April 28th

While the blizzard raged

raw pained hands frostbitten black

wrote letters of love

Went to the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge today. This is the last week for the Captain Scott exhibition they are running. And what a gold mine it was. It covered a brief history of polar exploration, looking at artefacts from the likes of Ross, Perry and Franklin but also included such rare items as Scott’s last journal was on show, on loan from the British Library. A selection of the last letters each of the men who died is also there amongst other photographs and artefacts.

There is something calm,dignified and although a cliche, terribly British about their demise. So calm in the face of losing their friends, watching each other weaken, knowing they will never see their loved ones again. Even though their hands were probably shredded, blackened and crippled by frostbite, they wrote. Scott himself wrote to all of the families and loved ones of his party, telling them how brave they were, how proud they should be of them. His guilt at not being able to save them seeped out of his handwriting.

Edward Wilson, one of the party, was an incredibly talented man. Physician, Naturalist, Botanist and Artist, the letter below just made my heart ache. They knew they were going to die, they wanted to tell their friends how much they cared for them. Although the original letter was on show, I’m sharing a photo of the transcript of it.

And the famous last journal entry of Captain Scott. “For God’s sake look after our people”

Finally one of Wilson watercolours, Paraselena Jan 15. 1911. 9.30pm Cape Evans McMurdo Sound. This is also on display in the exhibition. A set of skis for every lost explorer.