Latest news with #UKAHT
BBC News
25-05-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Derby woman returns from working at world's southernmost museum
A woman who went to work at the world's southernmost museum in Antarctica says the experience was "unlike anything else".Aoife McKenna, from Derby, left the UK in November to move 9,000 miles to Port Lockroy, a British Antarctic base on Goudier described the island as "very isolated" and slightly smaller than a football despite its size, Ms McKenna said the island was "a much busier part of the world than people probably realise". The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) says the island is home to the world's southernmost post office and museum, along with a colony of gentoo McKenna told the BBC: "We were positioned on the Antarctic Peninsula, which is kind of a strip of the continent that sort of reaches up towards the bottom of South America. "We saw probably around 18,000 people over the course of the season, who visit on cruise ships and all kinds of small boats and yachts. "People came to do scientific research, all kinds of people came."Ms McKenna spent five months on the island working with a team of four others to assess museum objects at the said: "We were able to do that but also I wanted to make the most of the experience, to spend the time with the penguins and spend as much time outside as possible."There are roughly one thousand penguins on the island, and in the time that we were there they had just under 700 chicks, so that was really cute and definitely a highlight." UKAHT runs Port Lockroy - the UK's first scientific base in Antarctica - and Ms McKenna said open recruitment takes place every year."The majority of people who do this job have never worked in Antarctica before," she said. "It is a little bit more accessible than most people think."For Ms McKenna, the hardest part of the job was how long the days felt."For a lot of the season, there's 24 hours of daylight," she said."So there was no real sense of time passing, it always felt like the middle of the day, even when it was the middle of the night. "Because we were working long hours, that definitely made us all really tired."There was a lot of adjustment coming back. We came back through Argentina on the way, so we spent some time in Buenos Aires on the way back. "Adjusting to a huge city was definitely interesting. I noticed the noise a lot more."She returned to the UK at the end of March and is now working at a museum in Stirling, says the experience has made her "even more passionate" about museums and heritage.
NDTV
16-05-2025
- NDTV
What It's Like Working At The World's Most Remote Post Office In Antarctica
Port Lockroy in the Antarctic is the southernmost post office in the world, affectionately known as the Penguin Post Office. Around 70,000 postcards are sent each year to over 100 countries. Port Lockroy is located on Goudier Island off the Antarctic Peninsula, celebrated for its dramatic mountain views and the resident colony of gentoo penguins. This unique outpost operates as part of the British Antarctic Territory. Port Lockroy comprises three buildings, the largest of which is Bransfield House. This houses a living museum, the remote Penguin Post Office, and a small but very popular gift shop. It is currently the most visited site in Antarctica, drawing thousands of tourists interested in Antarctic travel and wildlife. History Of Port Lockroy In 1944, the site was established as Base A - the first continuously occupied British base in Antarctica - as part of the secret World War II mission, Operation Tabarin. In the years that followed, Port Lockroy became a cornerstone for British Antarctic science, operating as an atmospheric research station until 1962. After a conservation survey in 1994, Base A was recognised for its historical importance and officially designated as Historic Site and Monument No. 61 under the Antarctic Treaty System. The British Antarctic Survey carried out renovations in 1996. Since then, Port Lockroy has been open to visitors during the Antarctic summer season, from November to March. It now welcomes up to 18,000 visitors per season, many of whom are drawn by its unique combination of history, remoteness, and penguin colonies. The Penguin Post Office is currently managed by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT). On 11 February 2025, it marked its 81st year in operation. How People Work At The Penguin Post Office Each year, the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust assembles a small seasonal team to live and work at Port Lockroy. The conditions are basic - there is no running water, and amenities are limited - but the experience is unlike any other. In 2025, the team included George Clarke as the postmaster, joined by Maggie, Kim, and Matt, as documented on the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust's official Instagram account. View this post on Instagram A post shared by UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (@ukantarcticheritagetrust) Former Port Lockroy team member Sarah Auffret once shared her experience of working at the Penguin Post Office. "As you approach the Penguin Post Office, located on a tiny island off the Antarctic Peninsula, you are greeted by the 'roo roo roo' sound of 600 pairs of nesting gentoo penguins," she told Ends of the Earth. "Early in the season, you may have to climb up a snow staircase, or later in the season find your way up the guano-splattered rocks to access the building. It is certainly not your average trip to the Post Office!" Describing how operations run, she added, "Sending a postcard costs one US dollar, no matter the destination. The team frank the mail by hand - on a busy day, there can be more than 1,000 postcards." Fascinated by this remote outpost in the British Antarctic Territory? Click here to learn about the longest straight road trip in the world, another record-breaking journey for adventurous travellers.
