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THE WILSON

14 Mar

Cheltenham  Art Gallery and Museum  a which opened in 1899, has undergone a major refurbishment, costing over £6.000,000, has been reopened as ‘The Wilson’ after Edward Adrian Wilson. He would have been incredibly proud, as would his father, who opened a floor there in 1907.

The new name results from consultation with the community who were keen to upgrade the previous, somewhat old fashioned description.

When I researched my biography of Wilson I spent weeks in the museum. Among the many interesting  items there is an unpublished memoir, written by Wilson’s grieving father, on ‘Ted’s’ life and contributions and, poignantly, on the life of one of Ted’s sisters, Gwladys, the family’s ‘gleam of sunshine’, who died aged 5 after a short illness. There is also a central spread from the ‘Illustrated London News’ reporting on Wilson’s uncle, General Sir Charles Wilson, who led an expedition down the Nile in a failed attempt to rescue Gordon of Khartoum. Also a huge book, The Grouse Report, on which (as is often not known), Wilson worked for over 5 years, when he successfully investigated the cause of Grouse Disease, at that time decimating grouse in their thousands and causing  significant damage to the Scottish economy. Some of the changes advocated are in use still.

The Wilson includes a new building and resetting of  the museum’s contents. Wilson would have loved it.

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Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914

28 Feb

On August 1, 1914. Ernest Shackleton set off on his hugely ambitious expedition: The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. His aim; to cross the Antarctic from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea via the South Pole. Amongst his crew was the experienced navigator, Frank Worsley and crewmen Ernest Wild and Tom Crean, all to be famous in Antarctic history. The photographer, who was to take wonderful images of ‘The Endurance’ in her death throes, was Frank Hurley. Shackleton’s plan had been formulated when news reached England that Amundsen, followed by Scott, had actually reached the Pole. There was no glory in being the third party to get there.

August 1914 was the start of WW1. Before sailing Shackleton offered ship and crew to the government. The First Sea Lord, Winston Churchill, no doubt be-devilled by multiple national concerns, replied ‘Proceed’

‘Endurance’ left South Georgia to go to Antarctica on 5/12/14. This was later than planned because of unusually severe pack ice. THREE days later the crew unexpectedly met with the pack. They were not to reach dry land for over 400 days. They were not to get back to the whaling station on South Georgia until 19/05/16, having spent seventeen months going round the Weddell Sea, surviving on pack ice and sailing perilously small sailing boats, firstly to Elephant Island and then back to South Georgia. The team never reached the continent. ‘Endurance’ sunk into the deep on November 21, 1915. It was written ‘that some failures are greater than success’ and this was one.

Had they landed, could the expedition have been successful? It seems improbable. Ranulph Fiennes’ very recent expedition, to achieve the traverse that Shackleton aimed for, well stocked, and well planned as it was, had to abandon the attempt after about 50 (of the 1800) miles of the crossing.  Vivian Fuchs who achieved the first crossing in 1957, was met at the South Pole by Edmund Hillary who had crossed from the Ross Base with supplies. Fuchs experienced as he was, had difficulty getting his snow cats (linked together by heavy- duty cable in case they fell into a crevasse), over the immense chasms south of the Weddell Sea.

Shackleton was aiming to cross with dogs and manpower. He HAD arranged for supplies, but not up to the Pole, just as far as the Beardmore Glacier.  It is difficult to imagine how he could have achieved his monumental ambition. The pack ice may have been the salvation of the expedition. 

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S.S.Discovery

15 Feb

Like most of us, I imagine, when on a ship, my only serious thought relates to her ability to get me to my destination. It is easy to forget the distinguished histories of many of these vessels and SS Discovery, (now 114 years old and based at Discovery Point in the city of her build, Dundee), is one of these.

Especially designed for Antarctica, she was designed by William E. Smith and built at tremendous expense, £50,000 in 1901. Her massive oak frame was clad stem to stern with inner and outer linings of  Riga Fur, Pitch Pine and Dutch Elm to a thickness of 26 inches.  Her stem was reinforced with oak strips and steel. oak strips and steal. In Antarctica she was encased in ice until early 1904.

But this expedition was the first of many. To me, some of her most interesting and dangerous ventures were in the First World War. At this time she was owned by The Hudson Bay Company and was one of many ships leased to the governments of France and Britain to transport food and raw materials between North America and Europe.

This organisation was the brainchild of Jean Monnet, a French brandy merchant with experience of shipping supplies who was to go on to become architect of the European Common Market, later the European Union. Transportation was hazardous in the extreme. Germany had declared the sea around Great Britain a war zone. 13,000,000 tons of goods were transported through areas riddled with mines to France, Russia, Belgium, Between June and September 1915, ten British, Russian and neutral vessels were lost. For nearly four years virtually all munitions to Russia were via Archangel, a horrendous sail via the Barent Sea and the White Sea.

100s of ships were involved. The contribution of these convoys in World War 1, will, I hope, be recognized this year.

Later Discovery was refitted as a scientific vessel. Important work was done in relation to whale conservation Even in 1915 this problem was recognized  ‘On its present scale and with its present wasteful and indiscriminate methods, whaling is an industry which, by destroying its own resources, must soon expire’. Scientific discoveries were made about the sea and the seabed.

She wasn’t done yet! In World War 2, moored in The Thames as the Sea Scouts training ship, she was Headquarters of the River Emergency Service (it was said that despite the air raids no scout failed to report for his eight hour watch). Then the Parachute Mine Service – Scouts sent a compass bearing of these mines to Royal Naval headquarters.

She is now in honourable ‘retirement’ at Dundee Point. An education centre for thousands of visitors.

What a ship. What a history

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Update, The Scott Expedition (circa 2013/2014)

10 Feb

Ben Saunders and Tarka L’Herpiniere have returned safely to the coast at Scott’s Hut. It is a marvellous achievement. They have trekked 1,795 miles over the awful, inhospitable, frigid Antarctic from coast to Pole to coast; the same distance as Paris to Moscow and the longest man haul in Antarctic history. In achieving this they finished what Scott, Wilson, Bowers, Oates and Edgar Evans aimed to do in 1912.

I am so very glad that, when following the footsteps of the Scott’s final expedition, Ben has made repeated reference to the achievements of those brave men of 100 years ago. That expedition has been traduced by some authors; Huntford in his book ‘Scott and Amundsen’ denigrated Scott. Professor Krzysztof Sienicki and colleagues in their paper “The Weather and its Role in Captain Scott and his companions’ Deaths” (see my blog of May 2013), purport that Scott and Birdie Bowers decided on suicide on their return and so fraudulently doctored their temperature recordings (to suggest that the team experienced unusually cold weather). Kristoffer Nelson-Kilger, who has commented on Ben and Tarka’s blog, is, I understand, a co-researcher with Professor Sienicki.

It is remarkable that Ben and Tarka experienced so many of the problems experienced 100 years ago in spite of their careful planning and backup: hunger, thirst, exhaustion, difficulty in finding the track. Their courage, determination and stoicism shine through. In relation to Scott, if there were mistakes made in spite Scott’s thorough planning, as has been claimed, nothing should detract from the heroism of the five men. Self-control was the benchmark for gentlemanly behaviour and they, including rating Edgar Evans, displayed this to the full. They did not complain of their suffering – Scott said they were unendingly cheerful. Wilson’s last entry reads, “Overcast all forenoon and cleared to splendid clear afternoon. Good march on 12.2 m ski. Some fair breeze. Turned in at minus 37:

Ben and Tarka are modern day heroes and stand tall and I look forward to reading more about their experiences. It is to their credit that they recognise and comment on the shining bravery displayed 100 years ago

 

Ben Saunders  Tarka L’Herpiniere The Scott Expedition

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The Scott Expedition (circa 2013/2014)

27 Jan

As you may have read 2 adventurers, Ben Saunders and Tarka L’Herpiniere are re-enacting Scott’s 1911 manhauling expedition to the South Pole. Their blog is: ‘The Scott Expedition’ and has many followers. The two hoped to complete the circuit from Scott’s 1910 Base on Ross Island to the Pole and back, thus finishing what Scott failed to do and by doing this, to complete the longest unsupported sortie  ever in the region.

They reached the South Pole on December 26, Day 63 {Scott took 77). The temperature was -26 degrees C. wind chill -35 degrees. They started on the return promptly. They had anticipated that the return journey would be relatively easier than the outward excursion but this was not the case.

Two days from the Pole, (Day 65) Ben described ‘feeling extraordinarily tired… knackered’. By December 29(Day 66), the going was even worse.  Their outward tracks were obliterated by snow, as happened to Scott and his team as they returned in 1912, Ben and Tarka’s satellite tracker failed. On Day 68, New Year’s Day, there was no blog. On January 2, (Day 70), Ben wrote of their exhaustion and said, unexpectedly, that they had failed to meet their mileage targets and had been running on half rations. He describes the food cravings so vividly described by Edward Wilson on Scott’s expedition and wrote that he was getting cold, frostbitten and confused (a symptom of hypothermia). The two fumbled with accustomed tasks. Ben wrote that they had half a days food left but were 74 km from their next depot. Resupplies were called for. Eight days of rations arrived by ski plane. This was no longer an unsupported journey but, after food and sleep, they could think more clearly and were WARM.

However their troubles were not over. Ben felt nauseous, got weaker and weaker, cold and lethargic. He describes how thin they had become.They had a rest day. On two days no blogs were completed.

Subsequently they had similar problems on the Beardmore Glacier, which they have now, happily, got down.

It seems remarkable to me that even now, with all the backup of modern technology, two recent expeditions,(this and Ranulph Fiennes), have experienced problems that so closely follow those of the explorers of one hundred years ago. In this case although the men were eating 6,ooo calories, (I understand it is not possible to absorb much more than this). They were still in a massive negative energy balance with weight, muscle and fat loss.

In relation to these difficulties, many supportive comments have been posted.  However ‘Kristoffer’ for one, has been critical. He defends himself to objectors by quoting, (amongst others), Winston Churchill, who wrote (or said), that ‘criticism may not be agreeable, but is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things’. It seems that what is missing here is an consideration of  the TIMING of the criticism, the ethics of making negative comments when the recipients’ morale is a bit low and when nothing can be done about the situation. I suspect people will vary greatly in their response, but I imagine Ben and Tarka would have preferred to receive and respond to, these remarks later.

The symptoms Ben records are interesting. It is possible that inadequate nutrition, dehydration and stress caused a shut down in the blood supply to digestive organs (the splanchnic bed). This is a survival mechanism. After rehydration and feeding the blood supply to this large area opens up again and this results in a temporary low blood supply to the muscular skeletal system of the body, hence the resulting weakness

A small point about Birdie Bowers: Ben wrote on Day 65, that Birdie abhorred skis and chose to walk instead. This is not the case. Birdie would never have been so unwise. On December 31 1911, as they struggled over the plateau, Scott ordered his second man- hauling team to cache their skis, possibly to reduce pulling weight. This team was Lieutenant Evans, Lashly, Crean and Birdie Bowers. Scott unexpectedly chose to take a party of five to the Pole, Birdie, ski less, amongst them. He had to go a long circuit before he picked up those skis again!

 

Edward Wilson, Birdie Bowers, Lieutenant Evans, Lashly, Crean, Kristoffer, Winston Churchill,

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How the Edgar Evans statute might look in Swansea

16 Jan

A computer generated image of how the Edgar Evans statute might look to passers by in Swansea

pub-edgarevans3

 

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Image of proposed statute of Edgar Evans

14 Jan

I have written about this appeal before. Here is an image of the maquette for Edgar Evans’ proposed statute in Swansea. It is the work of  Roger Andrews, sculptor and artist.

The chairman of the appeal is Councillor Tony Colburn.pub-edgarevans1Edgar Evans

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Akademik Shokalskiy

6 Jan
Douglas Mawson was the first to enable communication from the Antarctic mainland to Australia by setting up a relay station in Macquarie Island in 1911. This year, scientists and enthusiasts chartered the ‘Akademik Shokalskiy’ to follow Mawson’s 1911-14 expedition of ‘The Aurora’.

Mawson’s vision had been to make a series of bases on the costal margin of the Antarctic mainland directly below Australia. His purpose was to make scientific and geographical discoveries and especially, to locate the position of the South Magnetic Pole more accurately than on his previous attempt (1908).

However Mawson could only make one land base in Adelie Land and one ice-shelf base off Queen Mary Land

Mawson wrote, ‘Here was an Ice Age in all earnestness. A picture of Northern Europe during the Great Ice Age some 50,000 years ago’.

