C O N T E X T 1 7 4 : D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 2 35 government (almost the entirety of theTerritory’s annual budget), and this was with the benefit of being where there already is a running water supply and electricity. It represented an inevitable loss of our heritage, which was weighed against the benefits of being able to facilitate opening the entire station complex to visitors. Through a long programme of repair and conservation some buildings were able to be saved structurally by thoroughly overhauling and repairing them. They included including the Manager’s House (now home to the museum), the Foreman’s Barracks (museum staff accommodation), Provision Store No 3, the Potato Store, the Coffee Roasting House, Nybrakke, the Main Store, the Workshop, the church and the Slop Chest (now the post office and shop).Thus, there is a corner of the station that will continue to be conserved for the benefit of all.The Grytviken works have enabled the museum (run by South Georgia Heritage Trust on behalf of GSGSSI) to be a central part of the island’s cultural heritage. The staff in summer give free walking tours of the sprawling industrial site, explaining what all the various buildings and machinery were. It is incredible to think how much ingenuity went into the construction of the factory and, eventually, harvesting of the entire whale. Initially some mistakes were made in the attempt to make this a safe space for visitors. This included not necessarily recording the original layout and condition prior to conservation work commencing; not using the original colours of the station and having a mix-match of paints that did not reflect the historic colour palette; and the use of inappropriate cladding that offered only temporary protection and then required replacing itself. Sometimes decisions were made on the practicality of ensuring the lifespan in such a harsh environment (which regularly receives gusts of over 50 knots), such as the pressed metal edgings. It has been a steep learning curve, transitioning from simply making repairs to hold back the collapse of a building to ensuring the conservation of the building’s structural heritage, with more attention being paid to reproducing existing details. Despite the challenges encountered conserving Grytviken, the story it tells continues. In a July 2022 a three-week survey conducted by BAS scientists of the Winter Krill Project recorded almost 200 whales, including the rare southern right whale, sperm whale and blue whale, around the island in winter. South Georgia is an ecosystem in recovery and the GSGSSI believes that it is critical that this is seen in tandem with the associative value of our heritage. Grytviken, representing the tangible built heritage of a dark time in human history, must be conserved for future generations. It is a holdfast, underpinning the story of revival and attaching it to lessons learnt by humanity the hard way. We continue to tell this story and will outline how in a new heritage strategy that will be published by 2025. We look forward to working with partners and interested parties, such as the IHBC, in the interests of an enduring legacy of the unique South Georgia heritage. David Burton is government officer for the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands. This article develops the heritage theme in the talk on South Georgia at the IHBC Aberdeen 2022 school. Some locals outside the South Georgia Museum, Grytviken (Photo: Niki Souness)
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