NDTV
14-05-2025
- NDTV
How People Work At Penguin Post Office: The World's Most Remote Post Office In The Antarctic
Port Lockroy in the Antarctic is the southernmost post office in the world, affectionately known as the Penguin Post Office. Around 70,000 postcards are sent each year to over 100 countries. Port Lockroy is located on Goudier Island off the Antarctic Peninsula, celebrated for its dramatic mountain views and the resident colony of gentoo penguins. This unique outpost operates as part of the British Antarctic Territory. Port Lockroy comprises three buildings, the largest of which is Bransfield House. This houses a living museum, the remote Penguin Post Office, and a small but very popular gift shop. It is currently the most visited site in Antarctica, drawing thousands of tourists interested in Antarctic travel and wildlife. History Of Port Lockroy In 1944, the site was established as Base A - the first continuously occupied British base in Antarctica - as part of the secret World War II mission, Operation Tabarin. In the years that followed, Port Lockroy became a cornerstone for British Antarctic science, operating as an atmospheric research station until 1962. After a conservation survey in 1994, Base A was recognised for its historical importance and officially designated as Historic Site and Monument No. 61 under the Antarctic Treaty System. The British Antarctic Survey carried out renovations in 1996. Since then, Port Lockroy has been open to visitors during the Antarctic summer season, from November to March. It now welcomes up to 18,000 visitors per season, many of whom are drawn by its unique combination of history, remoteness, and penguin colonies. The Penguin Post Office is currently managed by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT). On 11 February 2025, it marked its 81st year in operation. How People Work At The Penguin Post Office Each year, the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust assembles a small seasonal team to live and work at Port Lockroy. The conditions are basic - there is no running water, and amenities are limited - but the experience is unlike any other. In 2025, the team included George Clarke as the postmaster, joined by Maggie, Kim, and Matt, as documented on the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust's official Instagram account. View this post on Instagram A post shared by UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (@ukantarcticheritagetrust) Former Port Lockroy team member Sarah Auffret once shared her experience of working at the Penguin Post Office. "As you approach the Penguin Post Office, located on a tiny island off the Antarctic Peninsula, you are greeted by the 'roo roo roo' sound of 600 pairs of nesting gentoo penguins," she told Ends of the Earth. "Early in the season, you may have to climb up a snow staircase, or later in the season find your way up the guano-splattered rocks to access the building. It is certainly not your average trip to the Post Office!" Describing how operations run, she added, "Sending a postcard costs one US dollar, no matter the destination. The team frank the mail by hand - on a busy day, there can be more than 1,000 postcards." Fascinated by this remote outpost in the British Antarctic Territory? Click here to learn about the longest straight road trip in the world, another record-breaking journey for adventurous travellers.
Scoop
13-05-2025
- Scoop
NZ-made ‘Cutting-Edge' VR Experience Tours The UK
Press Release – Antarctic Heritage Trust The VR experience uses a combination of LiDar and photogrammetry data to give the public access to the first expedition base on Antarcticas Ross Island built in 1902 – making it over 122 years old. Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Discovery Hut has opened its doors to the UK public thanks to Kiwi-made cutting-edge technology. The New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust (NZAHT), in collaboration the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) are touring England and Scotland for the first time with two immersive virtual reality (VR) experiences. The virtual reality tour will visit schools, museums and Antarctic organisations where the British public can don the VR headset, hold the controllers and come face to face with penguins, feed huskies, and meet heroic-era explorers. Among those seeing first-hand how VR is transforming Antarctic education was UKAHT Patron HRH The Princess Royal at a special event at Gilbert White's House and Gardens in Hampshire. HRH The Princess Royal officially launched NZAHT's Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project at Scott's Discovery hut in 2002. 'It was wonderful to update The Princess Royal on the significant work we have undertaken, and continue to do, to conserve the explorer bases of Antarctica's early explorers including Captain Robert Falson Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton,' says NZAHT Executive Director Francesca Eathorne. 'We're excited to bring Scott's expedition base to people virtually, making it accessible to those who may not have the opportunity to visit these historic sites in person,' 'It gives great insight into the everyday items the explorers had with them and how they used the hut to support the important science and exploration they undertook.' NZAHT launched its new VR experience of Scott's Discovery Hut with Auckland-based virtual reality tech company StaplesVR in August last year. The VR experience uses a combination of LiDar and photogrammetry data to give the public access to the first expedition base on Antarctica's Ross Island built in 1902 – making it over 122 years old. 'To create something as realistic and true to real world form as Scott's Discovery Hut VR, the team at StaplesVR spent over 1000 hours modelling each artefact and piece of timber to be painstakingly accurate. It was incredibly important to ensure we accurately captured the heritage and significance of the building along with the items inside,' says StaplesVR Technical Manager Krystal Paraone. Christchurch man Clarence Hare was on the 1901-1904 expedition with Captain Robert Falcon Scott's. Some of his descendants living in the UK will be taking the opportunity to virtually visit a place that is important to their family history. A significant amount of the funds for the initial conservation of Scott's explorer bases was raised in the UK. NZAHT is delighted to now be able to share their work to save Scott's Discovery Hut – including conserving over 500 artefacts inside – with those who supported them. 'The conservation work our teams undertake is world-leading and sharing it through VR helps us to educate people around the importance of saving this cultural heritage for future generations,' Eathorne says. NZAHT and UKAHT have a long history of successful partnership, helping each other with cold-climate heritage conservation work in one of the world's most extreme environments. The joint tour marks an exciting step forward in their collaboration, combining their expertise in digital technologies and storytelling to make the remote cultural heritage sites that they care for more accessible to all. There will be two virtual reality experiences on offer during the tour. The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust's A Frozen Night is a 30-minute-long VR experience which transports participants to a fully immersive reconstruction of a historic scientific base where they will step into the shoes of over-wintering Antarctic scientists. UKAHT's Chief Executive Camilla Nichol says those taking part will be among the first in the UK to engage with Antarctic heritage sites in this new and unique way. 'A Frozen Night is UKAHT's first virtual reality experience based on a true story from the archives and narrated by those who lived and worked in our southernmost base, Stonington Island. One of the earliest British sites, established in 1948 and a key dog sledging base, Stonington Island enabled teams to travel far inland into the Antarctic Peninsula. 