten members of the expedition were marooned at Cape Evans when their ship, ‘SY Aurora’, still containing most of their supplies and equipment, broke anchor and was swept away from shore. Ernest Joyce, who was the leader of the sledging party, and his team relied heavily on their surviving dogs to bring their weakened scurvy ridden bodies home after their journey across the Ross Ice Shelf to lay depots of stores.

Samson, one of the dogs that went to the ice with Shackleton's Ross Sea Party.Cantebury Museum

Samson, one of the dogs that went to the ice with Shackleton’s Ross Sea Party.

Nearly a century later, the degraded body of an unidentified sledging dog from one of these expeditions still lay chained to the northern wall outside the stables at the Cape Evans hut. There are photographs of the dog from the 1950s, when it was desiccated but still largely articulated within its coat. Since then, the ravages of the elements and disturbance by opportunistic skuas – scavenging seabirds, which live in abundance around Cape Evans – have resulted in decay and loss of the dog’s flesh and skin, and disarticulation and scattering of exposed skeletal material.

During the Trust’s recent work to carry out essential repairs to the stables, the dog’s remains were re-excavated and moved. As a protection against further deterioration, they were relocated inside the stables and laid out in one of the pony stalls. The dogs of both Scott’s and the Ross Sea Party’s expeditions were usually allowed to roam freely around in the stables so it is a fitting final resting place.

Lucy conserves the skeleton of a husky from the Ross Sea Party at Cape Evans. Antarctic Heritage Trust

Lucy conserves the skeleton of a husky from the Ross Sea Party at Cape Evans. The skeleton was re-associated after several years of meltwater and wind erosion had begun to scatter the bones.

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Midwinter

June 18, 2014 - Antarctic Blog

By Sue Bassett

Midwinter is upon us, for those in the southern hemisphere at least. For those of us in Antarctica, midwinter is traditionally a time of celebration and feasting. We’ve reached our shortest day—our darkest day—and now we move towards the return of the light and the return of the sun in a couple of months’ time. Definitely a milestone to be celebrated!

Antarctic Heritage Trust - midwinter

Antarctic Heritage Trust – midwinter

But where did this ‘tradition’ begin, on a continent with a very short history? Certainly not with the members of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition who, in 1898, became the first expeditioners to winter in Antarctica after being trapped in the ice aboard their ship ‘Belgica’. For them it was all doom and gloom, with tales of ‘dreary, cheerless days’, of hardship, extreme discontent, illness and tragedy. Midwinter was described as ‘the darkest day of the night; a more dismal sky and a more depressing scene could not be imagined’. And, to add ‘another cloud to the hell of blackness’, their beloved cat, Nansen, succumbed to the long darkness at midwinter, and died.

Nansen, the 'Belgica' catCredit unknown

Nansen, the ‘Belgica’ cat

The midwinter tradition should probably be credited to Robert Falcon Scott, who on his first expedition just four years later describes the festivities of midwinter 1902 in some detail. There were decorations ‘with designs in coloured papers and festooned with chains and ropes’ and ‘the tables were loaded with plum puddings, mince pies, and cakes’. There were speeches, presents, sing-songs, champagne, and great revelry, with which, Scott records, ‘we agreed that life in the Antarctic regions was worth living’.

As we at Scott Base hung the decorations, opened gifts and tucked into our 9-course midwinter dinner, shared with some good friends from neighbouring McMurdo Station, we couldn’t have agreed more. Salute!

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Let There Be Light … and Heat!

June 11, 2014 - Antarctic Blog

By Meg Absolon

Let there be light… and heat!

The flick of the switch is usually all it takes for us to enjoy a good read on the couch in a warm room on a cold winter evening. There may be a wood fire or central heating, an electric blanket, underfloor heating or even a lovely heated towel rack in the bathroom. A microwave is a handy way to warm the hot chocolate and the light dimmers can create some ambiance. And everything smells as good as the roast that comes out of the oven. Ahhh…

Back to reality. Lucky for me, my reality is most of the above combined with corrosion removal during the day. And I’ve just completed conserving a fabulous large Homelight Lamp Oil fuel can from Discovery Hut which was a provision of the British Antarctic Expedition.

Homelight lamp oil canAntarctic Heritage Trust

Homelight lamp oil can

The same brand of oil was also sent down in this beautiful wooden box.

