Budleigh Past and Present

How the real-life ‘M’ of Ian Fleming’s novels planned a survival strategy with local resident Murray Levick during WW2.      The poster that I designed for the 2011-12 exhibition Fairlynch Museum’s 2011-12 exhibition,   entitled   ‘Survival!’, featured the extraordinary experiences of Antarctic explorer Murray Levick. This remarkable Budleigh resident’s expertise proved vital during WW2. When he was well into his sixties he came out of retirement to work on the same secret operation as James Bond creator Ian Fleming.   Levick skins a penguin on board the Terra Nova , part of Robert Falcon Scott’s last Antarctic expedition of 1910-13. Photo by Herbert Ponting (Ponting Collection: Reference P2005/5/911); Wikipedia More than 20 years ago after his polar experience, Murray Levick’s reputation as an expert in survival in hostile environments was such that at the outbreak of war he was asked by the Government to instruct commandos in the art of survival...

  Author Meredith Hooper presents a copy of her book The Longest Winter: Scott's Other Heroes to Fairlynch Museum Secretary Iris Cooper The great age of Britain’s polar heroes lives on thanks to the organisers of centenary events like Fairlynch’s much-praised   ‘Survival!’ exhibition of 2012-13. Antarctic expert Meredith Hooper followed up her visit to the Museum’s exhibition with an appearance as one of the guest authors at Budleigh Salterton’s 2012 Literary Festival.   Her book The Longest Winter: Scott's Other Heroes highlighted the heroism of those members of Robert Falcon Scott’s Northern Party, which included former Budleigh resident Murray Levick. The book was praised by Brian Schofield in The Sunday Times as “an authoritative and insightful chronicle” of the group’s harrowing experience during Scott’s fatal Terra Nova Expedition of 1910- 13. It was, he wrote, a vivid reconstruction which displays “the true grit and peculiar Englishness of th...

Two recently published books marking important local centenaries are now on sale at Fairlynch Museum 's shop. Copies of Antarctic expert Meredith Hooper's The Longest Winter sold out within months. A new stock has arrived in readiness for Budleigh Salterton's Literary Festival in September when the author will be one of the distinguished guest speakers.   Antarctic author Meredith Hooper, left, with Fairlynch Museum Secretary Iris Cooper The Longest Winter is the harrowing account of former Budleigh resident Murray Levick, the doctor with Scott of the Antarctic's Northern Party who survived the six-month polar winter in terrible conditions.   Internationally acclaimed for its depth of research and readability the book was published to coincide with the Scott 100 celebrations.   Marking 100 years since the birth of East Devon author R.F. Delderfield, the centenary edition of Butterfly Moments by author Marion Lindsey-Noble appeared earlier thi...

The photo above of Scott's Northern Party is one of the items being auctioned in London on 30 March 2012 by Bonhams. Seen left to right are: Harry Dickason, Victor Campbell, George Abbott, Raymond Priestley, Murray Levick and Frank Browning.  The six men are standing outside the entrance to the ice cave in which they have just spent the 1911-1912 Antarctic Winter in darkness. The photo was taken on 24 September 1912. Photo credit: Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge The tragic death of Scott of the Antarctic and his four companions a century ago has stirred massive interest in the 1910 – 1913 'Terra Nova' expedition. Both the personalities of those early polar explorers and the equipment that they used - primitive by today's standards - have raised questions ranging from the nature of their heroism to the value of the scientific observations that they recorded. Keen interest from visitors and high commendation from polar experts ...