Antarctic conservation blog

Fran, Friday 30 October 2009

Temperature: -28°C
Wind: 14 knots
Temp with wind chill: -50°C
Conditions: Uniform low cloud and fog all around, moderate to low visibility

One of the things commonly associated with people from the north of England is their love of tea, or as we say, ‘having a brew’! So it seemed fitting that an opened tin of tea leaves was one of the objects I conserved this fortnight. The tin was in very poor condition, with cracks in the heavily corroded metal and the base almost falling through completely; the contents were literally pouring through the gaps.

Various treatments were needed to stabilise the tin, including removing the corrosion, reattaching the sides together and introducing patches where metal fatigue had left large holes. I secured a nylon sack to the inside of the tin and the leaves poured in so that, even if it deteriorates in future, the contents will remain secure.

Captain Scott’s tea © Antarctic Heritage Trust

A disappointment though is that all traces of the original labeling have at some point been lost. There have been numerous examples of tea tins found at Shackleton’s hut at Cape Royds, which were produced by Liptons, but this is the first example to be found at Captain Scott’s hut at Cape Evans and appears to be from a different manufacturer. We know that the variety is ‘blended black tea’, which is more oxidized than other tea varieties and contains more caffeine.

The original blend supplied to Scott’s 1910 expedition has been replicated by UK supermarket chain Tesco’s, and for every box of this brand of tea purchased, Tesco donate 5p towards the ‘Save Scott’s Hut’ campaign which directly benefits the Antarctic Heritage Trust and the conservation work we are currently undertaking. They also recommend that the ‘perfect’ cup of tea should be enjoyed to the strength that Captain Scott and his exploration party would have drunk theirs, and therefore, the tea should be properly brewed in a pot! For both us and Captain Scott, with a temperature of -28°C outside, there’s nothing quite like a nice hot brew for warming you up!

Posted in Antarctica, Conservation, Scott

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