Wooden boxAntarctic Heritage Trust

Wooden box

I’ve also recently worked on small oil cans containing oil in remarkably good condition. There were many types of oils and fuels, including calcium carbide for acetylene lighting, brought down on the historic expeditions to create heat and light for the long winters, with seal blubber as the final resort.

Small oil canAntarctic Heritage Trust

Small oil can

At Scott Base today we have all the heat and lighting required to live an exceptionally comfortable winter existence provided mostly by diesel fuel generation with an impressive 22% of delivery by wind power. Plus a toasty gas powered ‘log’ fire to read Scott’s Journal in front of. 

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Can You Still Tell a Man by His Shoes?

June 11, 2014 - Antarctic Blog

By Stefanie White

My grandmother, my mother and even my best friend have been heard announcing the old view that ‘you can tell a man by his shoes’ implying that shoes can portray a man’s moral character. Today that view may be mostly obsolete, especially in the Antarctic.

In the Antarctic, where there is little room for fashionable and aesthetic footwear, our shoes and boots are practical. Designed for Extreme Cold Weather, they are big, sometimes knee high, and insulated with high soles and thick layers of fleece. With wear and tear, we repair them and with decreasing temperature and new demands, we alter them.

Stefanie (front), with Meg, Sue and Aline holding their practical Antarctic boots.Antarctic Heritage Trust

Stefanie (front), with Meg, Sue and Aline holding their practical Antarctic boots.

This was also the case for Scott and his men. They patched, re-stitched and altered their boots often adding hobnails to increase grip for walking on ice and stuffing insulating sennegrass inside to help overcome freezing temperatures.

One may interpret that these men stayed true to their old boots, maintaining and caring for them. These men were professional and practical yet display chaotic domestic habits in the scruff and buildup of dirt on the boot soles. Perhaps, pronate distortions in the boots tell that they were sometimes stressed and exhausted with sore and cold feet.

It was sometimes the case that the historic explorers wore less practical and fancier shoes. Uncovered from under Wilson’s bed, in Scott’s Terra Nova Hut at Cape Evans, a black patent leather pomp, with a decorative grosgrain bow, was found. This rather fancy shoe is completely unsuitable for the harsh Antarctic conditions and may perhaps lend a tale about a man’s more sensitive character. The owner of this shoe was a man with grounded feet; a man with a sense of vanity, style and perhaps even artistic humour.

Overall, we can be sure of one thing: Practical and durable boots are a necessity for surviving the harsh Antarctic conditions and equally as important is  the superficial and impractical accessory that can sometimes lift a man’s moral and make him feel at home.

A dress shoe, found at Scott's Cape Evans hut.Antarctic Heritage Trust

A dress shoe, found at Scott’s Cape Evans hut.

 

Antarctic Heritage Trust - boot

Antarctic Heritage Trust – boot

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antarcticheritage

Antarctic Heritage Trust staff and alumni were pro Antarctic Heritage Trust staff and alumni were proud to host 100 year twelve students from eleven different South Auckland schools at the Trust's Explorer Conference held last week.

Ministry for Culture and Heritage Chief Executive Laulu Mac Leauanae opened the Conference, encouraging students to step out of their comfort zone and embrace an explorer mindset. Trust alumni Georgie Archibald, William Pike, Laura Andrews, Emily Wilson, Owain John and Brando Yelavich enthusiastically engaged the students in a range of workshops and inspirational talks about their own experiences as Inspiring Explorers, and how exploration can change lives in a meaningful way.

Students also heard from keynote speaker Faumuina Felolini Maria Tafuna’i.
She educated students on the art of wayfinding – a model that draws on the wisdom from Pacific star navigators and ocean voyagers who navigated and settled the Pacific to create a safe space for rangatahi to discuss the many challenges they face.

In the afternoon, students put what they learnt at the workshops into action with a session at Wero Whitewater Park where they built their own rafts and raced them.

#inspire #explore #discover #antarctica #conserve

📸 Inspiring Explorer William Pike gets a selfie with a student. Students work together in Laura Andrew’s workshop. Keynote speaker Faumuina Felonini Maria Tafuna’i. Inspiring Explorer Brando Yelavich awes students with stories of his incredible expeditions. Inspiring Explorer Georgie Archibald running a workshop. © AHT
#OnThisDay in 1868, Robert Falcon Scott was born i #OnThisDay in 1868, Robert Falcon Scott was born in Devon, England. At the age of 13 he began his naval career and by 1897 had become a first lieutenant.

