An all-female team of four is getting ready to travel 9,000 miles from England to Antarctica on a mission to reopen the world’s most southerly, and most remote, post office and museum.
Besting 4,000 other candidates for the coveted posts, the women will station at Port Lockroy on Goudier Island in the Antarctic Peninsula, a historic site run by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT). Starting early November, the assignment will last five months—through the winter and Christmas—and will mark the first time the charity’s flagship site has been opened since the pandemic.
(L-R) Clare Ballantyne, Mairi Hilton, Natalie Corbett, and Lucy Bruzzone. (Courtesy of UK Antarctic Heritage Trust)
Lucy Bruzzone will assume the role of base leader; Clare Ballantyne will be postmaster; the duties of shop manager will be assumed by Natalie Corbett; wildlife monitor will be the title of Mairi Hilton. Former Port Lockroy team member Vicky Inglis will join them, spending ten weeks helping them acclimatize to the unique and taxing location….