Showing 160 items
20 February, 2023 Emily Newton
Martin Bell, Halley Vehicles Engineering Manager, reflects on the work of the Vehicles team as the Halley Research Station closes for winter. This award-winning and innovative research station provides scientists …
Read more on Season’s end: preparing Halley VI for the winter
2 February, 2022 Emily Neville
Neil Brims is the Electrician at Halley VI Research Station. In our latest blog, find out what life is like at Halley and how it feels to live at the …
12 January, 2018 Jonathan Shanklin
It’s been over 30 years since British Antarctic Survey meteorologist Jonathan Shanklin first visited at Halley Research Station. He’s one of few who has spent 20 Antarctic seasons living and …
6 March, 2017 Ben Rowe
This is Part 2 of a guest blog written by Ramboll engineer Ben Rowe, who was embedded with the British Antarctic Survey for 11 weeks to advise and assist with …
Read more on Guest blog: How to move an Antarctic research station #2
3 March, 2017 Ben Rowe
This is Part 1 of a guest blog written by Ramboll engineer Ben Rowe, who was embedded with the British Antarctic Survey for 11 weeks to advise and assist with …
Read more on Guest blog: How to move an Antarctic research station #1
5 August, 2016 Richard Inman
As the winterers at Halley VI look forward to seeing the sun come up above the horizon again, electrical services technician, Richard Inman describes how they’ve been coping with the …
4 March, 2016 Thomas Barningham
Thomas Barningham from University of East Anglia shares his voyage and time at Halley Since my last post, a lot has happened – we have arrived and begun work at …
5 February, 2016 Athena Dinar
“I feel like I’m home” says BBC weather forecaster Peter Gibbs as he sets foot on the Brunt Ice Shelf. It’s an emotional moment for him; the last time he …
23 December, 2015 Thomas Barningham
Welcome to my blog. My name is Thomas Barningham and I’m currently in the third year of my PhD at the University of East Anglia. My work aims to understand …
20 November, 2015 Thomas Welsh
New summer season starts at Halley
6 November, 2015 Ashly Fusiarski
“Goodbyes” get harder each time so I avoid them by saying “See you later” as if I’m just going to the shop. The journey South is long and for me …
18 May, 2014 John Mann
May was another busy month at Halley with the loss of the sun and the temperature dropping even further making our everyday tasks down here that little bit more challenging. …
18 April, 2014 BAS Bloggers
With the first round of Winter Training Trips concluded April saw the wintering team here at Halley VI settling in for the long, cold winter to come. You could say …
18 March, 2014 Richard Warren
March has been a busy month for all of us at Halley station. Following the departure of the RRS Ernest Shackleton in February, March saw the continuation of winter trips, …
24 February, 2014 Michal Krzysztofowicz
February was a really busy month at Halley. The month has started with the arrival of Summer Science Staff on the RRS Ernest Shackleton – this was the second Shack’s …
24 January, 2014 BAS Bloggers
It was a strange way to welcome in the New Year, standing outside the modules at Halley, at midnight with a clear sky above us and the sun glaring down, …
17 December, 2013 BAS Bloggers
1800 drums of fuel, 650kgs of potatoes, 3 cubic meters of toilet paper and a drum kit. This is just a small selection of items that have arrived this year …
30 November, 2013 BAS Bloggers
Having spent a winter in isolation on the Brunt ice shelf we were all very excited as the first plane landed on the runway bringing people and freshies. More than …
31 October, 2013 BAS Bloggers
It’s October now and the length of daylight is increasing rapidly at this time of year. It only seems a few weeks since we were in total darkness yet we …
30 September, 2013 BAS Bloggers
With the ever-increasing light and (occasionally) improving weather, September felt like we were truly beginning to leave winter behind. Although the true start of the summer season is not until …
31 August, 2013 Agnieszka Fryckowska
Winter has been with us for a while but during the beginning of August we get the first glimpses of the sun raising itself. Skies are spectacular during the day …
31 July, 2013 BAS Bloggers
With the build- up and celebration of mid-winter over, July started with the winter teams six-monthly dental checks. Having had our teeth checked and treated before leaving for the Antarctic …
30 June, 2013 BAS Bloggers
Doctor’s Report Summary: Sun above the horizon – 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds Max Wind Speed – 81 knots Min Temp – −48°C (-62°C Midwinter’s Week Fun …
31 May, 2013 Agnieszka Fryckowska
So it’s May, the flag has gone down, days are dark, it’s cold and yes winter is well and truly here at Halley. What on earth do we do on …
