British Antarctic Memorial

British Antarctic Memorial Exhibition


The Memorial Exhibition at barrage sails in Cardiff Bay, Wales commemorates a historical event that captured the world’s imagination a century ago.


In 1910, the British Antarctic Expedition, led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, departed on June 15, 1910, from Cardiff Bay in the vessel SS Terra Nova in a desperate race with Norwegian Roald Amundsen and his team to be the first humans to reach the South Pole.  



The British expedition, unfortunately, ended tragically & the crew never returned. Worse still they lost the race and were greeted with the sight of Norwegian flags that were posted by Amundsen and his team, who had successfully reached their destination three weeks earlier.



On January 17th, 1912, as they set back from the South Pole having lost the race, Captain Scott wrote in his journal, “Great God this is an awful place.”  Clearly, the sting of defeat left a bitter taste.



"I am going outside, I may be some time”. These were the historic words that Captain Lawrence Oats spoke on March 17, 1912, before he left the tent to die, as he felt he had been slowing the progress of the others in their long march back from the South Pole.



Captain Scott's last diary entry on 29th March was" It seems a pity, but I don't think I can write more" 



Scott, Wilson, and Bowers all perished in March 1912, only about 10 miles from a significant food depot they had placed on their way to the Pole. 


The memorial opened in 2003 by Princess Anne ends with these words, "So it’s important that we continue the memory of Captain Scott and his comrades, and their association with the City of Cardiff, to encourage future generations to push boundaries and seize their spirit of adventure."


Location: Cardiff Bay, United Kingdom

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