Never a dull moment

Never a dull moment

John and Jenny Killingbeck have truly embraced life, travelling widely around the world and amassing a treasure trove of captivating stories about Antarctica and Italy, not to mention staging a play close to Scott's Hut on Cape Evans.

John grew up in East London during WW2, and from an early age he took danger in his stride, coping with bomb raids as houses disappeared on his street, and finding excitement in hunting for pieces of shrapnel. He later attended school at King’s College, Taunton, thriving on the boarding experience, as well as developing an affinity for the West Country during expeditions to Exmoor and Dartmoor. He went on to complete more than two years of national service during the time of the Cold War, stationed at an RAF fighter command station in Norfolk, where he was involved with radar and fighter control – though he also took advantage of the occasional opportunity to go up in a Meteor jet fighter. Following this he continued his studies with a degree in geography at the University of Bristol, where as well as training in surveying he was also paid to learn to fly with the RAF at Filton, an experience he obviously relished, as there is still a gleam in his eye as he describes landing on clouds and trying out aerobatic manoeuvres.

In his last year of university, he applied to join the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey and was taken on as a meteorologist. Because of his experience in flying and international law, he was offered the post of base leader on Deception Island in Antarctica, overseeing the two single Otter aircraft and crew who supported the Antarctic research teams. And so, at the age of 23, he sailed for six weeks aboard the research ship John Biscoe, via Montevideo and the Falkland Islands, to reach the horseshoe-shaped Deception Island, which was rich in wildlife but encircled an active, flooded volcanic crater. One of his first major tasks was to construct a hangar for the aircraft to protect them from the weather; everyone pitched in to help erect what became the largest building in the Antarctic. Amusingly it was later declared a historic monument under the terms of the Antarctic Treaty – although that did neatly avoid the difficulty of removing it. John was one of eleven people manning the base and in the course of facilitating the geological and meteorological work, he frequently had the chance to go flying in the co-pilot seat. He remembers one particularly tricky situation when the cloud descended so low that the base crew had to wave flaming, paraffin-soaked rags to guide the plane as it flew just above the sea, through the very narrow entrance to the harbour.

Their proximity to the South Pole meant that winter started in May, and the ships didn’t return until November. So through that period the men on the base taught themselves to drive the teams of husky dogs, completing a circumnavigation of the whole island. Access to drinking water was also an issue in the freezing conditions, but following a suggestion by one of the team, they dug down about 20 feet below the hut and struck one of the thermal hot springs, enabling a constant supply of running water by pump. While John was living on the island, the Antarctic Treaty of June 1961 came into force, successfully uniting international powers to set aside military activity and disputes over the territory, as well as cooperate on scientific projects. On Deception, John recalls the teams from the British station and the Chilean station coming together at the Argentine base and celebrating the treaty over a very enjoyable dinner.

After 18 months on Deception, John had become enthralled with driving the husky team, so he transferred to Adelaide Island to spend a further 18 months surveying the island and producing maps. Six people worked from a wooden hut, each with a team of nine dogs which they used to travel the island, working in pairs to create triangulation points and map an area the size of Cornwall. They were often away from the base for 12 weeks at a time, keeping warm in Ventile jackets and sealskin boots, in addition to adopting some of the Arctic Inuit survival skills and learning to adapt to the environment rather than try to fight it.

Eventually John’s time in Antarctica came to an end, and on his return to England he took a PGCE qualification, before securing a position as a geography teacher at Kelly College in 1965, and four years later becoming head of the department. With a couple of breaks he spent more than 20 years working at Kelly, and also ran a very active sailing club from Plymouth Barbican for fifteen of those years. In 1979 John married Jenny and a shared passion for sailing was the catalyst for numerous trips around the UK and abroad - and Jenny still enjoys sailing her father’s 35-foot boat. In 1986 they leapt at the chance of buying a dilapidated barn which they painstakingly laboured on for a year by themselves, before taking on a builder to help them complete the project. Sitting in their house while we drink tea in front of a roaring fire in a huge stone fireplace, I can vouch for the fact that their hard work resulted in a beautiful renovation.

In the 80s another adventure presented itself when the couple found they fitted the bill perfectly for a three-month research project in the town of Aliano deep in the south of Italy, where Carlo Levi based his book, ‘Cristo si è fermato a Eboli’ (Christ Stopped at Eboli), published in 1945. Jenny had studied Italian and English literature at Warwick University and was keen to embrace the project which involved examining how the hilltop town, described by Levi as one of the poorest and most backward regions of the Italian south, had fared in the following 50 years. They thoroughly enjoyed their time there and their discoveries about the changes experienced by the inhabitants, led to a programme for Yorkshire TV; Jenny and John became such experts on the area that their help was later sought for another research project by a Cambridge professor.

In 1993 Antarctica beckoned once again when John was offered a chance to return for three months as a husky-dog driver and surveyor; in addition, the mission included arranging for the remaining husky dogs on Alexandra Island - the last dogs on the continent - to be removed by April 1994 in accordance with the Environmental Protocol’s strict controls on non-indigenous species. He retrained in new surveying techniques and crevasse rescue, and arrived on the island in December, celebrating Christmas in a tent with a meal of turkey that had arrived by parachute. On 22nd February, the dogs were flown out of the Antarctic and eventually repatriated to the Arctic where they were given to the Inuit people. John’s bond with the Antarctic did not end there though, as he was later engaged to give lectures on polar passenger ships, making more than 20 trips over a number of years to the North and South Poles.

Jenny is also an accomplished actress, after being awarded a much sought-after place at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in the late 90s - attending at the same time as Olivia Colman. In 1999 Jenny co-wrote a play with Robert Edwards entitled A Father for My Son, portraying the life of the sculptor Kathleen Scott, who brought up her son Peter alone, after his father, the Antarctic hero Robert Falcon Scott, died on his return from the South Pole in 1912. Jenny has performed the one-woman play countless times at numerous venues in the UK, from Cornwall to London and Ireland, as well as in New Zealand at the Scott 100 commemorations and on board a ship, close to Scott's Hut on Cape Evans - probably the most southerly place a professional stage play has ever been performed. She has also made regular broadcasts for Radio 4 in radio plays and as a narrator, in addition to acting in touring theatre productions. At the time of the interview she had just completed a voice-over for Devon Wildlife Trust as well as an interesting film on behalf of the University of Gloucester, called The Walker which is set near Powder Mills on Dartmoor.

I doubt that John and Jenny have ever let an opportunity slip past them. John may be in his eighties now, but he is definitely still young at heart and often gives talks about his experiences. This couple’s wonderful sense of adventure hasn’t disappeared either, as a trip to Kenya was on the horizon in the near future.

Rosemary Best