Cleveland College of Art & Design Student Sarah Hargreaves who created an outfit for intrepid explorer Mary Mouse
A TINY knitted mouse which embarked upon an epic crossing of the Antarctic was kept warm thanks to the talents of a North East student.
Mary Mouse
ARY Mouse, the seventh member of Sir Ranulph Fiennes’ 2,000 mile expedition The Coldest Journey was protected from temperatures of up to -70C by a miniature coat and scarf created by Cleveland College of Art & Design student Sarah Hargreaves. The 15cm tall mouse, made as a mascot for the journey, was handed over to Sir Ranulph and the expedition team members at a ceremony in London by pupils from St Mary's RC School, Newton Aycliffe, where Sarah’s mum Diane Hargreaves is a Year 5 teacher. “I became involved with the Coldest Journey almost two years ago when I created and trialled some teaching resources in school,” said Diane. “One of the books I used, Ponko and the South Pole, mentioned a mascot used by Herbert Pointing, the photographer on Scott's ill fated expedition of 1921-1913, which is now in the Maritime Museum London. “We’d made some links with the team so I suggested that our school provide a similar mascot for this journey and asked one of our pupils’ grandmothers if she could knit a mouse which the children named Mary, after the school.” Taking the small mouse home Diane asked her daughter Sarah, a costume design and interpretation student at CCAD, if she could make some suitable clothing for Mary for her trip.
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Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Mary plan their 2,000 mile Trek across Antartica. Insert: Ponko the mascot used by Herbert Pointing on Scott's ill fated expedition.