THIS year’s Antarctic Talk Series at Gilbert White’s House and Gardens in Selborne will bring together cutting-edge Antarctic research and present day ties to the legendary Antarctic explorers.

It kicks off tonight (Thursday) at 7pm with Dr Jan Chojecki presenting his book The Quest Chronicle, which using largely unpublished letters, logs and diaries recounts the events of the voyage of the Shackleton-Rowett expedition aboard the Quest, which set off in 1921.

The Quest carried explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton on what turned out to be his last expedition. It was financed by close schoolfriend, businessman and philanthropist John Quiller Rowett, who was Dr Chojecki’s grandfather.

The second talk, Searching for Clues to the Future in Antarctica’s Past, is on February 23 at 7pm and features the scientific expertise of Dr David Wilson, a lecturer at University College London.

It explores the incredible climatic changes Antarctica has experienced in the past and what this can tell us about the future. Dr Wilson will reveal the major role that the Antarctic ice sheet plays in the Earth’s climate system.

The final talk is Illustrating the Terra Nova expedition, on March 30 at 7pm, and will be given by Dr David M Wilson. He is the great-nephew of Dr Edward Wilson, who was the artist on the fateful Terra Nova expedition in 1911-12.

Tickets for each talk cost £10. To book visit https://gilbertwhiteshouse.org.uk/events/