In pursuit of an impossible dream, he jumped off a sinking ship, lived on a chunk of floating ice, defied brutal Antarctic conditions, trekked through uncharted lands and cheated death again and again. Miraculously, Irish explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton survived repeated attempts to complete one of the greatest human feats of endurance and exploration in history.
He aimed to become the first human to reach the South Pole. Four times he tackled the Antarctic, persisting with such bravery that his efforts inspired a book and films. The last of those expeditions, in 1922, took Shackleton’s life. While his voyages are well documented, one mystery has persisted for more than a century.
Historians, marine archaeologists and treasure hunters have searched for the famous shipwreck of HMS Endurance, Shackleton’s vessel that sank in the seas around Antarctica in 1915. Expedition after expedition has failed to pinpoint the submerged ship, until March 4, when it was finally discovered.
A team of more than 60 people on board the SA Agulhas II located the Endurance more than 3 kilometres below the surface of the Southern Ocean near Antarctica’s northern coastline. Remarkably, the ship remains in good condition.
“This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen,” said marine archaeologist Mensun Bou, who was part of the expedition. “It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact and in a brilliant state of preservation. You can even see Endurance arced across the stern, directly below the taffrail.”
Tourists who can’t make it to the far-flung southern reaches of our planet to tread in Shackleton’s footsteps can instead learn about his achievements in London and Ireland. He was born in 1874 in the tiny village of Kilkea, about 60km south-west of the Irish capital, Dublin.
A statue of Shackleton, arms crossed and gaze fixed on the horizon, stands in the middle of the nearby town of Athy. That memorial is located alongside the world’s only Shackleton Museum. This small but informative facility, which is open Monday to Friday and at weekends by request, is centred around a 4.5m-long replica of the Endurance.
Surrounding that model is an exhibition of rare Shackleton family photographs. There are also several artworks dedicated to his voyages, a replica of the cold weather suits he wore while trekking towards the South Pole, and a TV display that screens archival footage of the Endurance expedition.
Visitors can also learn about the man himself by reading a detailed timeline printed on the museum’s wall. While this explorer is often described as British, due to having grown up in England, here in County Kildare he is considered a proud Irish export. Shackleton was 10 years old when his family moved to Sydenham in London.
Travellers can look for the blue plaque bearing his name that now marks where they lived, in a graceful mansion opposite one of South London’s most attractive green spaces, Crystal Palace Park. Or they can choose to stare at this hero, eye to eye, in downtown London.
A large statue of Shackleton has been granted a prominent position in the heart of the city’s tourist district. In front of Shackleton sits the sprawling Hyde Park and Kensington Palace, the former home of Princess Diana. Behind him is the world-renowned Royal Albert Hall, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Natural History Museum.
Tourists to London can learn about Shackleton’s polar expeditions at the National Maritime Museum or by viewing the Antarctic Collection at the Natural History Museum. This latter facility helped to investigate the findings of Shackleton’s first voyage to the South Pole, as part of the Discovery expedition in 1901.
Although his parents wanted him to become a doctor like his father, at age 16 Shackleton joined the merchant navy and within eight years ascended to the rank of master mariner, the highest qualification for a seafarer. It was during that period that he became obsessed with this planet’s poles, leading him to join Discovery.
Together with expedition leader Robert Falcon Scott, Shackleton went deeper into Antarctica than any human on record at that point. The focus of that voyage was scientific research, rather than reaching the South Pole. But it was that latter aim that preoccupied Shackleton.
In 1908 he launched his own expedition aboard the ship Nimrod. He and his crew became the first men to scale Antarctica’s Mount Erebus and got closer to the South Pole than anyone before. That still didn’t satisfy Shackleton, especially after the South Pole was finally reached in 1911 by Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer.
