The BAS Hut and Old Palmer, 1965

BAS Base N and Palmer Station in 1965
Looking northwest...the BAS hut is in the foreground; behind Palmer Station is Norsel Point.
view out the back
A closer view of the BAS hut as seen from behind the Palmer Station building.
side view of BAS Base N
And even closer...some of the extra cable left over from Palmer construction is visible behind the hut.
The Palmer radio room in the attic of Base N
The radio room was in the attic of BAS Base N. Remember that this was 1965, and the closest women were thousands of miles north.
the ham shack end of the attic
The other end of the attic was the ham shack. The emergency exit window is framed in red. Note that these are Collins KWM-2A radios, the same as we had at Pole in 1977.
Palmer 1965 QSL card
Speaking of the ham shack...here's the 1965 QSL card, modeled on those
of the other stations. One of these is visible on the wall of the ham shack
to the right of the clock in the above right photo.
Jack Cummings emerging from the Palmer radio room aka the attic of BAS Base N


And here is Jack Cummings emerging from that second level radio room. The British had established Base N in 1954-55. It was continuously occupied for only 3 years and used intermittently afterward (more information).
Old Palmer skua pond
Behind the original station was this Skua Pond, used for winter ice skating among other things.
Jack posing on one of the station snowmobiles
Jack, posing on one of the station snowmobiles.
BUCN Chuck Alletto in front of the newly constructed station he helped build
BUCN Chuck Alletto poses in front of the newly constructed station he helped build. With sign.

Base N as seen from Humble Island
This view of the BAS hut is from Humble. The Jamesway behind the hut was used to store emergency supplies. The Skua Pond (previous photo) is behind the ridge in the background. Did I mention that this was FIDS/BAS Base N?

The photos are from RMC Jack Cummings, the radio operator for the inaugural 1965 winter. He sent many of them to me in 2005; later he shared them and more with the Antarctic Photo Library, and I've added a few more of those to this page. Jack also wintered at Hallett in 1961. The QSL card image is from Ted Roberge, who visited the station in 1965 aboard the USCGC Eastwind.