History and Culture – Clapham High School

The history of Clapham High School

Clapham High School came to be in 1948. It was situated in the old State Model School in Van Der Walt Street (Lillian Ngoyi street), but closed in December 1950 to move to a “modern” building in Du Toit Street at the beginning of 1955 the school moved for a second time and last time to the present day location of the school in Queenswood.

The school was named in honour of Mr William Beverly Clapham, born in 1878 and died in 1949, a year after the school was established. Mr Clapham was a very prominent member of the Pretoria community, with a strong social conscience. He served many causes, in particular education and boys ‘clubs. He served on the Pretoria School board as a member for 25 years. He had the confidence of all the teachers and every section of the of the community because of his almost supernatural fairness, impartiality and his unbounded energy. The naming of Clapham High School after him was a fitting tribute to his work for Education.

The first principal a Mr M.S. Geen (1949-1961) who was succeeded by:

Mr H.F Hayman in 1962.
Mr J.T. Gray was principal from (1971-1978)
Mr C. Whitcomb (1979-1989)
Mr H. Donaldson (1990-1997)
Mr R.D Targgart (1997-2003)
MrH.H. Pieters (2007-2018)
Mrs N. Schutte (2020- present)

The school is a part of an elite group of English medium high schools in Pretoria. Clapham High School has seen the most interesting transitions over the years, from being an all-white English Medium school; to being a Model C school (former) boasting in it new image as the best football school in South Africa, with accolades to support that claim. The history of the school is impressive and is still being written with a partnership with the Mamelodi Sundowns Football Academy.

Edited by: Miss Matshai

TERRA NOVA EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTH POLE [ANTARCTICA]

How do tourists today get to the continent of Antarctica? You have to get to the southern tip of South America. From there you can either take a cruise or fly to the continent. You can also make your way via Australia but this option is not as popular. At the beginning of the 20th Century it was a different story as you will discover.

SCOTT / BOWERS / OATES / WILSON & EVANS

In the early 20th-Century the race was on to reach the South Pole with a number of explorers testing themselves in the freezing Antarctic.

In 1911, Britain’s Robert Falcon Scott and Norway’s Roald Amundsen both launched expeditions to reach the Pole. It would end in victory for Amundsen and tragedy for the expedition led by Scott.

Scott was a meticulous planner and he and his English team of explorers and scientists had been conducting scientific research on Antarctica and had collected years of climate data on the seasonal cycles of the continent. We will return to this research later.

Scott had attempted to reach the South Pole once before in 1902 but his party was forced to turn back a few 100 km from the destination due to ill health and harsh weather conditions. It was always his intention to return and this journey began on 15 June 1910 when the Terra Nova sailed from Cardiff in Wales.

The Terra Nova expedition was an official British Antarctic Expedition to the South Pole.

It took place between 1910 and 1912.

The expedition was named after its supply ship the Terra Nova. The entire expedition consisted of over 65 people.

According to Robert Scott:

“The main objective of this expedition is to reach the South Pole, and to secure for the British Empire the honour of this achievement”.

The other objectives were rooted in science and geography. The scientific work was considered by Edward Wilson as the main work of the expedition. He said “No one can say that it will have only been a race to the finish line. We want the scientific work to make the bagging of the Pole merely an item in the results.”

At the end of this document some of the scientific contributions are mentioned.

The expedition was led by Robert Falcon Scott. He wanted to be the first person in history to reach the geographic South Pole. He chose four companions to make this treacherous journey to The South Pole with him. The rest of the expedition team stayed at base camp and carried on with scientific research and experiments. His chosen companions were:

    >: Edward Adrian Wilson
   >: Lawrence Oates
   >: Henry Robertson Bowers and
   >: Edgar Evans.

The base camp for the expedition was set up on the McMurdo ice shelf of Antarctica in January 1911. This spot was named Cape Evans after Scott’s second-in-command.

For the better part of a year preparations were made for the final push to the South Pole. The final push for the South Pole started at the beginning of November 1911. At this time, they were aware that the Norwegian team led by Amundsen were also making a dash for the South Pole.

The plan was to use pony transport for the first 680 km across the Ross Ice Shelf and then shoot the ponies at the Base of the Beardmore glacier and finish the rest of the journey by foot. This included a 200 km hike across the top of the glacier and a final 350 km to the pole and then all the way back again, all while hauling hundreds of kilos of equipment.

On 17 January 1912 after a 78-days-long battle with extreme weather conditions Scott and his team reached the geographic South Pole. On 18 January 1912 they discovered Amundsen’s tent with a Norwegian flag at the top of the tent, some supplies, a letter to King Haakon VII of Norway [which Amundsen politely asked Scott to deliver] and a note stating that Amundsen had arrived there with four companions on 16 December 1911.

After confirming their position and planting the British flag, Scott’s party turned homewards. The photo below was taken in mid-January 1912, the height of the Antarctic summer. According to previous research conducted by Scott they had about three months left before temperatures on the Ross Ice Shelf, the last leg of the journey back, would drop to deadly levels. This gave them plenty of time for the long trek back. Unfortunately, this particular Antarctic summer was bitterly cold and on the way back they had to endure consecutive days of 40 degrees below zero temperatures. Bitterly cold summers like this one occurred about once every fifteen years in the Antarctic. Prolonged exposure to these temperatures were not survivable.

On the way back Evans collapsed and soon went comatose following several falls on the glacier. On 17 Feb 1912 he was the first man to die.

On the way back Oates suffered crippling frostbite in his hands and feet and this began hurting the team’s progress and their chances of survival. At one overnight stop Oates left the tent never to be seen again. It is thought that he simply walked into a bitter snow storm to take himself out so that the others would have a better chance at survival.

Scott, Bowers and Wilson eventually came within reach of a supply depot. They had about 18 km to cover to reach this depot. Unfortunately, a blizzard forced them to stay put. In his last diary entry dated 29 March 1912 Scott wrote:

“Every day we have been ready to start for our depot, but outside it remains a scene of whirling drift. I don’t think we can hope for any better things now. We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker of course and the end can not be far. It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more…”

Eight months later a search party found a snow covered tent with three frozen bodies and journals and photographs.

The scientific contributions of the expedition were overshadowed by the deaths of Scott and his party. However, the twelve scientists who participated made important discoveries in zoology, botany, geology, glaciology and meteorology.

The Terra Nova returned to Britain with over 2 100 plants, animals and fossils, over 400 of which were new to science.

In 1920, former Terra Nova geographer Frank Debenham and geologist Raymond Priestly founded the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, which houses the greatest library of polar research.

The aim for the Norwegians were simply focused on the race to see who could reach the South Pole first.

Scott’s expedition achieved much more than that.

This photo was taken shortly after the men reached the South Pole.

CLAPHAM HIGH SHOOL COLOUR

>: The school was established in 1948. Its premises were in Central Pretoria.
>: The move to Queenswood took place at the beginning of 1955.
>: Animals that are native to Antarctica and the Arctic were chosen as mascots for the five houses:

The Houses

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