Antarctic Find from Scott Expedition –

Hidden under Penguin Doo Doo

Now I’ve always had a fascination for the Antarctic and way back when I was 16 I even volunteered for the British Antarctic Expedition, they told me to write back when I had some skills to offer. I was a schoolboy and part time butcher’s boy at the time. So I was fascinated to read about  a museum finding a 118-year-old  watercolour by a south pole explorer  hidden under penguin poo in an Antarctic hut being conserved. It was by a Dr Edward Wilson, who died with Captain Scott and three others in 1912 and the picture was of a Tree Creeper bird. Now despite Wilson being born in England his mother was a Wishaw and there’s nothing more Scottish than that. So I claim it as a north of the border find.

Hero Worship

The bird watercolour was among a nest of papers inside a bunk at the hut at Cape Adare in Antarctica. There is a trust, the Antarctic Heritage Trust, restoring the hut and its many artefacts. A few years ago I made the pilgrimage to see such artefacts on view at the Natural History Museum in London in 2012 with their Scott Exhibition and  it was grand and worth the journey. Scott of course isn’t my hero. He was a bit cavalier with lives and not well organised, unlike my real hero Ernest Shackleton who sailed once with Scott and unlike him never lost a man. He even rescued everyone on his expedition with a 720 mile voyage in an open row boat after disaster struck.  Read about him. He is fascinating.

That Tme of Year: Weddings, Degrees, Anniversaries

What is also fascinating for us here at James Pirie is how quickly the year is going by and all without a chance to draw breath, busy as we are with shipping, fulfilling, choosing next year’s new  products and preparing for Christmas, yes in June! But we haven’t forgotten that it is a celebratory time of year with weddings, exams, degree ceremonies and the like. So if you are in need of some inspiration take a time out with our Occasions category and gather up a few ideas for that special day be it anniversary, wedding or award. All with our very best wishes...

https://www.jamespirie.com/occasions.html