Nova Gallery

The Terra Nova of Scotts Antarctic Expedition

The ship Terra Nova - the vessel used by Robert Falcon Scott (1868 -1912) for his South Polar Expedition in 1911-12. Built originally for the Dundee whaling and sealing fleet (launched 1884), the Terra Nova was purchased from Bowring Brothers Limited for the British Antarctic Expedition, known also as the Terra Nova Expedition, for the sum of 12, 500. Reinforced from bow to stern with seven feet of oak to protect against the Antarctic ice pack, she sailed from Cardiff on 15 June 1910 under overall command of now Captain Scott, who described her as "a wonderfully fine ice ship.... As she bumped the floes with mighty shocks, crushing and grinding a way through some, twisting and turning to avoid others, she seemed like a living thing fighting a great fight."

© Mary Evans / Grenville Collins Postcard Collection

A Fish Auction in Columbia Market

In 1869 Baroness Burdett-Coutts paid for the building of the great Columbia Market (for fish) between Hackney and Bethnal Green Roads on the site of Nova Scotia Gardens, a squalid area of tenements and hovels and dust heaps. The cost of building the market was estimated at 200, 000. It was a philanthropic enterprise to make a clearance of the slum dwellings which clustered so thickly in the area but also to help the local people to have supplies of cheap fresh produce. Lack of support from wholesalers and small traders who preferred the open streets ensured its failure and it closed in 1885 and eventually became a bit of a white elephant and was demolished between 1958 and 1966"

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Crossing Northumberland Strait by Ice Boat

Crossing Northumberland Strait by Ice Boat. These boats were operated in the Northumberland Strait during the 19th century and early 20th century, running between Prince Edward Island and the mainland provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia during the winter months between December and April when sea ice made passage by non-icebreaking steam ships impossible. Passengers would pay a premium fee to sit in the boat for the entire crossing, or a reduced rate if they assisted the crew. In addition to pulling ropes attached to the iceboat, hand-holds were molded along the outer gunwales which were used for hauling the iceboat over sea ice until reaching stretches of open water.
circa 1908

© Mary Evans / Grenville Collins Postcard Collection