The North Pole

16 Apr

Six ‘Ordinary Men’ made it to the North Pole on the 11th April 2012. They are promoting a charity ‘Sparks’ which has the laudable aim of ensuring that all children are born healthy and stay healthy. The doctor with the six men is Dr. Ed Coats who was previously a member of the British team in the ‘Omega’ manhauling race to the SOUTH pole in the footsteps of Scott. He was chosen by James Cracknell and Ben Fogal to accompany them.

Ed was very helpful to me over the question of the amount of fluid that is needed each day for manhauling when I was writing my book about Edgar Evans (up to 7 litres, enough to keep the urine dilute and much more than Scott and his party took). How Ed manages to combine these efforts with his medical career is remarkable.

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Memorial plea for Scott’s mate

10 Apr

There is a piece in ‘This is South Wales’ published yesterday:

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/Memorial-plea-Scott-s-mate/story-15761797-detail/story.httm

It draws attention to the increasing interest in a memorial for Edgar in South Wales.  None was erected after his death, both for financial  reasons and the insidious implications in some national newspapers, that Edgar was somehow responsible for the deaths of the whole party.

I hope that this interest will be maintained. Edgar’s grandson, John Evans,  is a keen instigator.

A  ‘comment ‘ by Dai_Chotomy who writes under the heading of ‘please explain mate’  says that ‘an egotistical snob (like Scott), would not have befriended a low born Welsh Man. Also that Edgar was not a Mate in the Naval meaning (he was, in fact a Chief Petty Officer).  Although  it is probably true that Scott would not have counted Edgar as his personal friend, he certainly admired Edgar and looked on him with affection — he had after all, spent 62 days with Edgar and Lashley when on the ‘Discovery Expedition’ they travelled far onto the Plateau. Scott regularly said how much he owed to Edgar, — the sledges, the ski shoes, the sledge fittings, Edgar’s good humour and fund of jokes.  Scott truly appreciated Edgar and with  very good reason.

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Edward Wilson was a great ornithologist

5 Apr

David Saunders has written in the March 2012 edition  of ‘ Birdwatching’ to draw attention to Edward Wilson’s legacy in relation to ornithology. He points out that an enthusiasm for natural history was ‘in Wilson’s blood’, his grandfather and great uncle were  keen naturalists and benefactors of the Pittsburg Museum. They advanced, Saunders says, the study of natural sciences in the United States.

Wilson kept a diary from the age of 17 on his natural history observations: cloud formation, birds, rain etc, of no obvious interest to anyone but himself, but although his bent was in natural history, he trained to be a doctor. He went on the ‘Discovery’ expedition as junior doctor and zoologist and made a  huge collection of drawings and paintings of the flora and fauna and topography of Antarctica.

His work on the Grouse Commission is not well known. The sport brought £1,000,000 annually to the Scottish economy, so the death of thousands of red grouse was a serious worry. Wilson worked on the problem for four years travelling endlessly and dissected almost 2,000 grouse. He definitively found the cause and suggested remedies. He did not live to see the published report, a large tome, most of the illustrations were done by him.

He illustrated ‘British Mammals’ with 27 colour plates, 54 black and white and 250 small illustrations.

His legacy to the ornithological world is large and should be remembered. He was Scott’s friend and confident and interested Scott in natural sciences. Scott’s last words to Kathleen his wife, was to ask her to make their son interested in natural sciences. Peter Scott fulfilled this hope magnificently.

H

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When Antarctica was Green

4 Apr

A fantastic lecture in Cambridge given by Professor Jane Francis. Professor of Paleoclimatology at the University of Leeds. She went through  Antarctic history in million year bands. Apparently ferns flourished over 200,000.000 years ago, trees were prolific about 100,000.000 years ago. Wilson’s glossopteris was apparent nearly 300, 000.000 years ago (as was coal which he identified on the final expedition). The Eocene period was the time just before ice set in, a mere 40,000.000 years ago. Jane  showed paintings by an artist colleague,  which illustrated what the plants and animal life would have looked like. The paintings were informed by the fossils and remains found in Antarctica.

So, up to about 40, ooo.ooo years ago Antarctica was warm and tropical. Will we go back to that?

Incidentally, Marie Stopes was a geologist and specialist in glossopteris before she became involved in birth control. She met Scott at a dinner and wanted to go with him to the Antarctic. She  got him to promise to search for fossils and predicted that glossopteris would be found.

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Online coverage of Edgar Evans’ story

3 Apr

I am really pleased that Edgar’s story has attracted ONLINE cover in the Daily Mail and the Western Mail. Both give a good account of his achievements

The Daily Mail online is http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2123592/Edgar-Evans-Explorer-blamed-Captain-Scotts-ill-fated-Antarctic-mission-unsung-hero-say-historians.html

Western Mail  coverage is: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/showbiz-and-lifestyle/books-in-wales/2012/03/31/edgar-evans-antarctic-hero-91466-30653464/

It is wonderful that the story will be reaching so wide a readership

 

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Service at St Paul’s to commemorate the Terra Nova expedition

2 Apr

This was a wonderful, memorable occasion, made more so because the sun shone  throughout. I had not realised how impressive and awe inspiring the Cathedral is. The military band played as we entered and was succeeded, beautifully,  by the Sub-Organist.  Sir David Attenborough read from Scott’s ‘Message to the Public’ as it has never been read before. The Bishop of London gave insight into the significance of the mens’ achievements, both in terms of exploration and in scientific advances.He pointed out that their work was not the end, but the beginning of  peaceful progress in Antarctic Science.Three descendants of the Terra Nova expedition led a Litany of Praise and Prayer.  The Princess Royal read the second lesson.