A chance meeting with Sir Clements Markham in 1899 led to him being offered the command of the National Antarctic 'Discovery' Expedition 1901-04. Despite having no polar experience, the expedition was deemed a great success in exploration and scientific research, and he proved to be a competent leader and was promoted to Captain.

Scott's second expedition, the British Antarctic 'Terra Nova' Expedition of 1910-13 set off with the aims of studying the Ross Sea area and to reach the South Pole. At the time Scott's party weren't to realise that it would turn into a race against Roald Amundsen and upon reaching the Pole, were bitterly disappointed to find that they had come second to the Norwegian party. Sadly, Scott and his party all perished on their return from the Pole, but despite this Scott was regarded as a national hero for his courage and patriotism.

Scott's legacy lives on today with many famous landmarks and stories kept alive by those inspired by Scott's scientific endeavors and explorative nature. Antarctic Heritage Trust is proud to care for both of Scott's Antarctic bases, which are located at Hut Point and Cape Evans. The huts have been conserved over many years - including the thousands of items left behind by the men.

📸 Captain Robert Falcon Scott

#OTD #inspire #explore #discover #conserve #Antarctica #robertfalconscott
#OnThisDay in 1872, Royal Navy Lieutenant and Chie #OnThisDay in 1872, Royal Navy Lieutenant and Chief Engineer and photographer for Scott's British National 'Discovery' Expedition, Reginald Skelton was born.

Skelton was born in Lincolnshire, and educated at Bromsgrove School, Worcestershire before joining the Royal Navy in 1887. During his time on the 'HMS Majestic' from 1899 to 1900, Skelton had risen to the position of senior engineer and served with Robert Falcon Scott. This meeting led to Skeleton's appointment to supervise the building of Scott's expedition ship 'Discovery' as ship's engineer. Once in Antarctica and particularly in the winter, Skelton assumed other duties for the good of the expedition. He became "photographer-in-chief" to the expedition and produced some of the best pictures of Antarctica obtained up to that date!

Following his time in the Antarctic, Skelton returned and served in World War 1 and rose through the service becoming Engineer Rear-Admiral in 1923, Engineer Vice-Admiral in 1928 and Engineer-in-Chief of the Fleet, Admiralty. In 1931 he was knighted and retired the following year. He died in 1956, aged 84, at his home in Aldingbourne.

#inspire #explore #discover #conserve #Antarctica #OTD

📸 Officers of the `Discovery' on the 1901-1904 British Antarctic Expedition. Reginald Skelton six from left. Alexander Turnbull Library.
#OnThisDay in 1921, the decision to go South as pa #OnThisDay in 1921, the decision to go South as part of the Shackleton-Rowett 'Quest' Expedition 1921-22 is confirmed!

Shackleton met with several men who joined him on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914-17, both 'Endurance' and 'Aurora' party members; Frank Worsley, Frank Wild, Leonard Hussey, Lewis Rickinson and Joseph Stenhouse, as well as his partner John Quiller Rowett, Lee Keedick, Northrup McMillan, Percy Wallace and Laurence Legge. The men dined at the Savoy Restaurant in London, and all signed the menu, complete with drawings of penguins.

📸 Signed menu at Savoy Resturant. Copyright unknown. Sourced from @QuestChronicle

#inspire #explore #discover #conserve #Antarctica #OTD
#OnThisDay in 1956 British Antarctic explorer, nav #OnThisDay in 1956 British Antarctic explorer, naval surgeon and founder of the Public Schools Exploring Society (now British Exploring Society), George Murray Levick, died.

Levick was born in Newcastle in 1876. He studied medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital and in 1902 was commissioned in the Royal Navy. Several years later Levick was granted leave of absence to accompany Robert Falcon Scott on the British Antarctic 'Terra Nova' Expedition 1910-13 as surgeon and zoologist.

During this expedition, Levick was one of the six members of the Northern Party who built a hut and wintered at Cape Adare in 1911. The 'Terra Nova' then took the Northern Party south to complete geological work and surveys and they were dropped at Evans Cove 8 January 1912. They were supposed to be picked up a month later however because of the ice conditions the ship couldn't get to them and they spent the winter in a snow cave at Inexpressible Island, Terra Nova Bay. In the spring of 1912, the men travelled some 200 miles on meagre rations, finally reaching the safety of the hut at Cape Evans on 7 November 1912.

