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 McCormack
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 of the world’s most famous historic ships including HMS Victory.
Working in Antarctica has been a childhood dream of Diana’s and she is excited to contribute to the conservation of Scott’s and Shackleton’s historic huts, especially since Scott is one of Diana’s heroes.
Diana McCormack and Chris Ansin as they arrive in Antarctica
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.
Chris & Diana
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 of Conservation, and NIWA, to give once in a lifetime opportunities to young people wanting to learn more and experience our environment. I cannot thank The Sir Peter Blake Trust, Antarctic Heritage Trust and Antarctica New Zealand enough for this amazing experience and the generosity and support they have all shown me.
Here is a short and sweet background to who I am and how I came to be here. I am a 25 year old process engineer who grew up in the deep south of Dunedin, a city based off Edinburgh with a personality to match. I studied in Christchurch and have spent the last two years in New Plymouth before moving to Auckland to explore the winterless north.
I have spent the past few days being inducted into Antarctic life- learning about the immense history of the historic huts and meeting the great team that I will be working with. This includes Diana (pictured above) as the conservation ambassador, and Antarctic Heritage Trust staff Lizzie Meek (Programme Manager – Artefacts), and Al Fastier (Programme Manager). We spent two hours fitting out our clothes! If puffer jackets got their name from being puffy, then these things should be called mellow puffs, they are seriously warm!
I am several nights away from flying and already I cannot sleep thinking about this trip! If my job description is anything to go by then I will have my work cut out for me. I can’t wait to share my journey, and I hope you enjoy coming with me on this life-changing experience.
Written by Chris Ansin, Antarctic Heritage Trust and Sir Peter Blake Trust Antarctic Youth Ambassador
Antarctic Heritage Trust Diana and Chris on the plane down to Antarctica!
We are delighted to officially release this short film ‘Mt Scott – An Expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula’ made by Inspiring Explorer Simon Lucas.
Inspiring Explorers aims to connect young people with Antarctica’s history and the spirit of exploration. Simon’s film shares the story of four young Kiwi explorers who travel to Antarctica to attempt a guided ascent of Mt Scott – named for early polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott. Simon, along with William Pike, Sylvie Admore and Isobel Ewing all faced their own challenges in their quest to reach the summit. The team travelled with partner One Ocean Expeditions.
Simon Lucas has a Science degree (Zoology) and a Post-graduate diploma in Wildlife Management from the University of Otago. He was part of a team that made a 1500km canoe trip through the Canadian and Alaskan wilderness, which resulted in an award-winning documentary ‘Paddle for the North’. This short film won five international awards and was a part of three international film tours. Simon has skills in shooting film, editing and promotion, especially in the digital space. He is experienced in the alpine environment with hunting and hiking and is a qualified dive master. Simon has travelled extensively through Europe, North America and South America and recently returned from a trip to the Zambesi River in Africa on which he is making a documentary about the threats it faces.
Cape Adare in Antarctica is one of the most isolated locations in the world and in 1898 the British Antarctic Expedition made it their home as the first team, led by Carsten Borchgrevink, to live and explore on the great unknown seventh continent.
Antarctic Heritage Trust Borchgrevink’s huts at Cape Adare.
This epic journey of exploration was for the intention of widening knowledge of the natural world. The goal of the expedition included an element of scientific study, such as meteorological study.
Understanding the weather of the Antarctic continent is as important today as it was for the first explorers in the region. One tool used to measure the wind speed was an anemometer, an example of which was found at Cape Adare, minus one of its 4 cups. The damage the anemometer suffered hints at the extreme winds that frequently scour the landscape.
This style of anemometer was invented by Dr John Thomas Romney Robinson, of Armagh Observatory in 1846. It is a fitting coincidence that this would be one of the final artefacts to have come across my bench in my final days working on the project. As the anemometer will return along with the other conserved artefacts to Cape Adare, I have come to the end of my involvement in the conservation project and prepare to return to Armagh. I will leave with the experiences I have had, the friends I have made and the knowledge that I have played my part in preserving the incredible history of Cape Adare and an inspiring story of human courage, endurance and exploration.
Written by Ciarán Lavelle, AHT Conservator.
Antarctic Heritage Trust Anemometer – before treatment. From Cape Adare site.
Antarctic Heritage Trust Anemometer – after treatment. From Cape Adare site.
Antarctic Heritage Trust Borchgrevink’s huts at Cape Adare.
Antarctic Heritage Trust The Trust employs a team of specialist conservators from around the world to assist on conservation projects.
Left to right: Josefin Bergmark-Jiménez, Sue Bassett, Nicola Dunn-Stewart and Ciarán Larvelle.
New Zealand artist Sean Garwood is exhibiting his new series of paintings at Antarctic Season Opening in October.
