Abstract

Gavin Francis is the author of ‘Empire Antarctica’, a book published by Chatto & Windus this year which describes his 14 months as base doctor at Halley, a British Antarctic Survey station on the Caird Coast at 75 deg South. The base is the most remote operated by the British, and has been continuously occupied since it was set up for the International Geophysical Year in 1956. It is also beside one of the continent’s largest colonies of emperor penguins. Join us for an illustrated talk as Gavin takes us through the seasons at Halley, visits aspects of the ‘Heroic Age’ of Antarctic Exploration, and what lessons it still has to teach BAS staff today about overwintering. He will also describe a year in the life of the emperors which, as Gavin writes, ‘through the months of cold and isolation reminded me that I was part of a community of the living.’