Earlier this year, Antarctic Heritage Trust repatriated several items to Scott's 'Terra Nova' hut at Cape Evans, including an improvised sledge distance meter which was used during their surveying work, and kept by George Levick. 

To read more about the story behind this, go to our website under Share, Latest news, Conservation: Link in bio

📸 George Murray Levick, self portrait. SPRI.

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#On this Day in 1879, polar explorer Edward Stewar #On this Day in 1879, polar explorer Edward Stewart Marshall was born in Hampstead, London. He read medicine at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and continued his studies at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, qualifying as a surgeon in 1906.

Marshall was the surgeon on Shackleton's British Antarctic 'Nimrod' Expedition 1907-1909 and also the cartographer with the shore party. He was a member of the Southern Party, which led by Shackelton, achieved the Farthest South record of latitude 88° 23' South, longitude 162° East in January 1909, in their attempt to reach the South Pole. During this journey, Marshall was instrumental in saving the lives of the party by struggling to a food depot when the rest of the party was exhausted.

After his expedition to Antarctica, Marshall went on to research nutritional deficiency diseases and had a successful military career.

He was awarded the Polar Medal and a Military Cross and is commemorated in Antarctica by the naming of the Marshall Mountains 84°37' S 164°30' E.

📸 Wild, Shackleton, Marshall and Adams upon their return from the Southern Journey (Canterbury Museum).

#explore #discover #antarctica #OTD #shackleton #endurance
The Trust welcomes several new members to our Boar The Trust welcomes several new members to our Board in 2023. Brent Clothier joins as the Royal Society Te Apārangi representative, Rex Hendry as the New Zealand Antarctic Society representative, and Aliesha Staples is appointed as a new Independent Trustee.

We are delighted that Governance Interns Mike Dawson and Georgina Archibald have joined the Board as full Independent Trustees, and we welcome two new Governance Interns, Laura Andrews and Tasman Gillies.

To find out more about our new Board members go to our website, Link in Bio under SHARE, LATEST NEWS

📸 Clockwise from top left: Aliesha Staples, Dr Brent Clothier, Mike Dawson, Tasman Gillies, Laura Andrews, Georgina Archibald, Rex Hendry © AHT

#discover #inspire #explore #conserve #antarctica
📣REMINDER: GIVEAWAY ALERT!📣 To win a copy o 📣REMINDER: GIVEAWAY ALERT!📣

To win a copy of Volume 1 of the graphic novel adaptation of 'The Worst Journey in the World' by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, worth $NZD45.00, adapted by Disney animator Sarah Airriess, simply comment that you would like to enter by midnight Sunday 28 May. The winner will be chosen at random and announced on Monday 29 May. If you receive a reply asking you to click a link – this is not genuine. These messages are not posted by Antarctic Heritage Trust.

We are celebrating the Trust becoming the New Zealand distributor for this fantastic book. Originally published in 1922, Cherry-Garrard’s classic of travel literature chronicles the epic tragedy of Captain Scott's British Antarctic Expedition of 1910-1913. Now, a century later, Sarah Airriess has adapted this classic into a graphic novel series, spanning four books, spending over a decade researching the expedition to tell the story completely and faithfully. The book is not just about the exploration, but also about the personalities of the men involved and the science they undertook.

Purchase the graphic novel from the Antarctic Heritage Trust website: Link in bio

#inspire #discover #explore #conserve #antarctica #TravelLiterature #TerraNovaExpedition #GraphicNovel #TheWorstJourneyInTheWorld #Giveaway #Competition

@twirlynoodle @WorstJourneyGN @indienovella
Over the summer season, our On-Ice Conservation te Over the summer season, our On-Ice Conservation team repatriated several artefacts to Scott’s Terra Nova hut at Cape Evans, including an improvised sledge distance meter wheel once owned by George Murray Levick. Levick was the surgeon, zoologist and a photographer on Scott’s British Antarctic Expedition 1910 – 1913. He was part of the Northern Party who built a hut and wintered at Cape Adare in 1911.

To learn more about the history of this fascinating artefact, go to our website Link in bio; SHARE, LATEST NEWS, CONSERVATION

📸 A sledge distance meter wheel placed with other sledging equipment in Scott's 'Terra Nova' hut © AHT-Lizzie Meek

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    NZAHT ExteriorSledging team outside Terra Nova hut, Herbert Ponting
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