News Story Archives

An Update from Port Lockroy

November 15, 2018 - Antarctic Blog, Conserve, UKAHT

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.

UKAHT

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.

Antarctic Field Training for Beginners

November 14, 2018 - Antarctic Blog

This has been a busy second week, with a lot of the work focussed around the TAE/IGY Hut. However, the highlight for me this week was attending Antarctica New Zealand’s Antarctic Field Training (AFT). This is a course which all event members participate in and is designed to equip people with the basic skills required for overnight camping in the Antarctic.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

Conservation Ambassador Mike Gillies in front of Mount Erebus

We began by setting off under the leadership of Chris, our resident West Coast ANTNZ field trainer, in a Hagglund along the Ross Ice Shelf. After about half an hour of putting along we reached the AFT camping site. There were seven other participants on the course, all from a range of backgrounds and nationalities: scientists studying seals, a member of the Antarctic Society, and a new ANTNZ staff member.

Mike Gillies

Field training camp

Our first task was to erect the Scott Polar tents; a tent design which hasn’t changed a whole lot in a hundred years. The next task was building a camp kitchen, which would also allow the group to get out of the wind and weather. We decided upon the ‘spa pool’ design. In other words, dig a round pit with a bench seat big enough to sit a dozen people, and then cut blocks of snow to build a wall surrounding the pit to keep the wind away. The group ‘dug into it’ and after an hour we had our home-away-from-home!

Mike Gillies

Having a well deserved rest after building the camp kitchen

Dinner was cooked on Primus stoves; all manner of dehydrated backcountry packet meals were on offer – Sweet and Sour Lamb, Beef Curry, Chicken Tikka Masala – yum, yum! The cloud cleared during dinner and provided a great opportunity for taking photos of Mt Erebus and the surrounding landscape.

Mike Gillies

Camping out in front of Mount Erebus

Then it was time for bed. Now for the million dollar question…? Was I warm enough while camping at -15C on the ice. Yep, absolutely. ANTNZ has a sleeping bag arrangement which is second to none, and if anything, I was too hot and wouldn’t have minded if the temperature dropped a little more during the night!

Mike Gillies

Time out in the camp kitchen

The next day it was up for a quick cuppa and porridge. After breakfast we packed up camp and headed back to Scott Base. What a great experience.

Peninsula Partnership Update

May 9, 2020 - Antarctic Blog, Share, UKAHT

Over a seven-week period in late 2019, the Trust’s Programme Manager Lizzie Meek, journeyed via South America to the Antarctic Peninsula, to work alongside British conservator Sophie Rowe, surveying the artefact collection inside Bransfield House and the Boatshed, the two remaining 1948 Base A buildings at Port Lockroy.

Conservation Assessment – Context and Aims

March 4, 2020 - Antarctic Blog, Share, UKAHT

‘What on earth are you doing here?’ asked a surprised friend of mine who arrived at Port Lockroy as a tourship safety guide, and bumped into me in the hallway of Bransfield House.

Antarctic Twitching

February 24, 2020 - Antarctic Blog, Share, UKAHT

It seems like the more time you spend observing wildlife, the more there is to observe and the more interesting you find them.

Working in the Field

February 17, 2020 - Antarctic Blog, Share, UKAHT

Working for hours at a time in sub-zero temperatures when you are cataloguing means you move very little.

Tutti Frutti

February 12, 2020 - Antarctic Blog, Share, UKAHT

My experience of the Antarctic Expedition ships we travelled on, is that they go to great lengths to keep their guests happy and healthy. The hospitality on board from the crew is often exceptional, and I was struck by the enjoyment and creativity they brought to their work.

Logistics and Delays

February 6, 2020 - Antarctic Blog, Share, UKAHT

Sometimes getting to Antarctica is as simple as getting on a plane in New Zealand and stepping off 5 hours later into sub zero temperatures. This year’s work expedition to Port Lockroy, (the British base on the Antarctic Peninsula managed by the United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust) was a whole other story.

Antarctic Conservation Season Update June 2022

June 7, 2022 - Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project News, Antarctic Blog, Conserve, News Story, Uncategorized

The 2021-22 summer Antarctic season saw a seven-person conservation team spend nearly two months working on an extended monitoring and maintenance programme at the Ross Island explorer bases of Robert Falcon Scott at Cape Evans and Hut Point, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s base at Cape Royds, and Sir Edmund Hillary’s hut at Pram Point.

Summer 2022-23 Conservation Season

September 28, 2022 - Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project News, Conserve, News Story, Uncategorized

To support the ongoing conservation of the Ross Island explorer bases, this summer the Trust will have a team of five on-Ice led by Collections Conservation Manager Lizzie Meek, including a heritage carpenter, two artefact conservators, and a building conservation support person.