30th Anni. UK Antarctic Heritage Trust
Introducing the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust
UKAHT protects and preserves sites and artefacts of international significance across the Antarctic peninsula. Our aim is to make our shared Antarctic heritage accessible to all, whether from the sofa or the ship. We want audiences across the world to be able to discover these charismatic sites and their remarkable stories. Through this, we hope that people will develop a deeper appreciation for this extraordinary continent.
Our work centres on six historic bases along the Antarctic Peninsula, each site telling a unique story of discovery and scientific exploration. These sites, which were built between the 1940s and 1970s, are the missing link between the Heroic Era structures of Scott and Shackleton and the modern-day scientific stations such as Halley and Rothera, operated by the British Antarctic Survey.
These iconic structures were left empty for several decades, until the establishment of UKAHT in 1993. Since then, we have been working to conserve and care for these sites in order to make them safe, secure and accessible for visitors from around the world.
30 years of conserving and inspiring
On 28 July 2023, UKAHT turned 30. For three decades, we have had the privilege to conserve Antarctica’s unique heritage, share the continent’s ever-evolving stories and inspire others to see and experience Antarctica differently through innovative technology, art and culture. In 1993, we didn’t have a single site to our name. Today, the Trust manages the restoration and care of six heritage huts and their treasures on the Antarctic Peninsula and is leading the Conservation Management Plan for Sir Ernest Shackleton’s shipwreck Endurance. As a charity, we couldn’t have done it without our supporters. We are eternally grateful for all of your help in protecting and celebrating this precious place, then, now and into the future.
But our work is never done. Our birthday is not only about celebrating our achievements but also a time to look forward. Antarctica is complex, fragile and rapidly changing – and so too is its heritage. As such, UKAHT must also keep evolving and rethinking our role to best champion our cherished sites to ensure this heritage and the stories can be shared for generations to come.
80 years of an ever-evolving story
On 11 February 2024, our flagship site Port Lockroy will celebrate its 80th birthday. The location of our beloved Penguin Post Office had been a safe anchorage since it was first named in 1903. For this reason, in 1944 it was selected as Base A – the first continuously occupied British base in Antarctica as part of the secret wartime mission, Operation Tabarin. Over the ensuing years, Port Lockroy witnessed the birth of British Antarctic science while it operated as an atmospheric research base until 1962.
Abandoned for three decades, Port Lockroy was restored in 1996 with support from UKAHT, who then took over full management of the site in 2006. Since then, we’ve been welcoming visitors to the museum and the world’s southernmost public post office, while capturing important data on our resident gentoo colony.
From secret mission to Penguin Post Office, Port Lockroy is an ever-evolving story. We’re looking forward to what the next 80 years have to say.
Damoy: the airport on ice
Damoy Hut stands in Dorian Bay on Wiencke Island, the most modern of Britain’s Historic Sites and Monuments in Antarctica. From 1975 until 1993, it served as a British summer air transit station for scientists. Here scientists would disembark their ship and await Twin Otter aircraft which landed on the glacial skiway above, which would take them to scientific stations farther south. Damoy is Antarctica’s only protected historic transit facility and skiway.
Detaille: the hut frozen in time
From 1956 to 1959, Detaille Island Hut was home to Base W, a science station from where survey expeditions would be mounted by dog sledge. This site is very hard to reach and this was most evident when it was hastily evacuated in 1959 due to encroaching sea ice, the men leaving all but their personal belongings behind. The hut today remains incredibly rich in artefacts and is one of the best preserved of our bases. However, the site is still the hardest one to reach.
Stonington: home of the huskies
Base E, Stonington Island Hut is our southernmost base and is arguably the most idyllic. Positioned in the striking Marguerite Bay, banked by vast snow slopes and imposing 800m-high peaks, Stonington was originally used as a base for sledging operations in the area. It operated from 1946 to 1950 and again from 1960 to 1975 after which the base permanently closed.
Text by UKAHT.
Technical details:
Designer Bee Design
Photography 74p Jo Bradshaw/UKAHT
80p Clare Ballantyne/UKAHT
£1.09 Sven Habermann and Martin Herrmann/UKAHT
£1.40 UKAHT
FDC Lucy Dorman/UKAHT
Printer Cartor Security Printing
Process Lithography
Stamp Size 42 x 28mm
Perforation 13 ¼ x 13 ½ per 2cms
Sheet Layout 10
Release date Expected November 2023
Production Co-ordination Creative Direction (Worldwide) Ltd