A group of South Pole adventurers have followed in the footsteps of their forebears.
One hundred years after Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Nimrod Expedition, the explorers, all descendents of the original team, left Britain in October and set off due south to retrace the great explorer’s polar footsteps.
At the weekend the trio, with strong connections with a school in Wye, finally reached their destination.
~Listen:
Hentry Worsley's eight-year-old niece Imogen Stainton tells how she is really proud of her explorer uncle>>>
In 1908/1909, faced with dwindling rations, Shackleton took the courageous decision to turn back just 97 miles from the South Pole.
Now a century on the three-man team of Henry Worsley, Will Gow and Henry Adams have completed unfinished family business.
It meant they have walked more than 900 miles and climbed well over 10,000ft in the toughest conditions on earth.
Before leaving, expedition leader, Lt Col Worsley spoke to the children at Spring Grove school.
Among pupils there are his niece and nephew, Angus and Imogen Stainton, who have been excited about their uncle’s journey.
Worsley’s neice Imogen Stainton, eight, said: “When my uncle is in the South Pole he has to go to the toilet in a bottle and carry it around with him until he gets back.
“It makes me laugh that if he goes to the toilet in the night he then cuddles the bottle like a hot water bottle to keep him warm.”
Children and staff have keenly followed progress, as both Will Gow, originally from Ashford, and Henry Adams boast strong Spring Grove connections.
A further connection with Shackleton’s polar explorations and Spring Grove is that another pupil is also related to a member of the great explorer’s later visit to the Antarctic.
William Stephenson, the step-great-great-grandfather of 11-year-old Dominic Richardson, was a member of the Endurance crew in 1915.