To-days plight of the passengers, scientists and crew of the ‘Akademik Shokalskiy’ has been shared with the rest of the world in real time and has confirmed that even modern, up to date, state of the art ice ships can become locked in ice, at the mercy of the elements, precisely as their predecessors, but happily aided by modern communication. This has enabled assistance to be mobilized with evacuation of  passengers and scientists by helicopter and then boat transfer to the ice breaker ‘Aurora Australis’.

History tells us that ships locked in sea ice are at the mercy of sea currents, wind force and ice thickness, combinations of which are unpredictable. We await the larger icebreaker ‘Polar Star’ to see if a channel can be made in the sea ice to the ice bound ‘Akademik Shokalskiy’

Aurora’s track.       Mertz Glacier as in 1911.

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ANTARCTICA—THE FUTURE

30 Dec

Commercial exploitation follows potentially profitable discoveries.  Could Antarctica become a commercial necessity, a victim to mans’ quest for profit? – a pursuit independent of any consideration of damage? Antarctica’s very inaccessibility gives some protection to her riches, but the future is worrying.

In the 1800s, seals and whales in the Arctic were hunted to virtual extinction. Seal fur was prized and blubber from the animals was rendered down to be used for lighting.  This wholesale slaughter diminished stocks to a non-profitable level, so the lure of commercial advantage, plus the spirit of adventure drew sailors and whalers towards the South. Nations were not slow in wanting to cash in on any possible resources in the unknown continent: By the early1900s Russia, Germany, America, South American Countries, France, Sweden, Scotland, England, Norway and Australia (amongst others), had been near or on Antarctica and those explorers who landed, always staked their claim to territorial rights.

The Antarctic Treaty of 1959 was the international agreement that set aside these territorial claims and agreed on the principal of international cooperation for peaceful collaboration in scientific research, protection of plants and animals and conservation of the environment. A ban on mining was imposed by the 1991 Protocol 0n Environmental Protection. This will be reviewed in 2048

But Antarctica is now known to have many tempting prizes: huge reserves of oil, natural gas, minerals such as iron oil and magnesium, enormous reserves of fresh water and an abundant marine life: whales, seals, penguins. Small animals: limpets, crabs, snails and most importantly krill, abound.   Unsurprisingly, she is now the victim of a vigorous if undeclared race to benefit from this huge potential. Already populations of whales have diminished significantly. Japan is frequently in the news in relation to the killing of hundreds of whales, ostensibly for scientific reasons. Also, the krill and small crustaceans,  staple food for the animals, have been trawled (krill for health supplements and for fish farm food) their numbers decrease. Oil is a most powerful magnate to countries with few reserves..  .

The Antarctic Treaty allowed Antarctica not only to remain a continent of peace but it expanded to areas such as environmental protection. Pressures to amend sections of the treaty will no doubt be powerful and immense and further ratification will be needed, not only to protect the ecology of the region but to protect Antarctica as a natural wilderness, free from mens’ exploitation.

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Antarctic Volcanoes: An Article in Live Science

9 Dec

It is often difficult for the non-scientist to understand why and where volcanoes are likely to erupt. An article in ‘Live Science’ by Becky Oskin (28 Oct. 2013) sheds light on an extra mystery following discussion with Reinhard Werner of GEOMAR, the Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany

The classic mode for volcanic eruption is that when  tectonic plates move. magma hot spots (signaled by a mantle plume, which is a hot upwelling from below the earth’s crust), breaks through gaps between the plates, resulting in a volcano. As the tectonic plate moves, new volcanoes erupt and those no longer open to magma below the earth’s crust, become dormant.

But on the West Coast of Antarctica, no hot spots could be discovered in a group of eight large volcanoes, the Marie Byrd Seamounts. How were they formed? Isotopic dating finds that these volcanoes were formed when part of the earth’s crust poles apart 60 million years ago and the fractures allowed fossilised mantle plume material to escape to the surface. Since they formed over a long period of time and in the same area, a hotspot is not a tenable theory, though studies have shown that more than one type of magma fed the volcanoes which resemble those found in volcanic fields offshore New Zealand.

Antarctica always sets science a problem and continues to be at the cutting edge.

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