'Now, for the first time, A Frozen Night allows people to virtually travel into Stonington's past to experience the wonders and risks of Antarctic field work.' The virtual reality tour, generously funded by The Charles Hayward Foundation and donors to NZAHT's Inspiring Explorers™ Fund, will also visit the Scott Polar Research Institute and Discovery Point Museum, home to Scott's Discovery ship About New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust Antarctic Heritage Trust is a New Zealand-based not-for-profit with a vision of Inspiring Explorers. A world leader in cold-climate heritage conservation, the Trust cares for the expedition bases and more than 20,000 artefacts left behind by Antarctic explorers, including Carsten Borchgrevink, Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Ernest Shackleton and Sir Edmund Hillary. To date the Trust has restored and conserved Scott's huts at Cape Evans and Hut Point, Shackleton's hut at Cape Royds and Hillary's hut at Scott Base. This has led to a number of significant discoveries including 114-year-old whisky under Ernest Shackleton's hut, a notebook from surgeon and photographer George Murray Levick at Scott's Cape Evans hut as well as lost Ross Sea Party photographs. In 2017, conservators discovered a century-old fruitcake and a 118-year-old watercolour amongst artefacts from Antarctica's first buildings at Cape Adare. The Trust shares the legacy of exploration through outreach programmes and encourages the spirit of exploration through expeditions to engage and inspire a new generation. You can read more at About UK Antarctic Heritage Trust The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) is a UK-based charity dedicated to conserving Britain's fascinating history and legacy in Antarctica. UKAHT was born out of a small group's passion to champion the legacy of all those who went before us in the Antarctic. Since 1993, the organisation has worked to protect this, from conserving the huts left by those first pioneers and managing the historic site of Base A, Port Lockroy, to collaborating with other groups to ensure that science and tourism on the Antarctic Peninsula are sustainable. Following a conservation survey in 1994, British Base A, Port Lockroy, was recognised for its historic importance and designated as a Historic Site and Monument 61 under the Antarctic Treaty. The huts were renovated in 1996 by a team from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and have since been open to visitors during the Antarctic summer. UKAHT took over the running of Port Lockroy in 2006. The charity also runs the world's southernmost post office at Base A, Port Lockroy, on behalf of the Government of the British Antarctic Territory, which in turn donates a portion of the Post Office revenue to UKAHT. Anyone wishing to help protect and share the wonder of Antarctica and its heritage can support the charities and New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust and the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust by becoming a member or making a donation.
Scoop
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
NZ-made ‘Cutting-Edge' VR Experience Tours The UK
Tuesday, 13 May 2025, 1:59 pm Press Release: Antarctic Heritage Trust Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Discovery Hut has opened its doors to the UK public thanks to Kiwi-made cutting-edge technology. The New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust (NZAHT), in collaboration the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) are touring England and Scotland for the first time with two immersive virtual reality (VR) experiences. The virtual reality tour will visit schools, museums and Antarctic organisations where the British public can don the VR headset, hold the controllers and come face to face with penguins, feed huskies, and meet heroic-era explorers. Among those seeing first-hand how VR is transforming Antarctic education was UKAHT Patron HRH The Princess Royal at a special event at Gilbert White's House and Gardens in Hampshire. HRH The Princess Royal officially launched NZAHT's Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project at Scott's Discovery hut in 2002. 'It was wonderful to update The Princess Royal on the significant work we have undertaken, and continue to do, to conserve the explorer bases of Antarctica's early explorers including Captain Robert Falson Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton,' says NZAHT Executive Director Francesca Eathorne. 'We're excited to bring Scott's expedition base to people virtually, making it accessible to those who may not have the opportunity to visit these historic sites in person,' 'It gives great insight into the everyday items the explorers had with them and how they used the hut to support the important science and exploration they undertook.' NZAHT launched its new VR experience of Scott's Discovery Hut with Auckland-based virtual reality tech company StaplesVR in August last year. The VR experience uses a combination of LiDar and photogrammetry data to give the public access to the first expedition base on Antarctica's Ross Island built in 1902 - making it over 122 years old. "To create something as realistic and true to real world form as Scott's Discovery Hut VR, the team at StaplesVR spent over 1000 hours modelling each artefact and piece of timber to be painstakingly accurate. It was incredibly important to ensure we accurately captured the heritage and significance of the building along with the items inside," says StaplesVR Technical Manager Krystal Paraone. Christchurch man Clarence Hare was on the 1901-1904 expedition with Captain Robert Falcon Scott's. Some of his descendants living in the UK will be taking the opportunity to virtually visit a place that is important to their family history. A significant amount of the funds for the initial conservation of Scott's explorer bases was raised in the UK. NZAHT is delighted to now be able to share their work to save Scott's Discovery Hut - including conserving over 500 artefacts inside - with those who supported them. 