The island really is quite overwhelming
The “museum at the end of the world” marks its thirtieth anniversary this year. Bill Gibb speaks to curator Jayne Pierce to find out more.
SITTING on a tiny, remote island on the edge of Antarctica, the South Georgia Museum, which is marking its thirtieth anniversary this year, is like no other.
To reach it, visitors must walk up a beach teeming with penguins and seals.
Despite the isolation, those hardy tourists flock there in surprisingly large numbers, which look set to grow even more this year.
The island is the final resting place of famed explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton.
Following the discovery of his remarkably intact ship Endurance in March, a surge of interest is expected.
“The island really is quite overwhelming,” curator Jayne Pierce, from Dundeebased charity the South Georgia Heritage Trust, says.
“You’re on a boat for four days, then you suddenly have these cliffs rising up out of the sea, before setting foot ashore with this amazing wildlife literally all around you.
“The museum is in Grytviken, which was set up as a whaling station in 1904 and operated until 1963.
“The building was the station manager’s villa, and all the stories and objects presented reflect what you can see out the window.”
With freezing temperatures and winds so strong they can blow over a helicopter, Jayne admits South Georgia Museum is a very different prospect from the UK museums in which she’s worked.
“You spend all your time with the same small group of people, so it can be quite hard,” Jayne explains.
“There are only twenty people on the island, most from the British Antarctic Survey and maybe three for the museum.
“When a tourist ship comes in, it’s very busy with lots of questions.
“Afterwards, you can’t just get a takeaway; you have to make your own bread with everything else dried, in a tin or frozen.
“In the evenings we watch films and play board games.
“On days off you can follow the wildlife around.”
Shackleton reached the island in 1916 after a remarkable 800-mile open-boat trip following the loss of the Endurance.
He died there as he attempted his final Quest expedition in 1922.
“He had been ill for some time and the talk was that he hung on until he reached land,” Jayne says.
“His wife wanted him to be buried on South
Georgia. She felt that was where his soul belonged.
“The cemetery at Grytviken is a magical place, with a small white fence around it and a mountain backdrop.
“It’s right on the shore and the waters are turquoise because of the glacial outwash.
“Shackleton’s grave has a granite headstone from Scotland, and while most of the plots face east-west, his faces south, with his feet pointing towards Antarctica.”
Members of the Endurance22 Expedition team visited both the grave and the museum just after they found the Endurance this spring.
Many more are expected to follow in their footsteps when the museum reopens for the season in October.
“In my first season, we had seventy-nine ships visit, which was the biggest number in the museum’s history,” Jayne explains.
“That was about ten thousand visitors.
“We think the numbers could well be up because of it being the centenary of Shackleton’s death and with all the interest in the Endurance.”
As well as his grave, they’ll be able to see a new exhibition at the museum: Shackleton’s Last Quest.
Although visits are naturally limited, the museum team have been working hard putting resources and exhibitions online, and further development is planned. ■
South Georgia Museum, Grytviken, South Georgia SIQQ 1ZZ. Website: sgmuseum.gs.