'Emotional' pictures show race to South Pole

The expedition to the South Pole took two years

Rarely-seen images of Captain Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole are to go on display in Dundee.

The photographs reflect daily life on the Terra Nova expedition from 1910 to 1912 and will be shown at an exhibition at the city's Discovery Point.

Organisers said the collection includes some "highly emotional" pictures of the Polar party at the South Pole.

Captain Scott reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912, but all five members of the expedition died on the way back.

The "Race to the Pole" exhibition was set up by the Dundee Heritage Trust to commemorate the centenary of the fateful trip.

It also highlights the Tayside links to the project. The whaling ship used to take the expedition to Antarctica, the Terra Nova, was built in Dundee and some of the expedition planning took place at Glen Prosen in Angus.

Many of the objects and photographs on display have never been displayed in public before, the trust said.

The show features well-known images by Antarctic photographer Herbert Ponting of the Terra Nova, sledging parties, penguins and vast icebergs.

Some of the pictures depict life in the hut at Cape Evans

The lesser-seen images depict life in the hut at Cape Evans and portraits of the men on the expedition.

Objects on display include the remains of a cake sent to Captain Oates and a pony snow shoe.

Gill Poulter, from Dundee Heritage Trust, said: "Scott's race to the South Pole against Norwegian Roald Amundsen is one of the most famous stories in the history of exploration.

"The expedition is often regarded as an English endeavour but it has significant Scottish and Dundee connections which we highlight in the show.

"Researching and producing the exhibition has been a real pleasure as it is always a privilege to work with such iconic and emotional material.''

The exhibition runs from 12 June to 2 December. It was jointly sponsored by Museums Galleries Scotland and The Friends of Dundee Heritage Trust.