An Aberdeenshire grandpa has embarked on an expedition to Antarctica to help raise funds for a school minibus.
Shackleton fan James Murphy has always dreamed of following in the explorer’s footsteps.
When Peterhead’s Anna Ritchie School – where Mr Murphy’s grandson Harry attends – announced it needed to replace an old minibus, Mr Murphy seized the chance to achieve his dream while raising vital funds.
The Old Deer resident is now on 21-day expedition in Antarctica, carrying a flag designed by one of the pupils to plant on the frozen continent.
He hopes to help raise money for the school and has promised to bring back lots of photos of penguins and seals for his grandson, Harry Logie.
At the end of trip he will also give a presentation to the pupils.
Lifelong dream
Being a past military man and teacher on leadership, Mr Murphy said Ernest Shackleton is a well-used example for training.
As his interest in the man’s journey grew, it became a dream to follow in his footsteps.
Mr Murphy said: “It’s been an aspiration of mine all my life to do that but I thought in doing it, maybe I can do some good as well.”
When his grandson’s school needed a new minibus to take the pupils out in the community, Mr Murphy decided to use the expedition – which he has paid for himself – to raise some funds.
The 68-year-old said the school staff are “inspirational people and really tremendous” and said the kids have been very excited about the trip.
He added: “We had a competition to design a flag for me to put it down on the Antarctic continent.
“So the kids at the school had a competition over a couple of weeks and a young lad called James Martin was the winner.”
Mr Murphy will be taking photos of the flag in different locations on the trip to show the children.
Start of trip was a ‘disaster’
The expedition will involve attempting to visit Elephant Island, trekking across South Georgia hoping to see “an abundance of penguins” and also visiting Shackleton’s grave.
However, the recent snowy weather nearly derailed his plans after his flight from Aberdeen was cancelled last week.
After scrambling to get another flight and an engine failure in Buenos Aires, Mr Murphy arrived in Ushuaia in Argentina on Friday evening with “white knuckles” following a “scary” flight of high turbulence.
Speaking while looking out over the glaciers waiting for the boat to Antarctica, the oil and gas worker said: “I’m really excited now.
“It’s a wonderful part of the world and I’m hoping the Antarctic piece is the same. That it’s untouched and we can keep it that way.”
Mr Murphy, who is choosing net zero methods of transport for the trip, said he hoped to also raise awareness for sustainability.
After seeing the destruction single use plastics can cause to beautiful wildlife spots, he said: “I’ve became a bit of an advocate for sustainability and the reduced production of single plastics.
“One of the things I’m also pushing is the knowledge of sustainability and trying to get the kids involved on understanding why we need to improve.”
Conversation