There is a corner of Antarctica that is forever Britain. On the shores of Ross Island there are three wooden huts left behind by Robert Scott and Earnest Shackleton’s expeditions a century ago – a snapshot frozen in time. It is something of a miracle that the huts have survived, but now ice, winds, salt and warmer summers are sounding their death knell. Ironically, New Zealand is leading the fight to save them. Metals conservator Nicola Dunn is one of three experts sent out by the New Zealand-based Antarctic Heritage Trust to work for nine months to save artefacts left by Shackleton’s Nimrod expedition between 1907 and 1909. She talks to Alison George about opening 100-year-old tins of kidneys, life at -50 °C and her new respect for that generation of explorers
Where are you living?
I’m spending the winter at Scott Base, New Zealand’s Antarctic station on Ross Island. There are only 14 of us, but there are about 200 people at the US McMurdo base close by, so we often visit. Right now, it is dark most of the time, apart from a red glow on the horizon which tells you the sun is coming back.
What brings you here?
I’m part of a team of three conservators working to preserve the hut built in 1907 for Ernest Shackleton’s expedition to the pole. This is part of a major project to restore the historic huts in the area, including two others used by Captain Scott. There has already been a lot of work on the building and now we are working on the artefacts inside, such as food cans, many of which are deteriorating. If we don’t step in now the deterioration will accelerate.
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Why interfere, why not just leave them alone?
The cans are a major part of the artefacts from Shackleton’s hut: there are thousands of them. If they were left untreated they’d just disintegrate because of the aggressive environmental conditions. Shackleton’s hut is quite sturdy, but we are in one of the worst environments in the world. It’s surprising the huts have survived as long as they have with strong winds, abrasion from the ice and rock fragments, and meltwater in the summer. The cans face damage from major factors such as high relative humidity in summer when temperatures rise above zero in contrast to the low humidity in winter.
What’s in the cans?
Cocoa powder, Jeyes disinfectant powder, sardines, herrings, marrow fat, egg powder, dried cauliflower, mustard, mint, spinach, parsnips, onions, and meat dishes we don’t eat out of tins today, such as mutton cutlets, haricot mutton, ham loaf, and boiled fowl. Many of the cans are in bad condition and we need to treat the corrosion or we’ll lose them.
What have you worked on today?
I’ve opened three cans which were leaking. Two contained stewed kidneys and the other was rabbit curry. I emptied the contents, then removed the rust and treated them with corrosion inhibitor. Tomorrow I’ll coat them to protect the metal from air and water. That should slow down deterioration.
What do the cans look like? Can it get bad?
It depends on how deteriorated the can is. A can of tripe we opened recently was horrible to look at but smelt fine. The worst thing I’ve dealt with was probably a can of minced steak which turned out to be a nasty runny solution with bits of floating meat, fat and gristle. We work in a fume cabinet so the smell is not so bad. It’s only afterwards when you take the can out to treat it that you realise what the smell was like. But it’s all part of the job.
But surely after 100 years all the food is rotten?
We only work on cans that are swollen or have been punctured. As soon as they start leaking you know the food inside has deteriorated, and so will the can. We did open one tin that wasn’t punctured to see what it was like. The inside of the can was in good condition and the meat and jelly looked alright too.
Have you tasted any of the food?
No. It could be infected with botulism or other nasty bacteria. Sometimes the food smells quite good, so it’s tempting, particularly the golden syrup, the kippered herrings, and the red gooseberries.
How does it feel to work with Shackleton’s stuff?
The hut is like a small part of my country that has been transplanted to this alien environment. I’m British, and many of the brands of food are ones we’d find at home: Rowntree, Colman’s and Bird’s. I am amazed by how small Shackleton’s hut is, but it would have been a convivial place. Living where these explorers lived, you realise how resilient they were. We’re isolated here, but nowhere near as isolated as they were: if things went wrong for them, they went drastically wrong.
Are you actually working in Shackleton’s hut?
No. We can’t reach it in winter, so we are working in a lab at the Scott Base about 30 kilometres away. The objects we’re working on were brought back from Shackleton’s hut last summer, and will be replaced next summer.
How did you end up in the Antarctic?
I am a metals conservator at the Museum of London. When I saw this job advertised I knew I had to apply because I’ve always been interested in polar regions and exploration.
Has it lived up to your expectations?
Definitely. It’s great to experience the environment the explorers experienced, and to work on the artefacts in their true context – usually the objects I work on have been removed from their original home to a museum. We’ve been lucky to travel away from the base a bit too. It is amazing at the moment – stunning auroras and full moons. It can get down to -50 °C, which feels much colder when you add in wind chill, so we’re indoors most of the time.
When did you last see the sun?
The beginning of May. At midwinter, 21 June, there’s 24 hours of darkness. Historically, this has been a time for celebrations in Antarctica. For me, it was a bit like Christmas. We had three different meals, here and at McMurdo, and we were going to do a “polar plunge” and go for a swim in the sea, but the weather was too bad. I finally took the plunge last month when we jumped through a hole in the ice into the sea. It was -36 °C outside, so the water felt quite warm at -2 °C.
Few people will ever visit these huts, so why invest all this effort to preserve them?
It is unique that these huts still exist, virtually untouched in this isolated environment. They are such an important part of the history of Antarctica, of the UK and of exploration. This is the only continent where the first human dwellings remain. If they are not conserved, we will lose evidence of the details of the early explorers’ daily lives. Only a few people can visit these huts, but that doesn’t mean they are not important. They can be displayed via the internet. We’ve been writing a blog, and there has been a lot of interest through it.
“When you’re here you realise how important this conservation is”
Will the huts be around in another hundred years?
I’m quite optimistic that they will be now that the wider world is aware of their existence. But it really depends on what funding can be raised – it will cost £7.5 million to preserve the three huts on Ross Island. It will be sad if this project collapses after we’ve done a couple of years’ work. When you’re here you realise how important the work is.
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Nicola Dunn started work as a jeweller and silversmith, after training at Sir John Cass College in London; at the same time, she studied for a diploma in archaeology at Birkbeck College. She moved on to study conservation of fine metalwork at West Dean College, Sussex, and now works for the Museum of London, specialising in the conservation of historic materials such as metals, ceramics, glass and plastics. She has a long-standing interest in the polar regions and last year travelled to Greenland and the Arctic Circle before heading south to Antarctica. The Antarctic conservation blog is at:
