On Antarctica’s remote Horseshoe Island near the bottom of the world, there stands a one-time research station, a designated historic site – making it a protected location of historic interest on the continent of Antarctica – that offers a trip into a time machine to decades past.
Founded in 1950, Station Y was used by British scientists for five years, from 1955 to 1960, and now is open as a museum for intrepid travelers and scientists.
The research station was used in the early Cold War era to do research in various fields, including topography, meteorology, geology and geophysics.
The base, which was last renovated in 1969, is currently being kept alive as a museum by the United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust foundation.
The research station includes a sled workshop, radio room, dormitory, kitchen, study room, infirmary and generator room, all offering glimpses into the spartan, rustic life of early Antarctic scientists.
The scientific equipment, hand tools, calendars, plaques, magazines, books, food boxes, food and bread recipes hung on the kitchen walls of that period in the main building, which was established in 1950, attract attention immediately.
In the common living area in the main building of the station, there are portraits of Queen Elizabeth II of England and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, signed 1957.
Only a limited number of people can visit the base at the same time and nothing in the building should be moved or touched. Visitors can also write in the diary located at the main entrance during the tour.
Atilla Yılmaz, environmental officer of Turkiye’s Sixth National Antarctic Science Expedition and researcher from the Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Turkey (TUBITAK) MAM Polar Research Institute, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that despite its distant location, well off major travel routes, Station Y is visited by hundreds of tourists every year.
"The base, which has been kept intact from the era it was used in, offers its visitors something like a journey through a time machine," he said.
