Brilliant write up and pics thanks Tim . . . wonder if you came across an ex work colleague who’d been there about the same time - Peter Kennet altho’ you’d have been polar opposites. . . . . See what I did there?
Cold trip in Antarctica a long time ago.
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Brilliant write up and pics thanks Tim . . . wonder if you came across an ex work colleague who’d been there about the same time - Peter Kennet altho’ you’d have been polar opposites. . . . . See what I did there?
The only Peter Kennett I know of was a geologist who was in Antarctica during the mid 60s and was based at the old Stonnington station which was proper old school with all their field survey trips taken using dog teams, he would be in his late 70s now if that the same chap
That’s the guy - old school is right!!
A little research shows he had a mountain named after him, it's to the NE of this little trip.
Mount Kennett (67°3′S 65°10′WCoordinates: 67°3′S 65°10′W) is a distinctive snow and rock mountain, 1,360 metres (4,460 ft) high, between Quartermain Glacier and Fricker Glacier on the east side of Graham Land. Features on this coast were photographed by several American expeditions: United States Antarctic Service, 1939–41; Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition, 1947–48; U.S. Navy photos, 1968. The mountain was mapped by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, 1947–48, and named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee for Peter Kennett, General Assistant with the British Antarctic Survey Larsen Ice Shelf party, 1963–64.[1]
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Most enjoyable read and some very evocative pictures. Very interesting Tim , I too would love to hear and see more of your exploits. Thanks for sharing
A little research shows he had a mountain named after him, it's to the NE of this little trip.
Mount Kennett (67°3′S 65°10′WCoordinates: 67°3′S 65°10′W) is a distinctive snow and rock mountain, 1,360 metres (4,460 ft) high, between Quartermain Glacier and Fricker Glacier on the east side of Graham Land. Features on this coast were photographed by several American expeditions: United States Antarctic Service, 1939–41; Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition, 1947–48; U.S. Navy photos, 1968. The mountain was mapped by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, 1947–48, and named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee for Peter Kennett, General Assistant with the British Antarctic Survey Larsen Ice Shelf party, 1963–64.[1]
Very interesting Tim - he was really quite reticent about his time there . . . a passionate geologist!
Thanks Tim, very interesting..
Have you been back since?
Have you been back since?
My trip was two and a half years and I did leave Antarctica with a heavy heart, after being home for a year or so I went to the British Antarctic Survey headquarters in Cambridge with a view to returning 'down south' but after reflecting on what a unique time I'd had decided against it and to leave it alone!
During my first year one guy out of 17 on a base was killed, during my second year at the base in this report 2 out of us 13 were killed in a single crevasse accident, just after I left at a fairly nearby British base 3 guys were out travelling on the sea ice never to be seen again plus other incidences....it would be easy to suggest this influenced me in not returning but that wasn't the case.
Many years later a group of Antarctic 'veterans' chartered a boat to revisit but I couldn't bring myself to go, spending the whole winter is what the place is about for me plus the travel and of course my wonderful dog team
It's probably quite obvious I can't speak highly enough of Rupert who returned many times also working around the North Pole for some years, last time we were in touch he was telling about his work with the Australian Antarctic Division and just this morning I was prompted to root around and came across this radio interview with him.
It's 45mins long but well worth a listen and where possible he answers many of those questions people may ask of Antarctica, for me it was a joy to hear his unmistakable voice again.
http://www.abc.net.au/radio/program...f-australian-scientists-in-antarctica/7725730
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My trip was two and a half years and I did leave Antarctica with a heavy heart, after being home for a year or so I went to the British Antarctic Survey headquarters in Cambridge with a view to returning 'down south' but after reflecting on what a unique time I'd had decided against it and to leave it alone!
During my first year one guy out of 17 on a base was killed, during my second year at the base in this report 2 out of us 13 were killed in a single crevasse accident, just after I left at a fairly nearby British base 3 guys were out travelling on the sea ice never to be seen again plus other incidences....it would be easy to suggest this influenced me in not returning but that wasn't the case.
Many years later a group of Antarctic 'veterans' chartered a boat to revisit but I couldn't bring myself to go, spending the whole winter is what the place is about for me plus the travel and of course my wonderful dog team
It's probably quite obvious I can't speak highly enough of Rupert who returned many times also working around the North Pole for some years, last time we were in touch he was telling about his work with the Australian Antarctic Division and just this morning I was prompted to root around and came across this radio interview with him.
