Shackleton Autumn School 2024

Shackleton Autumn School 2024

It was a great pleasure to attend the annual autumn school in Athy again this year. A fantastic series of lectures, experiences and exhibits. Of particular note for me personally were the stunning early colour images taken on the Rowett (Quest) expedition by George Hubert Wilkins - from early Autochrome glass plates. These were more recently found, beautifully conserved and prints were on display.

https://lnkd.in/ehXNNnNH - for those who might be interested.

Also of note was the introduction of the 'Antarctic Room' - where visitors could experience an atmosphere of -30 Degrees - a hit with the 140 school children who attended on Friday to see if they should consider being a polar explorer. Later on we were able to enjoy a viscous tipple in the spirit of the event.

There was also a showing of the National Geographic documentary 'Endurance' affording sidebar discussions with the attending expedition leader Dr. John Shears on the efforts made to find, map and tell a story.

https://lnkd.in/eKG9h3KC

We were able to finish the weekend by bringing a small number of guests to visit the ongoing work at our museum project. This included representatives from the The Fram Museum in Oslo, and Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center.

Sincere thanks to Seamus Dooley of JSD for giving up some of his Sunday to support us in a safe tour of the site and cabin. Works are proceeding well. We are all looking forward to the 2025 Autumn school which will open at the finished project.