30 April, 2013 BAS Bloggers
The month of April really brings home the prospect of the upcoming 100 days in which we will not see the sun at all. The nights draw in ever more …
31 March, 2013 BAS Bloggers
It’s now March, the days are starting to draw in and winter is coming to Antarctica. It’s that time of year when anyone not staying for the approaching winter (or …
28 February, 2013 BAS Bloggers
February, the shortest month of the year and probably the most jam-packed one, here at Halley VI. 28 busy days with almost every day filled with an event, the station …
31 January, 2013 BAS Bloggers
January… the busiest month of the year. As our regular supply ship, the Ernest Shackleton had now dropped off the last of the long-term arrivals there were a number of …
30 November, 2012 BAS Bloggers
1st November: As the Winter draws to a close and the last field trip returns the base begins preparation for the arrival of new people. The super warm clothing, specialised …
31 October, 2012 BAS Bloggers
Life at Windy Bay caboose during the last month of winter A Caboose is a small living container, sitting on sledge at Windy Bay. It was home for me during …
31 August, 2012 BAS Bloggers
The weekend of the 4th and 5th of August was spent making a short film for the Antarctic Film Festival. Despite being titled ‘What a Drag’, it was really fun …
31 July, 2012 BAS Bloggers
July was one of the harder months of the Winter. The excitement of mid-Winter had passed and sun-up in August seemed like a long way off. It was also the …
30 June, 2012 BAS Bloggers
The darkest month of the year and important mid-winter celebration for all the people in Antarctica is what June is all about here in the South. The sun is below …
31 May, 2012 BAS Bloggers
The month of May started with the lowering of the very weather damaged British flag. This will be the only flag to have been flown above Halley 5 and Halley …
30 April, 2012 BAS Bloggers
What makes life in Antarctica different to life somewhere else? What drives someone down to the end of the world? What makes it worthwhile or interesting? What about April 2012? …
28 February, 2012 BAS Bloggers
February at Halley this year, despite being the shortest month, seemed much longer. Everything was about timing. Do we have enough time to make the station ready for wintering? Do …
31 January, 2012 BAS Bloggers
January often starts with a hangover and usually marks the end of the busy festive season. At Halley, folk were half-way through relief, back-loading waste onto the Ernest Shackleton and …
31 December, 2011 BAS Bloggers
I arrived at Halley on the 2nd of Dec after spending the previous week travelling through Cape Town and Novo with ALCI. The journey was particularly smooth and even got …
30 November, 2011 BAS Bloggers
It was to be another very busy start to what would be another very season. The first of many flights and transits were due out on the 23rd Oct 2011, …
31 October, 2011 BAS Bloggers
Well it’s finally my turn to write a month. My name is Paul Barwick and I am the wintering Electrical Service Technician here at Halley and if all goes to …
30 September, 2011 BAS Bloggers
We are fortunate enough at Halley to have an Emperor Penguin colony at “Windy Bay”, about 20Km from base. Naturally everyone is keen to see them. So I thought I …
31 August, 2011 Brett Walton
By far the most important event that occurred in August was the appearance of the sun above the horizon for the first time in over three months signalling the beginning …
31 July, 2011 BAS Bloggers
So what went on in July? To be honest with you I’m now writing the diary and its the end of August so I’m having to trawl the memory banks …
30 June, 2011 BAS Bloggers
The following events took place between 1st June and the 30th of June Welcome to the June diary, June has been a busy month for all of us on station, …
31 May, 2011 BAS Bloggers
The sun sets for the last time May already… wow. One thing I’ve noticed since arriving down at Halley is just how quickly the time has flown by. It doesn’t …
31 March, 2011 Christopher Walton
Well it was almost a year to the day that I was on the Ernest Shackleton and waved goodbye to the winter team of 2010 as they stood on the …
28 February, 2011 BAS Bloggers
February started with a bang. As part of BAS winter training we have an annual major incident scenario to make sure we are all ready and well rehearsed just in …
31 January, 2011 BAS Bloggers
Happy New Year from Halley base Antarctica! As 2011 was rung in, I was ‘fresh off the boat’ (RRS Ernest Shackleton) having sailed from the UK eight weeks previously. In …
31 December, 2010 BAS Bloggers
The summer season at Halley is the busiest, most important time in the Halley V calendar. Whilst the science and maintenance activities continue all year round it is during the …
30 November, 2010 Penny Goodearl
This is my first visit to Antarctica. Being here is an adventure. Getting here was an epic journey. At 23.30pm on 11 November we left Cape Town on board a …
31 October, 2010 BAS Bloggers
So here we are the final month of our winter. I will finish it how I started, by writing the diary. It has been a great winter with so many …
30 September, 2010 BAS Bloggers
The month of September, so often associated with dew on the ground, the rustle of crisp leaves and woodsy aromas back home in the UK, brings a starkly contrasting ambience …
31 August, 2010 BAS Bloggers
August already and according to the Halley planners, as it stands, we will soon see our winter finish in just shy of 2 months, but all is not lost! Our …
31 July, 2010 BAS Bloggers
I thought I had drawn the short straw having to write the diary for July because, with no birthdays to celebrate and mid-winter festivities behind us, I suspected there might …
30 June, 2010 BAS Bloggers
Well here is the June diary, a chance to write something about something? It is now my chance! I’m Craig Douglas Brown, the electrician at Halley and I have the …
31 May, 2010 Timothy Gee
Changing temperatures Welcome to the May 2010 winter diary. My name’s Tim and I am the wintering vehicle operator mechanic at Halley. So what happened in May then? Well May …
30 April, 2010 BAS Bloggers
Welcome to the April diary. My name is Matt and I am the wintering Genny mech this year. So what has happened in April? We have had our first proper blows, with …
31 March, 2010 BAS Bloggers
So here we are at the start of another winter season at Halley! Since late Feb the numbers on base have dropped from 111 to 11. It has been a …
28 February, 2010 Christopher Walton
It was the beginning of February and I had now been in Antarctica a full 2 months as one of the new summer chefs. The time was flying and everything …
31 January, 2010 BAS Bloggers
Dear Diary, January, as a month, is usually looked forward to not a lot particularly in the UK where the usual rain and fog takes a break to be replaced …
31 December, 2009 BAS Bloggers
I’ve now been here just over two weeks. As people become familiar with each other, we get another plane load of new faces and names. For a short while, the …
30 November, 2009 BAS Bloggers
November started with all hands on deck as we prepared for the first plane to arrive. The electrician Robert (wrongun) Johnson, plumber Robert (zebedee) Dunn and myself were busy de-winterising …
31 October, 2009 BAS Bloggers
As the last month of solitude for the wintering Halley eleven starts, the base gears up for the first of the new intruders to arrive by air. Everyone is busy …
30 September, 2009 BAS Bloggers
September saw the first attempt of building an Igloo to which a great deal of time and effort only rewarded us with a half built igloo, which would be nice …
31 August, 2009 BAS Bloggers
Halley 89022, Antarctica 89022 is the international weather station number for Halley, a figure I write several times a day in the meteorological register and various other places. It has …
31 August, 2009 Agnieszka Fryckowska
During the winter months on the Antarctic continent not only do we experience 24 hour darkness but we are privileged to see the aurora australis. Here at Halley Station we …
31 August, 2009 John Eager
It’s early Sunday morning at Halley Research Station, Antarctica. The sun is rising quickly on the horizon, the wind is low and the temperature outside is a modest −18 degrees …
31 July, 2009 Nicholas Gregory
As the pandemonium of midwinter subsides the reality of Antarctic winter grips us firmly by the throat, a deep red floods the afternoon sky allowing a hint of blue to …
30 June, 2009 Karen Fowler
Midwinter This is a particularly special month for all of us down here at Halley. It marks the middle of our year and sees the start of our week-long celebration …
30 June, 2009 BAS Bloggers
As I take off from the ice runway at the British Antarctic Survey’s Halley base, situated on the Brunt Ice Shelf (75°34′S 26°34′W), I finally realise I am living and …
31 May, 2009 BAS Bloggers
Where’s the sun? After the high winds that blew the last days of April away, we wondered if the breeze would abate to allow us a glimpse of the sun …
31 May, 2009 Agnieszka Fryckowska
Introducing Halley Station (75°34′S 26°34′W), located on the 150m thick, continually moving, Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica. Named after the Astronomer Edmond Halley, the current station (Halley V) is the …
30 April, 2009 Agnieszka Fryckowska
Extreme is a word I could use to describe April at Halley this year. We hear it often when referred to living in the Antarctic. It was drummed into us …
31 March, 2009 John Eager
