Author: admin
FINAL VOYAGE
On Friday 16th September the FINAL VOYAGE team held the penultimate Shackleton Scouts’ Own at Millbay Docks in Plymouth next to the Sir Ernest Shackleton blue plaques.
Silas Maxwell [Medway Towns]
Edward Wisbey [Dover]
Jacob Websdale [Thanet]
Jack Smith [Dartford]
Amy Schipper [Royal Tunbridge Wells]
Alex Tremain [Dartford]
Rose Darnley [Devon Scouts, representing Plymouth]
Oli Cowell [Hampshire Scouts, representing Portsmouth]
They were joined by four Kent Scouts Leaders – Alan Noake, Andrea Noake, Lucy Morgan and Nick Burring.
To mark the end of the REQUEST2021 project a tall ship sailing experience had been arranged. The original intention was to follow the route of the last few days of the Shackleton-Rowett ‘Quest’ expedition’s year-long voyage and sail from Plymouth to Portsmouth.
Unfortunately, as the Johanna Lucretia tall ship arrived in Plymouth, she suffered a catastrophic engine failure. In true Scouting spirit the FINAL VOYAGE team went ahead with the weekend anyway. We still slept aboard the tall ship and spent the Saturday sailing out from Plymouth on two other alterative vessels – the Olga, a beautiful original Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter and also had the thrill of sailing and navigating the replica of Blythe’s boat that was featured in the Channel 4 TV series, Mutiny.
On the Sunday morning the team got the opportunity to climb the rigging of the Johanna Lucretia.
On Sunday afternoon the team made their way by road to hold the very last Shackleton Scouts’ Own by the Spinnaker Tower at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth.
ReQuest2021 Podcast Ep.43
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REQUEST2021 PODCAST – EPISODE 43 – Scotland – Fordell Firs
Alan, Alex and Matt from the REQUEST2021 team plus Sam’s parents (Gwyneth and Alan Payne), Alex’s mum (Alison Maciver) along with Chief Commissioner of Scotland – Andrew Sharkie and a number of other Scottish Scouting representatives, friends and members representing the 1st Aberdeen Scout Group held our Shackleton Scouts’ Own and an award presentation at Fordell Firs, the Scottish Scout HQ on Sunday 11th September 2022. Our third and final commemorative plaque was unveiled by Norman Mooney’s son Alec. The proceedings included a one-minute silence for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and a short break to watch her funeral cortege pass under a bridge on the M90. Afterwhich the team members gave a short presentation about the REQUEST2021 project.
The full Scouts’ Own service and full team presentation have been included afterwards as bonus content.
0:00 Theme Music – “Antarctica”
00:45 Welcome Message
02:23 Alan on an early morning walk Sunday 11th September 2022 contemplating the day ahead
06:13 Fordell Firs – Shackleton Scouts’ Own, Award Ceremony and Plaque Unveiling
38:11 Cortege of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II passing under a bridge on the M90
43:18 Short clips from Alan, Matt & Alex’s REQUEST2021 presentations including BBC Countryfile clip
49:43 END
BONUS CONTENT
49:43 Full Shackleton Scouts’ Own Ceremony
01:07:02 Full version of Alan, Matt & Alex’s REQUEST2021 presentations
01:52:27 FINISH
Fordell Firs Ceremony
On Sunday 11th Sep 2022, against the backdrop of the Queen’s cortège passing through Scotland, a respectful Shackleton Scouts’ Own service was held by the REQUEST2021 project at Fordell Firs Campsite, Scotland. (The Scottish home of Scouting).
There was a one-minute silence in honour of Her Majesty The Queen.
ICEBERG Awards, badges and certificates were presented to Alex Maciver and Sam Payne (represented by his parents).
The third and final commemorative plaque to Scouts Marr & Mooney was officially unveiled by Alec Mooney (Norman Mooney’s son) who gave a fitting speech to mark this historic but somber occasion.
Alan Noake presented Andrew Sharkey (Chief Commissioner of Scotland) with an interpretation panel for the plaque.
After the ceremony Alan, Alex & Matt gave a presentation about their REQUEST2021 Antarctica Voyage experiences.