It's 45mins long but well worth a listen and where possible he answers many of those questions people may ask of Antarctica, for me it was a joy to hear his unmistakable voice again.
http://www.abc.net.au/radio/program...f-australian-scientists-in-antarctica/7725730
My fondest Army memory was the winter i spent on South Georgia
So peaceful and yet so savage at the same time.
Obviously not as far south as Antarctica but bloody cold all the same and just so wonderful i wish i could go back but like you it wouldnt be the same
There may have been a valid reason for that.
He traveled for four months on the Larson Ice Shelf with a chap called Ben Hodges as part of a six man team.
"Ben applied to be a dog driver, travelling to Stonington Island, well inside the Antarctic Circle, to take on responsibility for 45 huskies throughout 1963-64. Conditions were often perilous. Three years later, after he returned to Sheffield, all the dogs were dead, with another team and two drivers, lost in a blizzard."
This is an extract from the great Sir Vivien Fuchs book, Of Ice and Men which gives an account of that accident.
It had long been the custom after a season's hard work for those whose duties had kept them slogging at base to be given the opportunity of making short sledging trips away from normal routine, and these jollies' were greatly prized by the static staff. Thus on 24 May 1966 Tom Allan and John Noel, diesel mechanic and radio operator respectively, left on a ten-day traverse with two dog teams, heading up the Northeast Glacier then northward past Butson Ridge. Twenty-four hours later they reported that they had reached Butson and were still moving, but in deteriorating weather.
At Stonington the wind was thirty knots and by next morning it was gusting to between eighty and a hundred knots. The whole hut shook and everything was falling off the shelves. These conditions continued for the next two days, so no one was surprised when nothing was heard from the sledgers - anyway, radio contact often broke down for mechanical reasons. But after a week of fine weather, and still no news, obviously something had gone wrong.
Marsden and Keith Holmes immediately set out to follow their route. On the second day they were beginning the descent of a glacier towards Square Bay when Holmes noticed some small black dots and steered towards them. These proved to be the two missing men and several dead dogs, lying on a slope beneath a rocky bluff. Allan lay on the surface, with a shovel near him, and fifty yards away Noel was apparently standing buried in the snow, his head and arms above the surface.
Without disturbing anything the shocked search party returned twenty miles to base to report the tragedy and get help. They went back accompanied by John Ross and Ken Doyle to help in the sad obsequies. First Allan and Noel were laid on specially prepared sledges, then further excavation revealed their tent, sledges and dogs which had been buried by drift, and evidence of what had happened began to appear.
Noel had been standing in a dug pit leading down into a snow hole, where two sleeping bags were laid out, together with the Primus, food, and pots and pans - which showed that they had spent some time in the hole. It was obvious that, quite rightly, when caught by bad weather the two men had dug-in. The dogs were correctly spanned a short distance away.
We shall never know for sure why Allan left the snow hole, but the teams had to be fed, probably their picket line needed to be raised above the rapidly accumulating drift; or perhaps he went out to fetch more paraffin, for the can in the hole was empty. Whatever the reason, he did not expect to be out long, for he was wearing two left-footed mukluks, and his windproof trousers were not tied at the ankles. Once out in the dark and the tearing drift, he must have lost his sense of direction and failed to find the way back.
When he failed to return one can imagine Noel becoming more and more anxious, going to the entrance and calling over and over again, his voice carried away by the wind. It was apparent that he had no intention of going out, for he was not properly dressed below the waist, nor did he wear mukluks. Indeed, he must have realised that there was absolutely nothing he could do outside. If Allan was lost, his only hope was for Noel to remain at the entrance to their shelter, shouting and shouting in an effort to guide him back to safety. Had he left his post, the entrance to the hole would have immediately filled up.
Becoming colder and colder, and more and more tired as he called continuously, Noel must at last have fallen asleep with exhaustion - and he never woke up. It was a tremendous example of courage that he remained to the last, and most assuredly he gave his life for his friend. -'greater love hath no man....'
The two men were brought back to base, and buried by their comrades on a rocky point of Stonington Island, beneath two great piles of stones`surmounted by commemorative crosses.
Just like so many past women eh?
Thanks for the further reply and insight Tim. As his Snootyness said, you’ve certainly had a wee bit of an interesting time on this piece of spinning rock.....SO FAR...
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Thanks for posting that extract Tim - that could well explain it.
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