Roger to be toast of the expedition (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Roger to be toast of the expedition

A COTSWOLD businessman is getting ready to celebrate this week after a team using equipment he built successfully recreated Captain Scott's ill-fated journey to Antarctica.

Roger Danes, who runs Snow Sled Polar in Tetbury, spent nearly a year researching and recreating the kit used by Scott in his 1912 journey.

This week a team led by Geoff Sommers MBE reached its destination after braving temperatures of -35C.

The group used similar equipment to Scott, right down to the cotton tents and reindeer sleeping bags.

However Roger is not celebrating the success of his equipment just yet.

He said: " I haven't spoken to them yet. We will probably hear from them when they get back to South America and see how the sled worked. It's great news that they finished but I am not going to say too much because I don't know how it went."

The sled, which was made of ash with leather thonging, was built to be an almost exact replica of the one used by Scott and involved hours of research for Roger.

He said: "One of the important places was the Scott Polar Expedition Unit at Cambridge which has one of the largest sources of information on the subject in the world.

"I had already made sleds for the film Shackleton so I knew what they were like. It was the clothing that needed the most research."

Roger is hoping to carry on making historical replicas from his base in Tetbury and is waiting to hear how the equipment stood up to the challenge to find out if he can start celebrating.

The team carrying out the Antarctic challenge were 54-year-old Geoff, along with former military men Simon Daglish, 40, Ed Farquhar, 39, James Daly, 41, and Roger Weatherby, 43. All successfully completed the 170-mile, 17-day challenge.

It was the return trip that proved fatal for Scott and his team but fortunately the modern-day adventurers will not risk the same outcome and are set to be flown home.

The aim of the expedition was to raise £1 million for two baby charities, Tommy's and the Winnicot Foundation, as well as the racing charity, Racing Welfare.

For more information about the expedition visit www.numispolarchallenge.com