Category: Heritage
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]
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.
‘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
St. Helena – Shackleton’s Scouts Own
100 years ago the Quest just departed the island of 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)
EXPLORERS TO MAKE FINAL REQUEST2021 VOYAGE
PRESS RELEASE – EXPLORERS TO MAKE FINAL REQUEST2021 VOYAGE
The following Explorer Scouts have now been selected to sail on the REQUEST2021 Final Voyage on a tall ship from Plymouth to Portsmouth on 16th – 18th September 2022.
Exactly 100 years after Scout Marr returned upon Shackleton’s Quest on its year long voyage to Antarctica and back.
The Explorers will be holding the Shackleton Scouts’ Own ceremony next to the recently installed plaque to the 1921 Shackleton-Rowett expedition on the Friday at 6pm at Millbay Docks. They will then set sail from Plymouth.
On the voyage, the they will learn how to sail or improve their existing sailing skills and seamanship, including navigation and the use of all the equipment on board the boat.
They plan to arrive at Portsmouth’s Gunwharf Quays around 4pm on Sunday 18th September to hold the very last Shackleton Scouts’ Own and officially mark end the REQUEST2021 project.
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]
Wish them all luck! It promises to be a memorable experience.
They will be joined by four Kent Scouts Leaders plus the permanent Island Trust crew of the Johanna Lucretia.
FOR MORE INFO CONTACT REQUEST2021 PROJECT LEADER ALAN NOAKE ON 07525 633435 OR ALAN.NOAKE@KENTSCOUTS.ORG.UK
Gough Island
Commemorating Quest’s departure from Gough Island on 2nd June 1922. Filmed at Dulwich College by the James Caird Lifeboat. Obviously a different Shackleton expedition but the perfect setting to share details of this unique artefact. #REQUEST2021
THANKS GO TO JAN CHOJECKI FOR USE OF THE MOUNT ROWETT ARTEFACT AND FREDDIE WITTS (ARCHIVIST AT DULWICH COLLEGE) FOR ALLOWING US TO FILM WITH IT NEXT TO THE JAMES CAIRD LIFEBOAT.
ReQuest2021 Podcast Ep.34
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EPISODE 34 – Sunday 29th May 2022 – PORT LOCKROY / MAFU LYNCH
On 12th January, with Alan’s Covid isolation finally over, the whole team had the privilege of visiting the Port Lockroy, Antarctic base which was set up by James Marr and his team during Operation Tabarin in WW2. There is also the REQUEST interview with Mafu Lynch, from Tierra Del Fuego, who was one of the members of the permanent crew on the Bark Europa.
00:45 Welcome Message
01:33 12th January 2022 On Board at Port Lockroy prior to Landing
03:03 Zodiac Landing at Port Lockroy
16:15 Exploring Port Lockroy base
59:53 Reflecting on time at Port Lockroy with Gentoo Penguins
01:01:42 Final walk around Base ‘A’, Bransfield House
01:23:08 Discovering the pantry in Bransfield House with Sarah
01:25:08 Zodiac back to Bark Europa
01:26:37 REQUEST Interview with Mafu Lynch
01:41:01 Closing Message
1:42:21 END
Tristan Da Cunha
Commemorating the Quest leaving the island of Tristan Da Cunha 25th May 1922 #REQUEST2021. Extracts from Scout Marr’s Into The Frozen South and from the Guardian May 1923, There are no longer any Scouts there however back then there was the Penguin Patrol.
Tristan da Cunha is one of the most isolated inhabited Islands in the world. It is situated in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, 1,700 miles west of Cape Town, 1,900 miles east of South America, and 1,500 miles south-south-west of St. Helena. The island is 38 square miles in area, a circular cone-like volcanic mountain with cliffs of 1,000-2,000 feet that plunge directly into the sea.
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 today. This marks 100 years to the day that the Quest left Tristan Da Cunha, 25th May 1921. #REQUEST2021
Shackleton’s Cross & Cairn
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)
ReQuest2021 Podcast Ep. 24
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EPISODE 24 – Fri 1st October 2021 – A quick review of our September events, a message from Tom Boeckx commander of HMS Protector (and a Group Scout Leader in Thanet) who is currently heading down to Antarctica and the ReQuest interview with author Brad Borkan recorded back in 2020. At the time of the interview, he was promoting his book ‘When Your Life Depends on It – Extreme Decision Making Lessons from the Antarctic’ co-authored with David Hirzel and most recently they have also produced ‘Audacious Goals, Remarkable Results: How an Explorer, an Engineer and a Statesman shaped our Modern World.’
A podcast documenting the Kent Scouts #ReQuest2021 Research Project all the way to Antarctica and back again! Interviews, Scouting historical links, events and research project work recorded along the way. Part of Alan Noake’s Antarctic Soundscapes project.
Show Notes
When Your Life Depends on It – Extreme Decision Making Lessons from the Antarctic – Paperback by Brad Borkan and David Hirzel.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/When-Your-Life-Depends-Antarctic/dp/194531205X
When Your Life Depends on It – Extreme Decision Making Lessons from the Antarctic – Audiobook
https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/When-Your-Life-Depends-on-It-Audiobook/B07D835B3R
Audacious Goals, Remarkable Results: How an Explorer, an Engineer and a Statesman shaped our Modern World. By Brad Borkan and David Hirzel.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Audacious-Goals-Remarkable-Results-Borkan-Hirzel/dp/1945312149