A letter to the king has added a royal flourish to life at Rothera Research Station, where mail remains a vital link to the world
It might be traditional to write to Father Christmas with a gift list, but when Kirsten Shaw wanted a new postbox for staff at the UK’s Rothera Research Station in Antarctica, she wrote to the king.
The request has resulted in a special delivery for Shaw – a station support assistant who, among myriad other tasks, runs the British Antarctic Territory post office at the station.
“I love post, I love postboxes and stamps, so I just really wanted to get a proper Royal Mail one for the station,” said Shaw, who was awarded the Fuchs Medal in 2022 for her contributions to the Antarctic community.
Known as a “lamp” postbox, the smallest type of postbox, the bright red receptacle with its King Charles III cipher is something of an upgrade on its predecessor.
