Wordie House, AntarcticaThe delightfully situated Wordie House,...

Wordie House, Antarctica

The delightfully situated Wordie House, named after geologist James Wordie, on Winter Island in the Penola Strait, Antarctic Peninsula.

A base was first established by the British Graham Land Expedition in 1935 but this hut vanished in 1946, presumed to be the victim of a tsunami. It was rebuilt and was manned from 1947 to 1954, with a brief reopening for the winter of 1960 when a group of men found themselves cut off from their base. It was used as a base for exploration of the area and for meteorological observations.

The Argentine Islands are renowned for good weather, and Wordie House once sported a greenhouse in which vegetables are grown. Today it is managed by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust; if you want to visit just drop in to nearby Vernadsky Base (formally Faraday) and ask for the key!

Base W, Detaille IslandAbandoned in the late 1950s because of...

Base W, Detaille Island

Abandoned in the late 1950s because of its inaccessibility, Detaille has been my nemesis as Expedition Leader. This was my fifth attempt in three years yet we made it, largely because of the skill of our Captain who took us through mile after mile of ice.

The hut is still full of food, clothes and bedding and barring a bit of tidying up it is largely unchanged since its hurried abandonment across thirty miles of sea ice 50+ years ago. The island remains isolated and relatively inaccessible, and receives only a handful of visits a year despite it being a frequent target of ships entering Crystal Sound.