Honoured to Unveil the Blue Plaque Marking the Birthplace of Antarctic Explorer Apsley Cherry-Garrard

I was honoured yesterday to unveil the blue plaque at the birthplace of Apsley Cherry-Garrard, who was a member of Scott's fateful Terra Nova expedition and author of the book which recounted his experiences on the quest - 'The Worst Journey in the World.'

Cherry Garrard was born at 15 Lansdowne Road in 1886, and his Mother's family home still stands at 1 St Paul's Square in Bedford. Cherry- Garrard was accepted to join Scott on his Terra Nova Expedition of 1910, and was given the job of Assistant Biologist responsible for collecting eggs of the Emperor Penguin. The stories from the expedition are famous across the world, with Cherry Garrard's book ''The Worst Journey In the World'' recognised as a classic and adapted for numerous film versions down the years.

We should be very proud as Bedfordians by our close link with a heroic figure who played such a central role in one of history's great adventures, and went on to do so much to ensure the story became known to generations to come across the world.

Present at the unveiling were the new owners of the newly-refurbished home, who are thrilled to be moving into a house with this link with such a prominent historic figure.

Here's a link to the wikipedia entry on Apsley Cherry Garrard - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apsley_Cherry-Garrard - while I recommend you look out for the next edition of the Bedford tourism magazine, which is set to include an article on the 5 men involved in arctic expeditions with Schackleton or Scott with close links to Bedford or Bedfordshire!