Part I: Seals teeth and whales ears - Scott Polar Research Institute ...

Chapter 7
Signy Island: Life on Base
T
he living hut was a single-storey frame building with double wooden walls, but
no insulation. It measured about 20 by 14 ft. with three small windows, only
one of which opened. The walls didn't reach normal ceiling height, so the
ceiling was angled where the roof sloped down to meet the walls. In the first month
after arrival we constructed a laboratory extension (chapter 6), and in the second
summer we completed a new 'wing' which was to be used as an extra store room,
more weatherproof than the Nissen hut.
The hut and living arrangements. There was little free floor space in the living hut. The
rest was occupied by an Esse cooking stove plus another stove (Esse ‘Fairy’ for
winter heating), a kitchen bench and cupboards, four beds, bookshelves, medicine
chest, dining table and four folding wood and canvas ‘director’ chairs, the
meteorological table and the radio bench. All the wall space of the living hut was
taken up by shelves for books, records and personal gear, instruments, crockery,
wireless equipment and so on. As one of the officers from HMS Sparrow remarked,
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