Yesterday morning we’d hoped to visit Ny-London but a cruise ship had arrived to take a party of 95 ashore. There’s a limit of 100 people on site at any time. Expedition leader Phil suggested landing a small group who were prepared to take the short walk across the island. Once the cruise ship had cleared their groups an hour or so later we’d have walked across and those staying aboard could also come ashore to meet us at Ernest Mansfield’s derelict marble quarrying project, established in 1911.
The walk across the island and wander round derelict remains of the Englishman’s failed project was fascinating. This remarkably named Ny-London leaves an indelible mark on the pristine Arctic landscape, as you come across bits and pieces of industrial heritage scattered across the small island of Blomstrand on Kongsfjord’s north shore. It is the ruined remains of a failed marble quarry set up in 1911 by the English adventurer, Ernest Mansfield. The site includes rusted machinery, railbed tracks, a forge, workshops, steam boilers, a locomotive, cranes, numerous small pieces of industrial litter and two timber houses.
In summer 1904 Ernest Mansfield settled in Goldhanger, Essex and engaged in gold prospecting projects on Svalbard (then known as Spitzbergen). With his friend Dr. John Salter and local vicar, Rev. Gardner he set up the Northern Exploration Company, employing skilled men from Goldhanger to make claims on land and build huts and mines. He employed Scottish and Norwegian miners to prospect not only for gold but coal, marble, asbestos and zinc across Svalbard. He failed to find gold but described Camp Mansfield [Ny-London], est. 1911, as ‘nothing less than an island of pure marble’. His marble enterprise failed on the discovery that frost caused the marble to crumble into tiny dust particles during storage. Mansfield abandoned his project in 1920.
Leaving in time for another excellent lunch aboard we set sail out of Kongsfjorden and back into Forlandsundet, sailing south again past Sarstangan to anchor overnight at Poolepynten.
There was an early start today with a call of ‘All hands on deck!’ Leaving the anchorage at Poolepynten it was cloudy and chilly but a very atmospheric morning as everyone helped to hoist all the sails. The wind was set fair for our passage south then east into Ekmanfjorden. We’d been promised a trip ashore after supper but Phil announced ‘Sorry guys, we can’t go ashore as planned, there’s a polar bear on the sea ice hunting!’ Everyone scanned the shore, watching her, wondering what she was doing. Was she hunting the seal which appeared briefly from a hole in the ice? A minky whale was spotted, cruising the shoreline. Bleary-eyed, those who had retired earlier returned to lean over the bulwarks, cameras and binoculars in hand. Although a long way off, she could be clearly seen through binoculars . . .
