Celebrating Worsley

This expedition is inspired by Frank Worsley’s adventure to the Arctic Circle, which he undertook in 1925/1926. The mission was to sail to Spitsbergen (now known as Svalbard) and to explore a relatively unknown area called Gillis Land. However, in the process of travelling, the thick ice floe damaged the propellers of the ship meaning that they could not push themselves forwards. Instead of giving up, Worsley decided that they would continue the journey by sailing, thus the title “under sail in the Frozen North”.

Worsley was a incredibly heroic adventurer having supported Shackleton on his Quest Expedition in 1921, on the Endurance. Unfortunately, the boat because trapped and crushed in the ice and so it meant that the men of the expedition had to wait patiently for many months to be rescued as there were not enough rescue boats. Worsley played a pivotal role in the rescue mission as he navigated for 96 hours straight to get some of the stranded men from Elephant Island to South Georgia in order to access another vessel to then rescue the rest of the sailors. Worsley was well respected and considered a bit of a celebrity in the naval world. He also liked to journal a lot and wrote several books about his experiences.

To celebrate Frank Worsley, we have decided to create a mascot for this expedition and he is called Worsley Bear. We hope to have some cuddlies of Worsley available to buy in due course. For now, the one below is our limited edition bear, with only 1 having been made. He will likely be auctioned in 2025 so keep watching our Jumblebee auction!