That spurred Shackleton to return to the Antarctic, this time on Endurance in 1914. The next year that expedition struck disaster when the ship got stuck in ice, drifted for 10 months and then began to be crushed by frozen seawater. By the time the Endurance disappeared beneath the sea, Shackleton and his 27 men were living a desperate existence on floating ice.
Keeping their spirits up by playing football and music, they somehow survived this ordeal for many months before Shackleton and six men went to seek assistance. They travelled more than 1,300km in a small boat. Then they hiked across Elephant Island for days and finally found a whaling station and help. All of his men lived.
Yet Shackleton’s good fortune was not unlimited. As explained in Ireland’s Shackleton Museum, at the age of 47 he set out on his fourth expedition to the deep south. He had a grand plan – to circumnavigate Antarctica. He never even got close to achieving that lofty aim, dying from a heart attack early in in the voyage before being buried on South Georgia Island, almost 2,000km east of Argentina. While few tourists will ever reach his incredibly remote grave, memory of this courageous explorer can be embraced at museums and memorials across Ireland and England.
Ireland v Denmark: The last two years
Denmark 1-1 Ireland
7/06/19, Euro 2020 qualifier
Denmark 0-0 Ireland
19/11/2018, Nations League
Ireland 0-0 Denmark
13/10/2018, Nations League
Ireland 1 Denmark 5
14/11/2017, World Cup qualifier
Denmark 0-0 Ireland
11/11/2017, World Cup qualifier
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4-cyl
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Power: 190bhp
Torque: 300Nm
Price: Dh169,900
On sale: now
MATCH INFO
Karnatake Tuskers 114-1 (10 ovs)
Charles 57, Amla 47
Bangla Tigers 117-5 (8.5 ovs)
Fletcher 40, Moores 28 no, Lamichhane 2-9
Bangla Tiger win by five wickets
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: JAP Almahfuz, Fernando Jara (jockey), Irfan Ellahi (trainer).
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 1,400m
Winner: AF Momtaz, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
6pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 1,400m
Winner: Yaalail, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Championship Listed (PA) Dh180,000 1,600m
Winner: Ihtesham, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
Winner: Dahess D’Arabie, Fernando Jara, Helal Al Alawi.
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 2.200m
Winner: Ezz Al Rawasi, Connor Beasley, Helal Al Alawi.
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
Company profile: buybackbazaar.com
Name: buybackbazaar.com
Started: January 2018
Founder(s): Pishu Ganglani and Ricky Husaini
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech, micro finance
Initial investment: $1 million
Getting there
The flights
Flydubai operates up to seven flights a week to Helsinki. Return fares to Helsinki from Dubai start from Dh1,545 in Economy and Dh7,560 in Business Class.
The stay
Golden Crown Igloos in Levi offer stays from Dh1,215 per person per night for a superior igloo; www.leviniglut.net
Panorama Hotel in Levi is conveniently located at the top of Levi fell, a short walk from the gondola. Stays start from Dh292 per night based on two people sharing; www. golevi.fi/en/accommodation/hotel-levi-panorama
Arctic Treehouse Hotel in Rovaniemi offers stays from Dh1,379 per night based on two people sharing; www.arctictreehousehotel.com
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Guns N’ Roses’s last gig before Abu Dhabi was in Hong Kong on November 21. We were there – and here’s what they played, and in what order. You were warned.
- It’s So Easy
- Mr Brownstone
- Chinese Democracy
- Welcome to the Jungle
- Double Talkin’ Jive
- Better
- Estranged
- Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
- Slither (Velvet Revolver cover)
- Rocket Queen
- You Could Be Mine
- Shadow of Your Love
- Attitude (Misfits cover)
- Civil War
- Coma
- Love Theme from The Godfather (movie cover)
- Sweet Child O’ Mine
- Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb cover)
- Wish You Were Here (instrumental Pink Floyd cover)
- November Rain
- Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden cover)
- Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
- Nightrain
Encore:
- Patience
- Don’t Cry
- The Seeker (The Who cover)
- Paradise City
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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