Penguin Post Office

On the tiny Goudier Island in Antarctica 

sits Port Lockroy Post Office and museum.  Established in February 1944 as a ‘scientific research station’ under the guise of the British Government’s ‘Operation Tabarin’, Port Lockroy remained permanently occupied until 1962, when it was abandoned as science programmes moved to more modern research stations elsewhere.

In 1996 Port Lockroy was restored to its original 1962 condition and was opened to visiting tourists during the Antarctic summer.  Each year the Trust recruits a team of four talented and enthusiastic staff to work at Port Lockroy for the season, promoting the legacy of British scientists' early work.      

The gentoo penguins arrived on Goudier Island in 1985.  In 2013 BBC Natural World commissioned a production that would capture Port Lockroy’s gentoo penguins.  Their daily trials and tribulations unfold as cruise ships come and go, bringing tourists to buy postcards, visit the museum and of course photograph the penguins.

Running concurrently were two further BBC productions: BBC Radio 4 ‘Penguin Post Office’, recorded by the film crew team and CBBC’s ‘My Life’ featuring director and cameraman Andrew Graham-Brown’s children.

For more information about this BBC production click here.

Our Flagship - Port Lockroy

The United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust works to conserve Antarctic buildings and artefacts, and to promote and encourage the public's interest in its Antarctic heritage.

Besides its flagship site at Port Lockroy the Trust conserves five other British historic sites on the Antarctic Peninsula. The Trust supports sister organisations to look after heritage sites in other parts of Antarctica.

You can read the last Port Lockroy blog of the season and the conservation team's blog from Wordie House.

Our work has been chosen to be part of Google Open Gallery. To view our collections, see the Cultural Spot website.

Shackleton's Endurance Expedition Centenary

This August heralds the start of the cenenary of Ernest Shackleton's most famous expedition, the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914 to 1917.  He lost his ship Endurance in the Weddell Sea and was forced to make one of the most famous open boat journeys in history.  Forthcoming information and events can be seen at www.shackleton100.org.

The Trust's sister organisations - Antarctic Heritage Trust (New Zealand) and Mawson's Huts Foundation look after historic huts from the heroic era built by Borchgrevink, Mawson, Scott, and Shackleton.

Why not get more involved and become a Friend of Antarctica