British endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh is embarking on the “most dangerous swims ever undertaken in the world” to call for a protected area in Antarctic waters.

Everest conqueror Dr Clare O’Leary will this weekend unveil a memorial in honour of a heroic Irish polar adventurer who was a member of Captain Robert Scott’s ill-fated expedition to the South Pole a century ago.

A member of Captain Scott’s ill-fated Antarctic expedition is to be immortalised by his native parish following the decision to commission a life-sized statue in his memory.