The Base “Y” at Horseshoe Island (WAP GBR-14) was established by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1955. Its position, Latitude 67° 48′ South, Longitude 67° 17′ West, located on Sally Cove, Horseshoe Island, Bourgeois Fjord, Marguerite Bay This was part of the push to increase UK scientific activity ahead of International Geophysical Year, 1957-58, with a number of bases opened during this period.
Horseshoe Island Base “Y” did open on 11 March 1955 and closed 21 August 1960 when personnel were transferred to Stonington Island Station “E” (WAP GBR-Ø5). Reopened briefly from 7 March 1969 through 11 July 1969 to complete local survey work.
VP8DLM operated by Mehdi F5PFP was active from this rare site on March 2011, giving many of the Antarctic hunters a real “New One”!
Now Horseshoe Island Base “Y” stands almost fully equipped from the time it was in service and is the destination of polar cruises as it’s often included in the programs of polar tourism as it has been open as a museum for tourists and scientists.
Base Y is visited by over 2,500 visitors every year despite its remote location away from the main travel routes. The site was used occasionally by BAS personnel on field trips from Rothera (Station “R”, WAP GBR-12). It was cleaned up by BAS in 1995 and designated Historic Site and Monument no. 63. Managed by UKAHT since 2014.
Thanks and credit to: UKAHT – Horseshoe
Read more on: Base Y from the 1950s turns into museum | Polarjournal
Polish Demay Refuge provide limited accommodation capacity for 4 people with field medical kit available during summer for emergency use. The scientific use, is subject to the permission of the appropriate authority. The refuge (wood hut) is situated on a flat marine gravel terrace in Paradise Cove between Demay Point and Uchatka Point, ca 10 km from Arctowski Station (
Lions Rump Refuge 
Probably, the old days, those in which CW and SSB were the best expression of the world of Amateur Radio will never come back, but fortunately, there are still young people that, to the most modern digital transmission/reception techniques (such as FT4/FT8, in which is the PC that makes QSOs), those youngs prefere the traditional ways, those that truly have the charm that takes you inside!
website: “I relive good memories as I read her lines, emotions arise and fingers frozen too” was his comment!
Petrel Base opened in 1967 but has been used as a temporary summer base since 1976, after a fire destroyed its main accommodation building. Petrel Base (
The New Petrel structure took into account all the technological innovations of recent decades and all the scientific knowledge about the climatic and geographical conditions of Antarctica that was produced at this time. We also studied the projects of Countries that built Antarctic bases in recent years.
One of the southernmost buildings in Antarctica is, curiously, a religious building. Let’s think about the St. Ivan Rilski Chapel, the first Eastern Orthodox edifice in Antarctica and the southernmost Eastern Orthodox building of worship in the world. Located at the Bulgarian Research Station, San Kliment Ohridski Base (
It is not only its location, but also its peculiar shape that catches the eye: St. Ivan Rilski Chapel it’s a small trapezoidal building measuring 3.5 meters by 12 meters made of red metal that rests on small pillars.
Touring the facilities of the huge Esperanza Base (
The first church in Antarctica is the colorful Chapel of St. Francis of Assisi, which opened its doors on February 18, 1976. At that time, its priest was the Jesuit Buenaventura De Filippis, who was born in Italy and spent an important part of his life at the Esperanza base in Argentina. And, curiously, this chapel was also the place where, two years after its inauguration, the first religious wedding in Antarctica was organized.