'The conservation work our teams undertake is world-leading and sharing it through VR helps us to educate people around the importance of saving this cultural heritage for future generations,' Eathorne says. NZAHT and UKAHT have a long history of successful partnership, helping each other with cold-climate heritage conservation work in one of the world's most extreme environments. The joint tour marks an exciting step forward in their collaboration, combining their expertise in digital technologies and storytelling to make the remote cultural heritage sites that they care for more accessible to all. There will be two virtual reality experiences on offer during the tour. The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust's A Frozen Night is a 30-minute-long VR experience which transports participants to a fully immersive reconstruction of a historic scientific base where they will step into the shoes of over-wintering Antarctic scientists. UKAHT's Chief Executive Camilla Nichol says those taking part will be among the first in the UK to engage with Antarctic heritage sites in this new and unique way. 'A Frozen Night is UKAHT's first virtual reality experience based on a true story from the archives and narrated by those who lived and worked in our southernmost base, Stonington Island. One of the earliest British sites, established in 1948 and a key dog sledging base, Stonington Island enabled teams to travel far inland into the Antarctic Peninsula. 'Now, for the first time, A Frozen Night allows people to virtually travel into Stonington's past to experience the wonders and risks of Antarctic field work.' The virtual reality tour, generously funded by The Charles Hayward Foundation and donors to NZAHT's Inspiring Explorers™ Fund, will also visit the Scott Polar Research Institute and Discovery Point Museum, home to Scott's Discovery ship About New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust Antarctic Heritage Trust is a New Zealand-based not-for-profit with a vision of Inspiring Explorers. A world leader in cold-climate heritage conservation, the Trust cares for the expedition bases and more than 20,000 artefacts left behind by Antarctic explorers, including Carsten Borchgrevink, Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Ernest Shackleton and Sir Edmund Hillary. To date the Trust has restored and conserved Scott's huts at Cape Evans and Hut Point, Shackleton's hut at Cape Royds and Hillary's hut at Scott Base. This has led to a number of significant discoveries including 114-year-old whisky under Ernest Shackleton's hut, a notebook from surgeon and photographer George Murray Levick at Scott's Cape Evans hut as well as lost Ross Sea Party photographs. In 2017, conservators discovered a century-old fruitcake and a 118-year-old watercolour amongst artefacts from Antarctica's first buildings at Cape Adare. The Trust shares the legacy of exploration through outreach programmes and encourages the spirit of exploration through expeditions to engage and inspire a new generation. You can read more at About UK Antarctic Heritage Trust The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) is a UK-based charity dedicated to conserving Britain's fascinating history and legacy in Antarctica. UKAHT was born out of a small group's passion to champion the legacy of all those who went before us in the Antarctic. Since 1993, the organisation has worked to protect this, from conserving the huts left by those first pioneers and managing the historic site of Base A, Port Lockroy, to collaborating with other groups to ensure that science and tourism on the Antarctic Peninsula are sustainable. Following a conservation survey in 1994, British Base A, Port Lockroy, was recognised for its historic importance and designated as a Historic Site and Monument 61 under the Antarctic Treaty. The huts were renovated in 1996 by a team from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and have since been open to visitors during the Antarctic summer. UKAHT took over the running of Port Lockroy in 2006. The charity also runs the world's southernmost post office at Base A, Port Lockroy, on behalf of the Government of the British Antarctic Territory, which in turn donates a portion of the Post Office revenue to UKAHT. Anyone wishing to help protect and share the wonder of Antarctica and its heritage can support the charities and New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust and the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust by becoming a member or making a donation. © Scoop Media