His series of 16 paintings captures the historic Antarctic huts of Sir Ernest Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott evoking a strong sense of the heroic era of polar exploration.
Sean Garwood Shackleton’s Hut – oil on canvas
“My long-held ambition to visit the historic Antarctica huts of Sir Ernest Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott came to fruition in November 2015. This was made possible after a successful proposal to Antarctica New Zealand’s Community Engagement Program. The main focus of exhibition is to showcase the huts themselves and the artefacts they house,”
Upon entering each hut, I felt a sense of deep reverence. I stood there, very still and soaking it in.
“Alone in the cradle of a significant part of modern world exploration history. The light was muted with a slight declination of the sun and so very silent. I could hear the eerie wind funnelling around the huts, with slight creaking of timbers and doors. The men seemed very close indeed. A deep chill ran all the way down my spine. I find it very difficult to describe in words the feeling but it’s like no other and certainly a feeling I will never forget.”
Sean’s time at the huts involved sketching and photographing. This was hampered by the layers of clothing that is necessary to alleviate the sub-zero temperatures. The photographs were taken for reference as each painting is meticulously drawn out first and then transferred to the canvas where each oil painting can take four to six weeks to complete.
Sean says he is delighted that New Zealand Post have decided to use six of his paintings for the ‘Historic Huts of the Ross Dependency’ 2017 stamp issue, which will be available from early October 2017. Read more about the stamp issue here.
Sean Garwood’s Antarctica Exhibition
Sean Garwood setting up in Shackleton’s hut
Sean Garwood Cropped section of the painting showing detail. Courvoisier Cognac bottle and condiments in Discovery Hut.
Sean Garwood Night Watch, oil on panel. Paraffin lamp and ginger jar sitting on the table in Scott’s Hut.
Sean Garwood Shackleton’s Hut – oil on canvas
Sean Garwood Sean sketching on the Ice during field training.
The tins are from a box that was found under a bed at Cape Adare and came from Borchgrevink’s expedition.
Before we opened the wooden box the label on the top and the stenciled information on the sides told us much of what we needed to know about the history of the case and what it contained – six dozen tins of jam.
Antarctic Heritage Trust The box had been found under a bed at Cape Adare and came from Borchgrevink’s 1898-1900 British Antarctic Expedition. Borchgrevink is named on the lid in bold stenciling, as is Sir George Newnes, the wealthy magazine publisher who donated funds for the expedition.
The box had never been opened but as it was oozing sticky, sugary syrup conservator Martin took the lid off and we were astonished to see that it looked as if the tins had been wrapped and packed in sawdust only the week before! Even the sawdust smelt fresh and piney.
Underneath their wrappers many of the tins were in very good condition, almost like new, and have a beautiful iridescent, blue hand-painted lacquer coating contrasting with the decorative red and gold labels – we all wished we still had tins like this.
Unpacking and counting the tins we noted the eight flavours – raspberry, gooseberry, cherry and currant, plum, apricot, raspberry and currant, strawberry and my favourite, black currant. Just visible on the paper label on the box lid was a hand-written record of the contents including 9 raspberry and 12 gooseberry, and indeed the tins inside tallied exactly with the list.
We opened those that were leaking and emptied out the jam, keeping samples for future research, before treating the tins. All the jams looked new, smelt sweet and delicious, and were gorgeous colours. The strawberry and black currant even had little berries in them. But no, however tempting they looked, we didn’t try them!
All the Heroic Era Antarctic expeditions had to take huge quantities of food supplies with them, and we know that Borchgrevink took enough to last him three years including a ton of marmalade, a ton of Irish butter, and five tons of bread. Their daily menus appear to have been quite repetitive and in his diary Borchgrevink notes that every day their lunch would include cocoa, cabin biscuits, jam and marmalade.
As with much of Borchgrevink’s supplies the jam came from The Military Equipment Stores and Tortoise Tents Company but unfortunately the company no longer exists.
Likewise, the manufacturer of the jam tins, C&E Morton, who specialized in preserved foods closed its last factory in Lowestoft in 1988. But in 1897 it had factories in Aberdeen, Falmouth and Millwall; and left a sporting legacy as it was the Morton’s tinsmiths who, in 1885, established the Millwall Football Club.
Antarctic Heritage Trust Jams from Cape Adare hut – there are seven varieties.
Antarctic Heritage Trust Jams in their original packaging found in the Cape Adare hut artefacts.
Antarctic Heritage Trust Examples of the jams found at Cape Adare hut.
Antarctic Heritage Trust Conserved box of jams.
Antarctic Heritage Trust Lid of the box.
Antarctic Heritage Trust
7 Ron Guthrey Road, Christchurch 8053, New Zealand
Private Bag 4745, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
Antarctic Heritage Trust
7 Ron Guthrey Road, Christchurch 8053, New Zealand
Private Bag 4745, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand