Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Historic sledge and flag from the first expedition to the Antarctic led by Ernest Shackleton have been saved for the nation

Shackleton
Shackleton

Sledging was part and parcel of polar exploration. All the great names of the Golden Era – Scott, Shackleton, Nansen, Amundsen and Peary – used provisions-laden sledges to strike out for the polar north and south.

Now a historic sledge and flag from the first expedition to the Antarctic led by Ernest Shackleton have been saved for the nation.

The two items were bought for £204,700 and looked to be heading to the United States. They will now go to the National Maritime Museum and the Scott Polar Research Institute after they were barred from export.

The 11ft sledge and flag had sold for £115,000 and £60,000 at Bonham’s in 2019, but the National Heritage Memorial Fund facilitated the purchase for the nation.

Shackleton’s 1907 expedition ship, Nimrod, was, of course, a Dundee whaler adapted for Antarctic exploration. Although the sledging party fell short of their goal, by coming within 100 miles of the South Pole, they showed that it was achievable.

So to a quote from Albert Markham RN, second-in-command of the Royal Navy survey ships Discovery and Alert on the 1875-76 British Arctic Expedition. Discovery had begun life as the Dundee-built whaler Bloodhound, while Alert was also constructed at Stephen’s Dundee yards.

Norman Watson.

Markham led a heroic 74-day sledging trip and on reaching the highest latitude ever achieved at 83⁰ 20’ North, noted in his diary: “On returning to the tents, a magnum of whisky, kindly sent by the Dean of Dundee [the Chamber of Commerce], for the express purpose of being drunk at our highest northern position, was broached and absent friends were duly toasted…”

The old Bloodhound was described by the Admiralty as the “best exploration vessel ever built.” Mind you, Alert and Discovery were still advised to follow the Dundee whaling fleet to the high latitudes!

Picture: Polar sledge saved for the nation (Bonham’s).

More in this series: