Art Exhibition titled “Landscapes of Exploration” at Peninsula Arts, Roland Levinsky Building, Plymouth University. This exhibition will bring together art resulting from residences at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) research stations sponsored by BAS and the Arts Council. Contact liz.wells@plymouth.ac.uk

 

Illustrated talk “From Plymouth to the Pole” at the Plymouth Athenaeum Society by local historian, Paul Davies. He will explain the many local connections with the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration. Tickets available from Paul Davies on 01548 561798 or paul@kingsbridgebooks.co.uk.

 

UK Premier performance of the musical “Great Scott” by Plymouth school children in the Minster Church of Plymouth. Tickets available at the door, although pre booking from the Estore is advised  

 

Illustrated talk by Angie Butler, author of “The Quest for Frank Wild” at the Plymouth Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Plymouth Hoe. Hosted by the Devon and Cornwall Polar Society, with KINGSBRIDGE BOOKS Book stall. Tickets available on the door, although pre booking on Estore is advised.

 

Captain Scott was born on 6 June 1868 at the family home of “Outlands” at Milehouse in Plymouth. Many remember him simply as the explorer who perished in March 1912 during exceptionally severe weather on his return from the South Pole after being beaten to being first there by the Norwegian, Roald Amundsen. However, the fact that he led two pioneering expeditions to the unexplored Antarctic continent should not be overlooked. The “Discovery” (1901-4) and “Terra Nova” (1910-13) expeditions achieved much and a great deal of important scientific work was undertaken. Captain Scott is one of Plymouth’s most famous sons. 

 

A memorial fund was established when the news reached Britain that all the members of the polar party had perished on their return journey from the South Pole. The Scott Fund provided financial security for the families of the dead explorers and money to finance the establishment of the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge. Funds were also made available for memorials – one in St. Paul’s Cathedral and this one at Mount Wise. The architect and sculptor of the Mount Wise memorial was Albert H. Hodge and it was unveiled in August 1925. Captain Scott’s son Peter Scott - who later became the world famous naturalist and wild life artist - attended the ceremony and laid a wreath. The deaths of the other members of the Polar party Dr. Edward Wilson, Lt. Henry Bowers, Capt. Lawrence Oates and Petty Officer Edgar Evans are also commemorated on the memorial. 

 

The inscription on the monument “To strive, to seek to find, and not to yield” is a line from Tennyson’s Ulysses. It also appears on the wooden cross erected to remember the men who died on Observation Hill overlooking the Great Ice Barrier in Antarctica.

 

On the ground, around the base of the Mount Wise memorial is an extract from Scott’s final message to the public written as he was dying in his tent: