Portimão event to reveal amazing official images of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, led by Sir Ernest Shackleton
Sir Edmund Hilary, well known as one of the first human beings to reach the summit of Mount Everest, once said of the famous polar explorers: “For scientific discovery give me Scott; for speed and efficiency give me Amundsen but when disaster strikes and all hope is gone, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton.”
He was speaking of the Anglo-Irish polar explorer Ernest Henry Shackleton, one of the principal figures of the period known as the heroic age of Antarctic exploration.
Shackleton had been involved in previous attempts to reach the South Pole but, in September 1914, he set out on what became the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
Disaster struck this expedition when its ship, Endurance, became trapped in pack ice and was slowly crushed before the shore parties could be landed. There followed a sequence of exploits and an ultimate escape with no loss of life that would eventually assure Shackleton’s heroic status, although this was not immediately evident.
On February 8 2013, almost 100 years after the expedition, you will be able to relive those events, courtesy of a presentation to be given by Geoff Selley FRGS, who is the present custodian of the original photographic images taken by the official expedition photographer Frank Hurley and passed down from Dr Leonard Hussey, one of the expedition members.
The event will take place at the auditorium of Portimão Museum, commencing at 6.00 for 6.30pm.
The presentation is free to attend and is sponsored by tax consultants Sovereign – Consultoria Lda and the Algarve Resident, both based in Lagoa.
