Latest news with #SaintHelena
The Sun
13-07-2025
- The Sun
Look around the tiny English island with a volcano, rare wildlife & 250 residents who have one of 7 surnames
AN ENGLISH island with its own volcano and unique wildlife, has just 250 residents. Residents of this remote settlement speak English, but the language has evolved over the years, so sounds completely different to the dialect we are used to. 7 7 7 The world's most remote settlement Edinburgh of the Seven Seas - named after it was visited by The Duke of Edinburgh HRH Prince Alfred in 1887 - is said to be the world's most isolated settlement, as it is further (1,514 miles) from its nearest neighbour, St Helena, than any other community in the world. The village, which is known as simply The Settlement to locals, is the only inhabited area of Tristan da Cunha, a group of tiny islands that make up one of three constituent parts of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena. Despite being 5,000 miles away from the UK, its 250 inhabitants are British citizens who are all descended from original settlers. The islanders share just seven surnames between them: Glass, Swain, Green, Rogers, Hagan, Repetto and Lavarello. Among the residents is a doctor, and other professionals such as dentists, opticians and priests often visit for a few months, to provide services to the islanders. All of the land on the land on Tristan da Cunha is communally owned, with outsiders prohibited from buying or selling land on the island. Agriculture and fishing are the island's major industries, with the Tristan rock lobster being the island's biggest export. Tristan de Cunha was discovered in 1506 by Portuguese explorer Tristão da Cunha and was then settled by British marines and American whalers. In the war, the tiny set of islands was used as a weather station, and the currency in Tristan is the pound. Tristan has two volcanoes Queen Mary's Peak on the main island and Edinburgh Peak on Gough Island. Queen Mary's Peak last erupted back in 1961, whilst Edinburgh Peak is classified as extinct. It is also home to an abundance of wildlife, such as rockhopper penguins, whales and dolphins. How to get there If you want to visit the island, you need permission to land, and you will need to show proof of travel insurance and a fully paid return ticket. There are no planes or airports, so you will have to travel by boat to the island, either by a five-to-ten-day sea voyage from Cape Town aboard fishing vessels or Polar research trips. 7 And, once you've got to the island, there's no guarantee your ship will be able to dock, with adverse weather conditions often leaving passengers stranded. Visitors to the island must pay a landing and harbour fee (£30 for cruise passengers, £15 for yacht visitors) and each visitor has to sign an indemnity waver. Once you've reached the island, there's no mobile connection, and internet access is shared via the whole community via a slow and expensive satellite. Rare form of English According to the Name Explain YouTube channel, people on the island speak the "rarest" form of English. For example, residents shorten vowel sounds, so the word 'base' would be pronounced as 'Bes'. They also drop t's, meaning that words such as 'butter' are pronounced like 'buher'. They also refrain from pluralising words, meaning 'two cats' would be simply 'two cat' and add an H to the beginning of words starting with a vowel, so apple becomes happle. 7 7 7
Vogue
02-07-2025
- Vogue
One of the World's Most Remote Islands Is Now More Accessible Than Ever
Saint Helena's trio of peaks pierce through a sea of cloud, six hours after our flight departs South Africa—a blink of time compared to the six-day sea voyage required until 2017. Located 2,000 kilometers from the continent, and almost halfway to Brazil, this shard of basalt—often grouped with its sister islands, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, which lie only marginally closer—forms one of the most isolated territories on Earth. What secrets would Saint Helena reveal in the coming days, shrouded in the same enigmatic mist through which it first emerged? Until 2017, the only way to reach Saint Helena was by sea—a six-day voyage from South Africa. Photo: Jethro Kiernan Though best known as the island where Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled and ultimately died, Saint Helena's historical footnote belies a far richer identity—one rooted in extraordinary natural beauty. When Charles Darwin landed on its shores in 1836 as part of his round-the-world HMS Beagle expedition, he marveled at its otherworldly biodiversity. Saint Helena, he wrote, was a 'remarkable' place that 'excites our curiosity.' How right he was. Roughly the size of San Francisco, the island is home to more than 500 endemic species of flora and fauna—25 times more per square kilometer than the Galápagos Islands, whcih famously helped shape his theory of evolution. Stepping onto the tarmac, the first sensation is of alpine-fresh air, laced with a salty fret that drifts in from the South Atlantic. Forged by volcanic eruptions that ceased around seven million years ago, Saint Helena rises dramatically to 800 meters above sea level. I drive north along a steep, slaloming road to Jamestown, the capital—a cluster of Georgian buildings ensconced within one of the deep, narrow ravines that define the island's singular topography.
CTV News
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Napoleon collection sells at auction for US$10 million
A Napoleon hat is on display in an exhibition of Napoleon's belongings created by French designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac at the Sotheby's auction house in Paris Thursday, June 19, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) Paris, France -- A massive trove of artwork and curios linked to Napoleon Bonaparte, including one of his iconic bicorne hats, has sold for more than US$10 million in Paris, an auction house said. Sotheby's said it had originally estimated the more than 110 items of Napoleonic memorabilia that it sold on Wednesday at around $7 million. Famous paintings of the 19th-century French emperor, gilded imperial furniture and a copy of the marriage certificate between Napoleon and his wife Josephine were among the items up for auction. Relics linked to Napoleon regularly come up for sale at auction in France in a flourishing trade marked by intense interest from collectors. The vast collection also included Napoleon's first will written while in exile on the Atlantic island of Saint Helena, and the sword and staff used for his coronation at Paris' famed Notre Dame Cathedral in 1804. Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helena in 1815 after his defeat by the British at the Battle of Waterloo. He died there six years later. French collector Pierre-Jean Chalencon, a former star of a French antiques television show who dubs himself 'Napoleon's press officer,' assembled the collection over four decades. Born in a Parisian suburb, Chalencon started his collection at the age of 13 and accumulated more than 1,000 objects, including a coronation ring and a piece of the emperor's coffin. At a different Parisian auction in late May, one of Napoleon's sabres sold for 4.6 million euros, coming close to a new record price for a Napoleonic artifact.
National Post
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- National Post
A collection of Napoleon memorabilia, including one of his iconic bicorne hats, sells for $10M
Paris (AFP) — A massive trove of artwork and curios linked to Napoleon Bonaparte, including one of his iconic bicorne hats, has sold for more than $10 million in Paris, an auction house said. Article content Sotheby's said it had originally estimated the more than 110 items of Napoleonic memorabilia that it sold on Wednesday at around $7 million. Article content Article content Famous paintings of the 19th-century French emperor, gilded imperial furniture and a copy of the marriage certificate between Napoleon and his wife Josephine were among the items up for auction. Article content Relics linked to Napoleon regularly come up for sale at auction in France in a flourishing trade marked by intense interest from collectors. Article content Article content The vast collection also included Napoleon's first will written while in exile on the Atlantic island of Saint Helena, and the sword and staff used for his coronation at Paris' famed Notre Dame Cathedral in 1804. Article content Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helena in 1815 after his defeat by the British at the Battle of Waterloo. He died there six years later. Article content French collector Pierre-Jean Chalencon, a former star of a French antiques television show who dubs himself 'Napoleon's press officer,' assembled the collection over four decades. Article content Article content Born in a Parisian suburb, Chalencon started his collection at the age of 13 and accumulated more than 1,000 objects, including a coronation ring and a piece of the emperor's coffin. Article content
