I have always been interested in the early polar explorers like Richard Byrd, Roald Amundsen, Ernest Shackleton, Robert Scott, Edmund Hillary, Carsten Borchgrevink and many more. The movie "Shackleton" is one of my very favorites and there are several biographies that are also great. I had never thought of what became of the various buildings, huts, sheds, landing sites and kennels. I guess I just figured they were gone forever but I found out differently when I came across
The Antarctic Heritage Trust. This organization is based out of New Zealand and its mission is to preserve, restore and maintain everything left by the early explorers. Apparently Antarctica is one of the driest places on the planet and combined with the temperature the sites were pretty well preserved. All text and photos courtesy of the Trust. They also have some great videos available on
YouTube. If you would like to make a donation or join the Trust, click
here.
Welcome to the Antarctic Heritage Trust
"The heroic era of Antarctic exploration (1895 – 1917) gave us great
explorers including Sir Ernest Shackleton and Captain Robert Falcon
Scott. In the 1950’s Sir Edmund Hillary made his mark on the great,
white, continent.
Five expedition parties built bases in the Ross Sea Region of
Antarctica. The bases still stand in Antarctica today, crammed full of
equipment, supplies and personal items. They are cared for, on behalf of
the international community, by the Antarctic Heritage Trust.
The Trust, based in New Zealand, is engaged in a long-term cold
conservation project to protect the explorers' legacy; the bases and the
artefacts they left behind, for current and future generations. A
project of this scale has never before been attempted in the polar
regions".
History of the Project
"The four 'heroic-era' expedition bases have stood in the Ross Sea
Region of Antarctica for over a century and although Antarctica covers
only an estimated 9% of the Earth's land surface, it contains more than
80% of the world's fresh water locked in its ice. It is also the driest
place on the planet. While that contradiction had helped to slow the
rate of decay of the bases, the bases were deteriorating".
"From 1987 to 2001 annual basic maintenance was carried out but in
2001 the Trust, together with an international group of
conservation/heritage experts, recognised an international conservation
effort was needed to ensure these sites survived for future generations.
In 2002, HRH Princess Anne, launched the Trust’s Ross Sea Heritage
Restoration Project (RSHRP) in Antarctica, an international.
long-term cold climate project to secure the bases and conserve the
thousands of artefacts associated with the sites".
"At around the same time the international community began to
recognise the importance of these sites. That view was reinforced when The Getty Foundation made significant funding available for the project and the World Monuments Fund listed all four sites on their 2008 list of 100 Most Endangered Sites on Earth. They are also protected under the Antarctic Treaty System
.
In 2012 the Antarctic Heritage Trust took on management
responsibility for the original Trans-Antarctic Expedition building that
remains at New Zealand's scientific research facility, Scott Base".
Only three of the cars finished, the Thomas Flyer which won, the German Protos, and the Italian Züst. The original intent was to drive the full distance using the frozen Bering Strait
to drive across the Pacific Ocean. In the course of the race, the Flyer
was the first car to cross the United States taking 41 days 8 hours and
15 minutes,[5] and the first to do so in the winter with George Schuster the first automobile driver to ever make the transcontinental winter crossing of the US.
Finishing in 169 days was a remarkable feat, considering the lack of
roads and services in 1908. Schuster, the driver, was the only member of
the Thomas crew to go the full distance.
The couple traveled to Italy on many occasions during the late
1940s and 1950s, meeting and befriending major artists of the day,
including Massimo Campigli and Zoran Music. Their collection of Italian
art took shape between 1953 and 1958 and was shown in a series of major
public exhibitions between 1954 and 1960, both in Britain and abroad,
including one at the Tate Gallery in 1956. Around this time Estorick
became a full-time art dealer and acted as a representative for a number
of Hollywood clients in the London auction rooms, including Lauren
Bacall, Burt Lancaster and Billy Wilder. In 1960 he founded the
Grosvenor Gallery in London.
The Tate Gallery requested a long-term loan of key works which
lasted from 1966 until 1975, when the Estoricks withdrew their pictures
and went to live in Barbados. In 1968 the Italian Republic conferred the
title of Cavaliere on Estorick, followed in 1970 by the higher honour
of Commendatore for his services in promoting Italian art. In 1979 the
Italian government showed interest in purchasing the collection but the
family refused this offer, along with others from museums in the United
States and Israel. Six months prior to his death Estorick set up the
Eric and Salome Estorick Foundation, to which he donated all his Italian
works. A Georgian house at 39a Canonbury Square, Islington, was
purchased in 1994 and refurbished with a substantial grant from the
Heritage Lottery Fund to house the collection, art library, café and
shop.