As time is called on March 2009, the 54th Halley wintering team completed its first month alone on the Brunt ice shelf. Nights lengthen and darken, temperatures plummet and the …
28 February, 2009 BAS Bloggers
Greetings from everyone at Halley base. February was a month where the summer season was in full swing and there were the usual preparations and maintenance programmes being carried out …
31 January, 2009 John Eager
The New Year rings in on the Brunt ice shelf For the incoming summer and winter teams along with the ships crew the bell rings on bridge of the RSS …
31 December, 2008 BAS Bloggers
Hello from the new boy. December was a great month for me, my first full month on the station. This of course meant as the incoming Field GA, lots of …
30 November, 2008 Joe Corner
November, the 11th month of the year, and the 12th month that everyone, apart from Dean, has been living in the Antarctic. After 8 months of just 11 of us …
31 October, 2008 BAS Bloggers
Hello everyone! I must apologise to all who are not flower lovers, but it seems apt to start this month’s instalment with another flower… plus I like flowers so that …
30 September, 2008 Agnieszka Fryckowska
September is the ninth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four Gregorian months with 30 days. In Latin, septem means “seven” and septimus means “seventh”; …
31 August, 2008 BAS Bloggers
The Sun Returns Could it be a case of pre-Christmas cheer, or early Christmas gifts, or just pure coincidence? What on earth am I on about? Well… it turns out …
31 July, 2008 Joe Corner
Red sky at night… July is always a quiet month here at Halley. Midwinter has come and gone, the sky is still dark and sometimes the base feels like a …
30 June, 2008 BAS Bloggers
Hello and welcome to the Halley June Diary. June is a very important month for all those wintering in Antarctica. This is because we celebrate Midwinter, this is our Christmas, …
30 May, 2008 BAS Bloggers
The darkness cometh… Darkness came slowly, creeping up on us through April like a tiger stalking its prey. Then, ominously, the morning glow through the dining room windows is marching …
30 April, 2008 BAS Bloggers
“1, 2, 3, 4, er…d’oh, damn it, I lost count! 1, 2, 3, 4…” By the end of April, the residents of Halley 2008 had experienced “winter” life for just …
31 March, 2008 BAS Bloggers
March may be the third month in the Gregorian calendar, but to the hardy Antarctic Heroes at Halley, March might as well be the first. You’re probably asking yourself why… …
28 February, 2008 BAS Bloggers
What a busy month! With so many people on Halley, I suppose it’s no surprise but it’s difficult to know where to start: Halley Lifetime studies, Halley VI construction, panels …
31 January, 2008 Agnieszka Fryckowska
This months diary is more of a snapshot of life at Halley from a couple of authors: David Stephenson and Agnieszka Fryckowska. We have tried to cover many of the …
30 November, 2007 Peter Milner
Thump – Thump – Splash’ > Good ‘Thud’ > Bad Leaving aside the strange title of this diary, November has been a pretty eventful month for the Halley crew. We …
31 October, 2007 Mark Wales
October started for us with some spectacular weather, not so much calm bright and sunny but very windy, the good thing is when it’s windy the temperature tends to be …
30 September, 2007 BAS Bloggers
One of the great secrets of the Halley winter is that the period after the end of permanent darkness is filled with bad weather. While the fresh-faced eager first year …
31 August, 2007 BAS Bloggers
August already. How time flies. With the coming of the summer light, many of the yearly jobs can now be undertaken, jobs which have been caused by the relentless Antarctic …
31 July, 2007 Neil Brough
Some months in the Antarctic calendar are slightly less exciting than others for various reasons but still have enough originality to be enjoyed, more so by the fresh and innocent …
30 June, 2007 BAS Bloggers
Midwinter Mischief June here was all about Midwinter, the biggest event in the Antarctic calendar. Most people (myself included), spent every spare moment in the run up to Midwinter’s Day …
15 June, 2007 BAS Bloggers
New Faces The First New People Arrive At Halley Click here to Go BackThe first arrivals to break the Winter isolation were the Russian/Canadians who came in November in the …
31 May, 2007 BAS Bloggers
May be the month of Pirates. No wait, not pirates, I mean Sundown. Or is it Ninjas? I’m going to go with Sundown. A setting Sun, to most people wont …
30 April, 2007 BAS Bloggers
The Halley Diary for April 2007 was written by Thomas Spieß (FOCAS UAV scientist). English | Deutsch
30 April, 2007 BAS Bloggers
From the meteorological view the Antarctic autumn lasts from 1st of march to 31st of May. So, April is right in the middle of the Austral autumn. It is the …