Louth's 'penguin postie' Clare Ballantyne to return to Antarctica

Clare Ballantyne pictured in Antarctica earlier this year.

Today (Tuesday) the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) has announced the new team that will be travelling to Antarctica for five months to take on some of the world’s most remote jobs.

The team will be deployed to two remote Antarctic islands; living and working at Base A Port Lockroy which is home to the world’s southernmost public Post Office, a museum and a colony of gentoo penguins during the heritage site’s 80th anniversary year, and Base W Detaille Island, which operated as a science station in the 1950s, where survey expeditions would be mounted by dog sledges. Today it is a protected historic site, rich in artefacts which were left behind when it was hastily evacuated in 1959.

Clare Ballantyne, from Louth, served as Postmaster from November 2022 to April 2023, and will be travelling out to Antarctica once again at the end of this month to settle the brand new team in, returning in seven weeks in time for Christmas, and splitting the season with new recruit Lisa Ford, who will be serving as a General Assistant.

This year will see the team members heading out to Antarctica to conduct urgent conservation repairs, cataloguing artefacts and also running the southernmost Post Office and museum.

The team at Port Lockroy will have no flushing toilet, running water or internet/social media and will have to deal with sub-zero temperatures and near-constant daylight on the football-pitch sized Goudier Island for five months, while the team at Detaille will be camping in the extreme Antarctic conditions for a month facing metres of snowfall.

Clare said she was “really excited” to be going back out to Antarctica again:

"This time around I’ll be the new team to set up and settle in and showing them the ropes and where the building should be under all the snow!

"The trust [UKAHT] likes to send out someone who has experience of the base and I said I’d be interested in going out again as I loved it so much before, and it will be great to go back again with more knowledge and experience and see what has changed out there as Antarctica is changing all the time.”

Clare said that she has been doing a lot more reading up in journals and history on the history of the the site and will be able to provide more anecdotal information for guests and the recruits during her time there.

The team heading out to Port Lockroy with Clare will be:

Bridie Martin-West, Base Leader
Jerome Viard, Wildlife Monitor
Shabir Alidina, Shop Manager
Laura Büllesbach, Museum Manager & Postmaster

In December, they will be joined by experienced conservation carpenters, Dale Perrin and Graham Gillie, and carpenter Pete Townsend.

Commenting on the appointment of the new team, UKAHT chief executive, Camilla Nichol said: "This is a unique moment to be working in Antarctica and an important season for the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust.

"During this season we will be celebrating Port Lockroy’s 80th anniversary and its legacy as the birthplace of British scientific research in Antarctica.

"We are also sending a team of specialist conservation carpenters to Base A Port Lockroy and Base W Detaille Island to conduct urgent repairs and capture data on the condition of the site and its artefacts.

“We’ve handpicked each team member for their expertise, genuine love and fascination of Antarctica and determination to preserve its rich heritage. We know it will be a challenging time for all team members as they will be living in a very remote part of the world, but they’ll play an essential role in bringing our heritage sites to life.”

And it’s not going to stop there for Clare, as in January she is heading up to Scotland to start her new job working in conservation, monitoring water levels in lochs and rivers.

UKAHT’s role is to conserve British Antarctic heritage on the Antarctic Peninsula for future generations and there are six heritage sites managed by the charity.

UKAHT has also been appointed by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) as Statutory Advisor on Antarctic Heritage. This includes leading the Conservation Management Plan for the wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance - found deep in the Weddell Sea in March 2022 – which they are undertaking in partnership with Historic England.

To make a donation to support Port Lockroy with its restoration efforts for its 80th anniversary, visit https://shop.ukaht.org/basket/editbasket