Everyone attending seemed moved and uplifted. It was a ‘spot on’, appropriate, recognition, one hundred years after the heroes deaths

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My Life on Shelter Island

21 Mar

Zoe Hudson has written to say how much her seven year old daughter enjoyed the book. This gives me great pleasure. I hope other young girls may enjoy it too. Milla remains fixated on horses. W hen she stays with me she goes to  muck out  in a stable every day and does not even mind if she cannot ride the ponies. She does not mind if we have to be in the stable at 6am!

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The food on the expeditions

17 Mar

Jackie Gould has written to enquire if it would have been better to eat fresh meat on the expedition, an interesting question which is often worried about.

In fact, after the outbreak of scurvy on the ‘Discovery’ expedition, the men did eat fresh meat when they were at Base Camp (except on Tuesday which was the cook’s night off and which they called ‘scurvy Tuesday’)!  The problem lay wiith the meat that they took on the sledges; to reduce weight they boiled it, thus reducing the vitamin content.

The real problem with Scott’s manhauling expedition was the amount of food they ate. They ate approximately 4,600 calories per day, which they thought would be sufficient (Amundsen took a similar amount) but manhauling as Scott did, as apposed to riding on sledges requires much more. Mike Stroud, of the Biochemical Research Unit in Nutrition at Southampton, has estimated the daily requirement as being over 7,ooo calories and more for pulling up the glacier. This means by the time that Scott’s party died they had lost about 40% of their body weight.

In relation to the proportion of fats, protein, carbohydrate, modern theory suggests that Scott took too much protein and too little fat on his final expedition. Scott took a daily protein intake of 29% and a fat intake of 24% (carbohydrate 24%). Modern manhauling expeditions in Antarctica have  taken a daily intake containing 57% fat  and only 8% protein. The modern rations are more ‘energy dense’, but Scott, of course, like everyone else at the time, knew nothing of this.

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The wives of the dead heroes

14 Mar

A blogger has written to ask about the ongoing lives of the wives of the men who died with Scott.

This is an interesting question. Three of Scott’s party were married: Scott himself, Edward Wilson and Edgar Evans.

When the news reached England, pensions were awarded to the widows. The amounts were determined on the ranks of their husbands. Kathleen Scott received an Admiralty Pension of £200 p.a.a gratuity of £693 and £36 back pay. She was given a Government Pension of £200 p.a. and £850 from the Mansion House Trust Fund (M.H.T.F.), her husbands British Antarctic Expedition  (B.A.E.) salary, plus income from books and articles. She was a wealthy woman.

Oriana Wilson received £300 from Government Pensions, £850 from the M.H.T.F and Wilson’s B.A.E salary of £636

Lois Evans and her three children had an Admiralty Pension of 7s 6p a week, 2s a week for the children (when they were minors), plus £52 back pay, a government pension of 12s 6p a week plus 3s a week for each child. She was given £1,250 from the M.H.T.F and her husband’s £44 B.A.S salary. She professed haeself well satisfied.

Kathleen was awarded the rank of widow of a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1913. She remarried in 1922 and became Baroness Kennet in 1935.

Orians did not remarry. The news of her husband’s death shook her faith, she never really recovered from his loss. She worked for the N.Z Red Cross in World War 1 and was made C.B.E. She supported Frank Debenham in the new Scott Polar Research Institute and presented the institute with many water colours and pencil sketches. She followed her husband’s interest in ornithology and became quite an expert. She lived in Hertfordshire and died there in 1945.

Lois remained in Wales She was with the other widows for an investiture in Buckingham Palace where she received Edgar’s medal and clasp which celebrated his Antarctic expeditions. She was the only widow alive at the premier of ‘Scott in the Antarctic’ a famous film, still remembered and premiered in 1948

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‘The Blinding Sea’, documentary film by George Tombs

5 Mar

My attention has been drawn to this film, (which is due for release this month), by the Canadian writer and film maker, George Tombs.  The work emphasises how Amundsen was extremely well versed  in dealing with Polar conditions, well before his attempt on the Pole in 1911. He  lived with and learnt from the Inuits. He understood how to manage dog teams, when to kill weaker dogs and importantly how to ward off scurvy by eating meat regularly as well as undigested seaweed from the intestines of slaughtered seals. Amundsen’s recognition  and appreciation of Inuit skills stood him in good stead in the Antarctic. They apparently thought of him as ‘one of their own’.

These were skills that  Scott had no opportunity to learn. Although diligent in acquiring every piece of information and technical advance, his time was completely taken up  between 1904 and 1909 with his naval career (and supporting his mother and sisters). There was no space for exploration. The fact that he did not take dogs onto the glacier and plateau in 1911 contributed significantly to the final tragic outcome.

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