19th March 2003
Half
a century after the triumphant ascent of Everest, the boot originally designed
for the conquering team has been entrusted to University of Lincoln students
for restoration.
Second-year Conservation and Restoration degree students Sarah Stannage (24) of Wittering and Caroline Rawson (19) of Hedley have spent 12 weeks working on the boot and its display cabinet.
In
May 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Mount Everest
in the first ever recorded conquering of the 29,035-foot mountain.
The
British Everest Exhibition Assault Boot was designed by the Satra company in
1953 solely for the final ascent and was intended for only one week’s wear.
However,
when they reached camp III at 20,000 feet - one month before the summit was
reached - Edmund Hillary and the party began to suffer from cold feet so in a
bid to prevent frostbite they decided to use the boots for the remainder of the
trip.
This
was, in fact, the first time an Everest expedition was completed without the
occurrence of frostbite.
Currently
owned by the Kettering Manor House Museum in Northamptonshire, the display –
originally made for a shop window to celebrate the conquering of Everest - was
sent to the students for them to restore and conserve.
“The
boot was very frail and dirty with many rips,” said Sarah. “The cabinet was
chipped with damaged labels and the crampons were suffering badly from
corrosion.
“We
have spent the time cleaning and repairing the boot and making it more stable
to prevent further deterioration. We’ve also retouched the cabinet and made new
labels replicating the old style.”
“It
has been very interesting to see how advanced the technology was for its year,”
said Caroline. “The boot is made from nine layers of both natural and synthetic
textile and is incredibly light.”
“We
are very lucky to have links with the Kettering Manor House Museum,” said Chris
Robinson, BA Conservation and Restoration programme leader. “We have a mutually beneficial arrangement
which allows our students the experience of restoring a variety of artefacts
and the museum has their pieces restored and conserved.”
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For
more information contact: Gill Noakes, Press Assistant, University of Lincoln
Tel:
01522 886244 or Email: gnoakes@lincoln.ac.uk
Search
the university’s news archive at http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/news
