1890s: Explorer's chilling tales of Frozen North

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Derby’s Drill Hall played host to a celebrated polar explorer in 1898, as Vivienne Smith discovered.

Fridtjof Nansen

Fridtjof Nansen disembarking from his ship the Fram

Fridtjof Nansen (front) and Hjalmar Johansen wave goodbye to the crew of the Fram in March 1895 as they set off on their marathon trek to try to reach the North Pole

Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen with his wife Eva, who accompanied him on his lecture tour of England

Fridtjof Nansen's ship the Fram’s triumphant arrival back in Norway in August 1896

In June 1886, while on their journey home, Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen encountered the British Arctic explorer Frederick Jackson, seen here formally greeting Nansen

The Fram, Fridtjof Nansen's ship, drifting north embedded in an ice floe

The mysteries of the Frozen North were revealed in Derby in the spring of 1898 when the father of modern Polar exploration visited the town.

Fridtjof Nansen was here to give a talk on his incredible three-year journey into the Arctic which had taken him further north than anyone had ever been before.

Although he failed to reach the North Pole, the expedition had transformed him into one of the greatest heroes of his day.

Nansen was born near Oslo, in Norway, on October 10, 1861.

As a young man, he studied zoology at university and was also an accomplished skater, skier and hunter.

His earliest excursion to the Frozen North came in 1888. With a party of six, he succeeded in becoming the first person to cross Greenland’s mighty ice cap from coast to coast.

The next venture he had in mind was even more hazardous: an attempt on the North Pole.

Nansen’s idea was revolutionary.

Having collected evidence regarding the direction in which the ice drifted in the polar sea off Siberia, he planned to float his way north.

His proposal was to construct a ship so designed that it could withstand the crushing pressures of the ice. Once frozen in, the vessel would, instead, be carried northwards with the ice floe.

Experts dismissed the scheme as madness.

Despite this, the Norwegian government agreed to sponsor him, and the ship Fram was duly built according to his specifications.

Nansen and his party set sail from Norway on June 24, 1893. In those days before radio communication, they would have no contact with the outside world for the next three years.

By the end of September, the Fram was locked in the ice off Siberia just as planned.

The drift northwards proved painfully slow.

Eventually, in early March 1895, Nansen decided the ship had travelled as far as it would go. Intent on reaching his destination on foot, he set off across the frozen sea with dog sleds, accompanied by Hjalmar Johansen.

Their journey was beset with difficulties, not least the severe cold. Nevertheless, by April 8, they had reached 86 degrees 14 minutes north, more than 150 miles further north than anyone had gone before.

Having realised the North Pole was beyond their reach in the time available, the two men turned southwards for Franz Josef Land.

Even so, the cold weather caught up with them and they were forced to spend the winter in the Arctic.

With the arrival of spring 1896, they set off once more and, within weeks, had encountered the British explorer Frederick Jackson of the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition.

Nansen and his comrade travelled back to Norway in style aboard his ship the Windward.

Meanwhile, the Fram had also managed to return home safely. With the team reunited, they sailed into the harbour at Oslo that September to a hero’s welcome.

Fridtjof Nansen became a celebrity overnight.

His account of their journey, published in England in 1897 under the title Farthest North, was an instant best-seller.

That same year, he conducted a sell-out lecture tour of England and spent some time in the United States.

The explorer returned to Britain in February 1898, having arranged to give still more talks on Across the Polar Region. This time Derby was on the list.

His wife, Eva, had even promised to accompany him. But then their infant son, Kare, fell ill with scarlet fever and the tour had to be postponed.

Once the youngster had recovered, the couple took to the road leaving their baby boy and five-year-old daughter, Liv, behind in the care of a nurse.

Nansen’s appearance at the Drill Hall in Derby had been rearranged for April 15 and attracted considerable interest.

Sir Henry Bemrose had the honour of introducing the famous explorer to the packed venue that evening.

Enthusiastic cheers greeted Nansen as he stepped forward to take the stage.

