At our April meeting we were treated to a wonderful talk - The coldest place on earth - from Rodney Paul. Hugely passionate about the Antarctic, Rodney started with some facts about the world’s fifth largest continent; a land mass that doubles in size each year due to sea ice, is dark for 6 months, averages minus 25 degrees in summer, has been as low as minus 80 degrees in winter and is the largest desert in the world! It does not belong to any nation, has no indigenous people, laws or government. Visitors must sign a paper to agree to certain rules in order to keep it pristine and unspoiled - no firearms or animals are allowed and there are no mineral rights. Rodney went on to talk about exploration of the region. The first explorer to cross the Antarctic Circle was Captain Cook in 1773 but he never saw the land. The first confirmed landing was in 1899. The names of the explorers in the early part of the 20th century are familiar to many of us; Captain Scott, Shackleton, Amundsen, Hilary. More recent explorers include Ranulph Fiennes and Preet Chandi. To finish his talk, Rodney showed us inspiring quotes from the explorers past and present with Elgar’s Nimrod playing in the background. A very moving end to a fascinating talk that had us all spellbound.

Next Meetings:  The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 10th June – our speaker is Sarah English, Staffordshire Archivist

New members and guests are always welcome. We meet 2nd Tuesday of month at 7.30pm at Stowe Village Hall. Contact our president Kath Hopcroft on 01889 - 270516, or - Facebook Stowe WI .