Saturday, November 03, 2007

Saving the Shackelton and Scott Huts


The Government of Ireland has pledged NZ$100,000 to help restore the historic huts of explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton, reports Errol Kiong in the New Zealand Herald. Irish President Mary McAleese made the announcement at a fundraising lunch for the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust in Auckland. He writes:
"She spoke of the three men - Shackleton from Kildare, Tom Crean from Dingle and Frank Worsley from Akaroa - who tramped 64km in freezing winds to get help after their shipmates became stranded following the ill-fated trip by the vessel Endurance in 1914. The Antarctic Heritage Trust, which is partly funded by New Zealand, has spent the last three years restoring the Shackleton hut (pictured above), listed by the World Monuments Fund as one of the world's 100 most endangered heritage sites, but urgent work must now begin on Scott's 1910 hut at nearby Cape Evans."
The UK government gave the trust NZ$250,000 earlier in the year. Another NZ$4 million is needed to restore and maintain the two huts.

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