[SHORT VERSION – with Shackleton Scout’s Own removed]
[LONGER VERSION]
ReQuest2021 Podcast Ep.42
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3rd November 2022 – Team Reflections
When we arrived at our hotel in Buenos Aries, despite being very tired indeed I persuaded the team to be recorded and share their feelings fresh from the voyage. What were our expedition highlights and what did we all feel the legacy of our project should be?
00:00 Theme Music – “Antarctica”
00:45 Welcome Message
01:46 Alan & Helen setting up the interview questions (Hotel NH Lancaster foyer)
04:37 Q1: “How are you feeling immediately after the voyage?”
11:42 Q2: “What were your top 3 highlights?”
31:23 Q3: “What do you think the legacy of our project should be?”
41:33 END
ReQuest2021 Podcast Ep.41
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30th October 2022 – Buenos Aires
The final days of the expedition gave us time to explore the incredible city of Buenos Aries – including a visit to the Casa Rosada, Eva Peron’s tomb in the Recoleta cemetery, a Tango evening and a boat tour of the Tigre Delta. Yet again I recorded many hours of sound files and I have edited these down to about an hour just to give a sense of what it was like. Where possible I have tried to reduce any background noise. This is followed by my REQUEST interview with Andrew Creighton another one of our fellow Bark Europa crew members.
00:00 Theme Music – “Antarctica”
00:45 Welcome Message
01:42 Arriving at NH Lancaster Hotel, Buenos Aries, Fri 21st Jan 2022
13:12 Alan Searching for the Team
20:07 Team Chatting Over Fast Food Dinner
24:29 Signature Tour of Buenos Aries – Obelisco, Sat 22nd Jan 2022
26:47 Signature Tour – City Architecture
27:46 Signature Tour – Casa Rosada
30:43 Signature Tour – Tango Music
32:27 Tango Evening
35:23 Tigre Delta Tour, Sun 23rd Jan 2022
39:26 Church Service – San Isidro Cathedral
40:55 Leaving the NH Lancaster Hotel, Buenos Aries, Mon 24th Jan 2022
45:31 Bus to Buenos Aries International Airport
55:08 At Buenos Aries International Airport
58:28 REQUEST Interview with Andrew Creighton.
01:06:56 END
ReQuest2021 Podcast Ep.40
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REQUEST2021 PODCAST – 25th October 2022 – USHUAIA
After returning from the voyage to Antarctica we had one last day in Ushuaia and we all took the opportunity to get out into the National Park for a spot of hiking and sightseeing. I recorded nearly 6 hours of sound files in one day and I have spent a good while editing this down to an hour and a half to capture the essence of our Ushuaia experience. This is followed by the REQUEST interview with Pepijn Gramberg one of our fellow crew members.
00:00 Theme Music – “Antarctica”
00:45 Welcome Message
02:10 Setting Off On The Ushuaia National Park Tour
25:21 Team Chat – Ushuaia National Park
26:54 On Hiking Trail – Ushuaia National Park
45:49 End Of World Post Office
50:02 Further Exploring – Ushuaia National Park
1:18:34 Lake Sound – Ushuaia National Park
1:19:10 Returning On Bus From Ushuaia National Park
1:19:45 Alan Packing To Leave Ushuaia
1:22:04 Leaving Ushuaia
01:24:16 REQUEST Interview with Pepijn Gramberg.
01:34:31 END
SHACKLETON SCOUTS’ OWN
We did it! Our Shackleton Scouts’ Own made its way all the way from London to Antarctica and back again following the route of the 1921-1922 Shackleton-Rowett ‘Quest’ Expedition exactly one hundred years later. Huge thanks to everyone who participated along the way. #REQUEST2021
Sunday 5th September – Gilwell Scout HQ, by the REQUEST2021 plaque and interpretation board to Scouts Marr & Mooney.
Friday 17th September – St. Katharine Docks, held by the REQUEST2021 team meeting up as a group face to face for the very first time.
Saturday 18th September 6pm – Gravesend, held by the LV21 lightship in St. Andrews Gardens.
Sunday 19th September 6pm – Sheerness, in front of Sheerness Swimming Pool.
Friday 24th September 6pm – Plymouth, on the Mayflower Steps in the Barbican.
NOTE: There is lots of background noise – motorbikes, tourists and seagulls so it is not always easy to listen to the readings but it serves a record to capture the spirit of the respectful occasion that was held.
Monday 11th October 2021 – Lisbon.
Monday 18th October 2021 – Madeira, One hundred years to the day the Quest left Madeira we are grateful to Luis Sousa who arranged for members of Agrupamento 432 Sagrado Coração de Jesus in Funchal, Madeira (https://agrupamento432.wordpress.com) to hold our Shackleton Scouts’ Own to mark the departure of the expedition.
Thursday 28th October 2021 – Cape Verde Islands (St. Vincent).
A huge thanks to Carlos Monteiro and the Scouts of the Cape Verde islands who held our Shackleton Scouts’ Own for the day the Quest left St. Vincent (28th Oct).
Monday 8th November 2021 – St. Pauls Rocks (Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago)
REQUEST2021 – 100 years to the day that the Quest visited St. Pauls Rocks (8th November 1921), here is the video of our Shackleton Scouts’ Own ceremony held by St Paul’s Scout Group at their Headquarters in Maidstone, Kent. THANKS TO ALL THE MEMBERS OF ST. PAUL’S GROUP WHO TOOK PART INCLUDING IAIN & VICKY SOAMES. PLUS MATT WOOD FROM THE REQUEST2021 TEAM.
Saturday 18th December 2021 – Rio de Janeiro, at the Christ The Redeemer Statue!
Shackleton Scouts’ Own – Rio de Janeiro #REQUEST2021
100 years ago to the day Shackleton’s Quest left Rio!
A symbol of Christianity around the world, the statue has also become a cultural icon of both Rio de Janeiro and Brazil and was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
5th Jan – the anniversary of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Death. Venue: REQUEST2021 team on Bark Europa in Antarctica and as many Scout Groups as possible around the world on the same day.
Falkland Islands.
South Georgia.
(The Quest was in South Georgia from 4th Jan – 18th January 1922.)
In the group photo we have members from many of the different teams who work on the island, including; the CEO of the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; crew from the fishery patrol vessel Pharos SG; British Antarctic Survey team members; the government’s rodent sniffer dog handler (and dog); as well as South Georgia Heritage Trust’s Conner McLeod, who proudly wore the scout necker.
Thursday 20th January 2022 Zavadovski Island – Sandwich Scouts representing Zavadovski Island in the South Sandwich Islands. Venue: Sandwich Scout HQ.
Tuesday 15th February 2022 – Pack Ice
185th Glasgow – Cub section supporting @request2021 #ReQuest2021 @185ScoutGroup
Commemorating the Quest being in Pack Ice (69°17’ S, 17°09’ E) (Sat 4th Feb 1922 – Wed 15th Feb 1922)
Sunday 27th March 2022 – Elephant Island, Elephant Park, Swanley District. Recorded at 4pm on Sunday 20th March.
Sunday 8th May 2022 – South Georgia (Second time!), Shackleton’s Cross & Cairn, South Georgia #REQUEST2021 – Marking one hundred years since the Quest left South Georgia, for the second time, on the SHACKLETON-ROWETT Expedition. Huge thanks to Sarah Clark for visiting the cairn and cross for us on Saturday 7th May 2022. Reading from Scout Marr’s INTO THE FROZEN SOUTH. (Chapter XVI)
Wednesday 25th May 2022 – Tristan da Cunha.
And a huge thanks to the wonderful students of St. Mary’s School, Tristan Da Cunha. In the absence of any Scouts these days on the Island they stepped up and held our Shackleton Scouts’ Own in their assembly. This marks 100 years to the day that the Quest left Tristan Da Cunha, 25th May 1921.
Thursday 2nd June 2022 – Gough Island.
Alan Noake (by Shackleton’s James Caird Lifeboat at Dulwich College) shares a little bit of Gough Island!
Wednesday 13th July 2022 – Cape Town
Thrilled that to commemorate the Quest leaving Cape Town on 13th July 1922 the South Cape Scouts have held our REQUEST2021 Shackleton Scout’s Own service 100 years later.
The Quest had been in Cape Town since Sunday 18th June 1922. A huge thanks to all the Scouts taking part and a Shackleton The Penguin badge is on the way to them!
