The Snowdrop: Lost in the Arctic
When his ship is wrecked in frozen seas, a young Scottish whaler sets off on an epic quest to find help
In 1908, a small Scottish whaling ship was wrecked in the Arctic waters between Greenland and Canada. The crew became trapped with a community of Inuit on a frozen archipelago. They had little food or shelter, and winter was approaching. Facing frostbite and starvation, a young seaman set off with his Inuit friends on a hundreds-of-miles journey across broken ice floes, vast glaciers, and berg-filled seas on an epic quest to find help…
My latest non-fiction article is published today. The Snowdrop: Lost in the Arctic is the true story of Scottish whaler the Snowdrop, its young seaman Alex Ritchie, and a battle to survive and escape from the Arctic. It’s a dynamic presentation with 3D images, interactive maps, and more. You can find it over at Shorthand:
The Snowdrop: Lost in the Arctic
I first encountered the Snowdrop while writing my book Messages from the Sea, and I’ve wanted to tell the full story ever since. Thanks to Alex Ritchie’s relatives and the Maggie Law Maritime Museum in his hometown of Gourdon, I was able to obtain his written and oral accounts, along with accounts from some of the other crew members and other documents, to help bring this forgotten story back to life.
There were lots of things I couldn’t fit into the story, so next week, I’ll send out a special edition of the newsletter with bonus content, including more details from the Snowdrop story plus unused artwork. If you haven’t done so already, please subscribe to make sure you get next week’s edition.
Hope you enjoy The Snowdrop.
In case you missed it, my book The Tyne Bridge is out now in paperback. It’s available now from Amazon* or your favourite bookseller.
You can also get it from Hurst Publishers. And if you’re quick, you can get 25% off using the code TYNE25.
You can find more info about the book at tynebridgebook.com.
Back next week with the bonus edition. Please share and subscribe!