The Norwegian spoke with a strong guttural accent but was easy to understand and proved a most entertaining speaker.

With thrilling tales of adventure and sparkling humour, he held his audience right from the start.

The talk was also illustrated with a large number of photographs which had been taken during the expedition itself.

These were projected onto a screen by a magic lantern for all to see.

The explorer began by apologising for having had to disappoint them by postponing his talk. This done, he launched into a description of the early stages of the journey aboard the ship Fram, the name of which, he told his listeners, meant forward.

During the long, slow drift northwards, the scenery became rather monotonous after a while.

There was nothing but white ice wherever one looked. And, in the winter, the polar night lasted up to five months without a break.

Yet one unforgettable experience was the sight of the Northern Lights, which he said were unbelievably beautiful. Nansen joked with the audience that there was certainly no lack of fresh air on the trip, although naturally it was rather on the chilly side.

One great advantage of the low temperatures was the lack of germs.

Unfortunately, there was a downside. On returning home, he and his party soon discovered they were more susceptible to infection and all of them caught heavy colds.

The speaker went on to describe the most harrowing part of the trip, namely the 15-month trek made by him and Johansen across the pack ice.

Aside from the difficult terrain, the most unpleasant aspect was the extreme cold.

Nansen explained how, at the start of their journey, the temperature was minus 40C. The further north they went the lower it dropped.

Their sweat instantly turned to ice, transforming their clothes into a frozen suit of armour which crackled with every movement.

They ended up wearing the same outfit around the clock. The temperature in the tent was so far below freezing that nothing would dry, so there was little point in getting changed.

At night, the only way the two men could get warm was to share a sleeping bag made of reindeer fur.

With chattering teeth, they still shivered for a couple of hours before either of them felt remotely warm. By then, their clothes were wet rags because of the melting ice.

And, as soon as they went outside in the morning, their garments were frozen rigid once more. Because of the danger from frostbite, every effort was made to keep at least hands and feet dry. Damp socks and mittens were shoved inside their clothing to be dried by body heat.

Eventually, by early April, they could go not further north and the decision was made to turn back.

Nansen told the Derby audience of the delight they felt three months later at the first glimpse of land, having travelled more than 700 miles over pack ice.

Their euphoria was short-lived, however, at the realisation that another winter in the Frozen North was unavoidable.

The next nine months were spent on an island in the Franz Josef Land archipelago. To ensure there was enough food to eat and blubber for fuel, they killed several polar bears and walrus.

Their original food supplies still included some biscuits, dried fish meal and a little chocolate. But these were being saved for the journey home and as treats on special occasions such as Christmas Day.

Together the two men built a hut from stone, its roof being made from walrus hides.

Inside, the temperature was close to freezing, but much warmer than outside.

The explorer amused his listeners with an account of how they spent the long, dark Arctic winter in the hut.

As the only book they had was a nautical almanac, there was little to do but eat and sleep.

Nansen admitted with a smile that their meals somewhat lacked variety: boiled bear meat for breakfast and fried bear meat for supper.

Sleep proved the best way of making time pass. They often managed 20 hours out of 24.

It was May before he and Johansen were able to resume their journey and, shortly afterwards, they ran into the Arctic explorer Frederick Jackson.

In the icy wastes, Nansen received a warm welcome form the Englishman who shook his hand and said: “How do you do?”

The Norwegian confessed to his listeners that this civilised greeting took him rather by surprise. Having gone without a bath for 15 months, he looked like a wild man, dressed in dirty rags, with unkempt hair and shaggy beard.

Laughter rippled around the Drill Hall as he told the audience that one of the first questions he was asked was whether he wanted a bath.

Nothing could match the pure enjoyment of that first warm bath he had before returning to civilisation.

Having kept his Derby audience enthralled for well over an hour, Fridtjof Nansen brought his talk to an end. He received hearty applause.

For all those present, the celebrated Norwegian had provided a fascinating insight into life as a polar explorer.