I signed the visitors book in the managers house having retraced Shackleton’s route down from the surrounding hills many years ago now. There was an engraved slate slab at the front door commemorating his arrival there if my memory serves me right?
The visitors’ book was found on site. The book will be returned to the villa once works is complete. There is a metal plaque which was displayed on the building. This plaque was originally displayed outside of the ‘new’ manager’s villa, which for many years was mistakenly thought to be the building which Shackleton reached. It was later realised that the smaller ‘Foreman’s Barracks’ had been the original managers villa and the plaque was moved to this building. Once stabilisation works are complete, this plaque will be reinstated on the building.

As an environmental engineer I am curious to know if any special mitigative procedures are required for the Manager’s Villa and the Stromness site overall?
The Manager’s Villa is located within the larger site of Stromness whaling station, this is classed as a post industrial landscape. The environment has been heavily modified over many decades of the whaling industry and the site does contain contaminated ground and asbestos. We aim to create as little ground disturbance as possible so as not to release any contaminants. The Manager’s Villa is away from the main industrial heart of the station so thankfully the contaminated ground and asbestos in this area is relatively little.

Are you all wearing full PPE because of the asbestos hazard?
Yes, the PPE and RPE we wear is primarily to protect against asbestos. From our survey of the building and the area in 2022, we know where the asbestos is located and it will be removed at the start of the project. This will mean the Villa is fully decontaminated before we start stabilisation work. But we will continue to wear PPE to protect against any unidentified asbestos.

 

 
Are you going to save any of the remaining artifacts? Is the iconic bath still there?
Yes, the bath was still in the villa when the team arrived and has been retained. Smaller artefacts found in the villa were removed and kept aside. These have been inspected by one of the SGHT museum team. Items of significant value or interest will be moved to the museum, but most items will remain in the villa. Larger items such as furniture) were left in the villa and will remain there.
 
Will you have to bring in a lot of extra building materials to make the building safe, or can you cannibalise other structures?
We brought in all the materials we needed to undertake the stabilisation. SGHT conducted a detailed survey of the villa in 2022 which was used to create the plan for the current project to advise on what, and how much, materials we would need for the stabilisation work.
 
How do you contain the asbestos until you remove it from South Georgia?
We follow UK HSE guidance on the removal of asbestos and we have an asbestos specialist on the team. There is actually only a tiny amount of asbestos in the villa, this will be carefully removed and placed in double layered UN certified bags. These bags are then crated to protect them during transport off island.
 
Are there any plans to open the building as a museum, possibly self-guided by expedition guides from the many cruise ship visits?
There are no plans to open the site for visitation. The villa is located within the whaling station which is not accessible by visitors due to asbestos and loose debris hazards. However, SGHT, with permission from GSGSSI, will be creating a digital replica of the building. This will allow visitors to experience the villa digitally, both as it is now, and how it would have been in 1916.