Wednesday 27th July 2022 – St. Helena
“Without any event of outstanding importance, following a placid round of commonplace duties, living on the fat of the land, since there was now no pronounced need to conserve our stores, cleaning ship diligently, fishing for albatross, taking occasional soundings and dredgings, we reached St. Helena and anchored off Jamestown. It is a pretty little town, which straggles picturesquely for a long way up the bottom of an acute-sided valley. The island itself is a mountainous mass, intersected in every direction by deep valleys, those opening to the sea in our direction being of a very regular V-shape. An exceedingly fertile land, its chief industry is the growing of flax.”
(Scout Marr, Into The Frozen South)
Thursday 4th August 2022 – Ascension Island, venue TBC.
Saturday 20th August 2022 – Cape Verde Islands (St. Vincent), (Second time!) As the Cape Verde Scouts have already participated in the REQUEST2021 Project back in October 2021 by holding our Shackleton Scouts’ Own we wanted to do something a bit different. So we arranged a Zoom link-up today between Scouts in Kent with Scouts in Cape Verde to build even stronger links. Both sides spent time asking questions about the differences in Scouting between the two locations.
Wednesday 5th September 2022 – San Miguel, The Scouts of San Miguel (CNE Agrupamento 1197) held our Shackleton Scouts’ Own in Portuguese to mark the occasion.
Sunday 11th September 2022 – Fordell Firs (Scottish Scout HQ), 2pm.
[SHORT VERSION – with Shackleton Scout’s Own removed]
[LONGER VERSION]
Friday 16th September 2022 – Plymouth (Second time!), 6pm by the new Devon & Cornwall Polar Society Plaque, Millbay Docks.
Sunday 18th September 2022 – Portsmouth, 4pm (Approx.) Gunwharf Quays by the Spinnaker Tower.
The Quest leaves San Miguel, Azores
One hundred years ago today (5th Sep 1922) Quest left San Miguel in the Azores and we are delighted to report that the Scouts of San Miguel (CNE Agrupamento 1197) have held our Shackleton Scouts’ Own in Portuguese to mark the occasion. #ReQuest2021 @Kentscouts
We are so grateful to Marco Cidade for arranging the ceremony for the project.
WATCH THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE:
‘Scout Marr’ plaque installed at the whalers’ church, Grytviken, South Georgia
Author: Ron Lewis-Smith
Myself and other former members of the 1st Aberdeen Grammar School Scout Troop arranged to have a brass plaque placed in at Grytviken back in January this year. The occasion was to commemorate our local hero James ‘Scout’ Marr who was a member of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ‘Quest’ Expedition to Antarctica. Shackleton died on 5th January 1922 just after the expedition reached the sub-Antarctic island. The centenary of his death was commemorated on that date this year.
Approval was given by the Government of South Georgia for our plaque to be displayed permanently, but in the whalers’ church rather than in the museum. Jayne Pierce, Curator of the Museum, installed the plaque on our behalf in the church on 5th January 2022. She sent me the following email shortly after:
“The plaque was successfully transported and installed in the Grytviken church and it now rests next to a number of other memorials, including dedications to Frank Wild and Brigadier David Nicolls. I have attached a photograph for you to use in any relevant newsletters etc. The photograph shows a nice reflection of the church but if you want something different for publication I took lots of images, so do ask if you need anything further.
I have also added the Scout scarf that you donated to the museum collection and it will sit with reference to the plaque in our database.”
The scarf she refers to was presented by the current 1st Troop Scout Leader and accompanied the plaque on its journey to South Georgia. Unfortunately, Jayne forgot to photograph it in the Museum! However, she did send me some photos of the plaque in situ in the church (see below).
It is now a popular visitor site for Antarctic cruise ships. The Norwegian whalers’
Lutheran church (built 1913) is on the right, next to the Kino (cinema).
Note the football pitch far right.
Left: The plaque is lower centre on the wall, with reflections of the gallery railings.
Photo Jayne Pierce
ReQuest2021 Podcast Ep.39
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Tuesday 16th August 2022 – VOYAGE SUMMARY / SARAH
Our expedition leader Sarah Gerats gives a summary overview of the whole voyage. This is followed by a fascinating REQUEST interview with Sarah sharing her incredible experiences of the polar regions.
00:00 Theme Music – “Antarctica”
00:45 Welcome Message
01:41 Sarah’s summary overview of the whole voyage.
21:01 REQUEST Interview with Sarah Gerats.
45:43 END