An NHS midwife is swapping working at a birth centre in London to live on an island with 1,000 penguins in Antarctica.
Bridie Martin-West, 33, was selected by the charity UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) to work at the “football pitch-sized” Goudier Island Base A at Port Lockroy.
Along with five other colleagues, Ms Martin-West, originally from Cornwall, will be responsible for managing and maintaining the base for five months starting from early November, to ensure the “incredible” stories of the first explorers and scientists who ventured to the South Pole are preserved.
The team comprises a postmaster and museum manager, a shop manager, wildlife monitor, and general assistant.
During a secret Second World War mission called Operation Tabarin, Base A was established as the first British base in Antarctica in 1944.
Nearly 80 years later, it is now home to the world’s southernmost public post office, a museum and a colony of gentoo penguins.
“I worked in a birth centre, looking after women throughout their pregnancies and the births of their babies – it’s high-stress and hugely changeable.”
She said she will miss her colleagues in midwifery, but they are “excited” about her new job in Antarctica.
“I have brilliant midwifery colleagues… they are fantastic,” she said.
The 33-year-old said training for Antarctica has been “full-on”.
She said: “We’ve been doing loads of training, doing remote first aid because we’re not able to call 999… learning about how to pull sledges and how to monitor the penguin population.
“It’s been really full on, so I feel more ready, but I don’t know if you can ever feel completely ready for such an incredible experience.”
Graham Gillie, a 56-year-old carpenter from Edinburgh, Scotland, husband of Anna, 49 and father to Thomas, 14 and James, 12, will work for three and a half months between Base A on Port Lockroy and Base W on Detaille Island during his third trip to the Antarctic since 2010.
Base W on Detaille Island was a research station from 1956 to 1959 and is now a protected site with many artefacts left behind from a hasty evacuation when it was shut.
“You just have to have an understanding with people at home that they may get an email now and again, but it’s quite difficult.
“And they (my family) fully support that… but I have to say that’s going to be one of the hardest things for me is missing the family when I’m away.”
He said: “For example, at Detaille Island we’re camping because we can’t stay at the hut because it’s a heritage site – it has to be protected.
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