Relics from Captain Scott’s doomed attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole are set to go under the hammer.
A set of skis and ski poles used by a member of the Antarctic expedition, Frank Browning from Stockland, are set to be auctioned by Adam Partridge Auctioneers in Hele, Devon, on 12 January.
Director of valuations Christopher Surfleet said Browning had been part of the northern party that was stranded on an island for the winter and, after trekking 200 miles (322km) back to the ship eight months later, found Scott and his southern party had died.
He said the £10-20,000 guide price was a reflection on the “exceptionally important and rare” equipment from the 1910-1913 expedition.
The director said the historic skis and ski poles were one of 40 or 50 sets ordered for the expedition from L H Hagen and Co, in Christiania, now known as Oslo, in Norway.
Surfleet said Browning had gifted the equipment to the St Marychurch and Babbacombe Constitutional Club in 1930.
He said that, while Scott and his team had been the southern party, Browning’s northern party had been transferred to an area near Evans Cove on 4 January 1912 and due to be picked up on 18 February.
Ice and bad weather had prevented the pick-up, so the group had to build an ice cave to see the winter out on Inexpressible Island, he explained.
Surfleet said the group in summer clothes with six weeks of rations had to hunt animals to survive, including a seal which Browning killed and found 36 edible fish in its stomach.
The group left their camp on 30 September 1912 and 200 miles later they reached the Terra Nova ship on 7 November to be told Scott and his team had died.
Surfleet said Browning had returned to live in Torquay and played for Torquay United Football Club before he died of double pneumonia in 1930, which may been a result of the hardship he had suffered in the Antarctic.
He said: “The skis and poles are an incredible link to that time and the horrendous conditions these pioneering brave gents endured.”
“I’ve been an auctioneer for 33 years and this is one of the most interesting and exciting items I’ve ever handled,” he said.
