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Great feast recreated
11:24am Tuesday 26th June 2001
CHRISTMAS came early to the National Maritime Museum when Captain Robert Scott's 1911 “Midwinter Dinner” was recreated to mark the 90th anniversary of the Antarctic feast.
Relatives of Captain Scott's party, and rival Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, gathered at the museum on Midsummer's Day (Thursday, June, 21) to commemorate the historic meal.
In June 1911 the English explorer settled down to a turkey dinner in the South Pole, while at home in England families celebrated the balmy summer's day.
But rather than head to the Antarctic to mark the day, relatives went to Greenwich to tuck into the Christmas meal this year.
Anne-Christine Jacobsen, great niece of Captain Roald Amundsen, said: “It was a super time. I found it very strange to sit there with the decorations as the men had done, with the Christmas trees all around. It was very sad to imagine all the hardships they must have faced.”
Scott's “wondrously attractive” meal, complete with “extravagant” menu and “enormous” Christmas tree, took place in their hut at Cape Evans.
The dinner table sat alongside several objects which were at Cape Evans for the original dinner, including the original menu card, and the exhibition area was dressed for Christmas.
The elaborate occasion was originally recorded by expedition photographer Herbert Ponting.
Tragedy followed the meal when, in January 1912, Scott was found dead with his men in their tent, having been beaten to the pole by his rival Amundsen.
The Greenwich re-creation was part of National Maritime Museum's current exhibition South: the Race to the Pole.
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Prehistoric walk
The interesting brochure you can obtain from the car park at Foulshaw Moss says that more than several thousand years ago the Witherslack Mosses were part of an extensive wetland in what is now the Lyth Valley and on the flat ground west of the Kent Estuary. The Mosses - Meathop, Foulshaw and Nicols - are raised peat bogs brought about by sphagnum moss that draws up, acidifies, and holds water like a giant sponge, creating waterlogged conditions as it grows. Sphagnum grows from the tip, leaving the lower part to die. Waterlogging halts decay of these dead bits that build up and up over thousands of years, to form deep domed mounds of peat that are raised many feet above the surrounding ground. The Witherslack Mosses have dried out partly as a result of forestry and the invasion of scrub. Over time, drainage and peat cutting led to the loss of more wetland and now only significant fragments remain. Specialised peatbog flora and fauna have been unable to thrive because of the area being too shaded and too dry. Recently conifers have been removed and also masses of rhododendrons have been cleared. Hundreds of peat and plastic dams have been installed to bring about the ‘sponge’ effect of the peat. At Foulshaw, the remains of a 15ft to 16ft wide prehistoric trackway has been uncovered. This is believed to have been constructed in the mid-Bronze Age to allow people to cross the once huge wetland. Trunks of ash and birch were laid side by side and supported on logs. Foulshaw Moss is open to the public. Nichols Moss, a really squelchy one, is only suitable for a hundred yards or so before you encounter pathless very wet moss. It is a delight to stand and look ahead but as there is no walkway do not continue. Pause just on its edge from where you might spot red deer. Meathop is a lovely walk but only for those with a permit from Cumbria Wildlife Trust or if you are a member. The parking is difficult. After the first short grassy track, follow a wider track, left, that winds round right by a pasture and into fine conifer woodland. Beyond this a wide walkway takes you out some distance into the moss, from where you will spot all sorts of interesting lowly plants. To visit Foulshaw Moss, on the A590, it is best to approach the entrance from the direction of Kendal. If coming from the opposite direction continue on past the entrance and make use of the Levens underpass to make a U-turn and approach from the north. This avoids trying to make a right turn across a narrow section of the busy A-road. The entrance is not signposted until you have turned off the road. The entrance turn, a cart track, lies just before a large layby on a narrow section of the A-road. Just beyond the turn, stands a huge sign saying ‘Dual carriageway a mile ahead’. To approach the entrance, drive the dual carriageway at Levens until it ends. Continue a short distance along the two-way road and begin to signal your left turn. Watch out for the large sign ahead. If you reach the layby you have gone too far.
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