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Brabant Island off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula became temporary home to the first expedition to live in tents through a polar winter. The fifth Joint Services Expedition to Antarctica explored this wild and inhospitable island for eighteen months - surviving in the harshest of conditions - undertaking 60 scientific projects which included the study of its wildlife, examining the islands geology and a physiologist monitored how each member of the team adapted to living in the cold. Exploring the island on skis - usually roped in threes for safety - one pulling a pulk who was nicknamed the 'horse' and when conditions allowed, skidoos were used to pull larger sledges in order to lay-out food and fuel caches to support much longer journeys. Wind chill reduced temperatures in the winter to well below zero and in poor visibility or in white-out hand held altimeters helped to pin point our exact positions - invalueable as we contoured - always the possibility of an avalanche and the risk of a friend disappearing into the jaws of a crevasse monster. We camped in some crevasses for extra shelter - ' the Icicle works' or the 'the Precinct 'and then there was the 'Eagle's nest' - a large ledge with a cosmic view. Our two man dome tents had to be strengthened to withstand the ferocious winds - doubling up on poles and attaching four extra guy ropes helped as did building snow walls to deflect the strong Fohn winds that had caught us off guard earlier in the year. In an emergency snow holes provided extra protection. Heavy snow falls and drifting in the night caused problems when we woke to a lack of oxygen to discover that a thick skin of ice had formed over the entire surface of the tent or an extra foot or two of snow had covered the entrance to our snow hole. During 'blows' we festered when reading and writing journals helped whittle away the hours - food dominated conversation - especially when reduced to a third or quarter rations, then playing scrabble for the last Rolo in the packet became serious business ! I won't forget that sound of a metal spoon scraping the pan ominously at the end of a meal when rations were running out - or the relief felt on the morning three of us heard the sound of 8,000 penguins chatting at Metchnikoff - crucial in helping us locate our camp, unsure of our position, in complete white out as we descended from the hills - having lost our pulk and supplies in a crevasse accident the night before. Neither will I forget the sight of the inquisitive Snow Petrel that circled over us on Harvey Heights. Team spirits remained remarkably strong throughout the year - inevitably there were times when one had to dig deep, when companionships were tested. Swapping tent partners every couple of weeks was a good thing and in hindsight probably helped preserve a friendship or two. Skidoos had to be fixed, sometimes in extremely unpleasant conditions - equipment improvised - kerosene drums converted into sledges . In the depths of the winter there were two hours of daylight, time enough to replenish our food and fuel and to take a stretch. We celebrated midwinter's day with a feast consisting of double rations and goodies washed down with Navy rum and we made presents for each other - a ship in a bottle - a sheath for a knife. On one occasion three spent the best part of five hours building an igloo by sawing blocks of packed snow before carefully fixing them in place to enjoy the luxury of their palace for six nights. Our first attempt to reach the top of the island failed due to a shortage of food and a case of carbon monoxide poisoning - Eight months later there was a great sense of achievement when our second attempt was successful - from the summit of Mount Parry we could see the Peninsula and the peaks of other mountains rising majestically through the cloud. Chris Furse's fine leadership and the determination of each of the team to carry out their tasks whilst living together unsupported on Brabant Island through the isolation of an Antarctic winter had demonstrated that an expedition of this kind could successfully achieve a wide range of objectives.
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The limestone plateau between Langton and Worth Matravers in the Isle of Purbeck is an area of south east Dorset where stone has been quarried for many generations. Large blocks of grub, thornback and spangle can be seen from the road, extracted from the limestone beds, drying before it is shaped for use or carved by a sculptor. The fields run down to the old quarry workings at Dancing Ledge and Winspit, where on a hot summers day children can be seen leaping off the rocks into the sea and if you're lucky you may catch sight of a Clouded Yellow as it arrives from the Cherbourg peninsula……Jed
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“To talk of place is one thing, to know the very important nature of a place – its intrinsic particularity - is quite another. Jed has been searching and seeking this special quality that resides in the very rock foundations, those who have ‘worked’ this masonry for centuries and the remarkable evidence left by those who lived and died in the locality. This range is enormous from the footsteps of the dinosaurs to the Roman agricultural remains of wine harvesting – even to the defence systems left behind from the last world war. The people of Worth Matravers, those who have come down through centuries of being part of the place, wear their inheritance in their faces. Jed Corbett knows, sees and records these special people who are integral with this particular and rare place.” ................................................................................. Keith Critchlow
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