On 15th of November, Sir Ranulph Fiennes visited Christ’s Hospital School in Horsham to tell pupils in Year 11, 12 and 13 about his sensational expeditions. Fiennes’ many phenomenal and onerous adventures have inspired generations of explorers after him, and leave him named ‘the world’s greatest living explorer’ by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes told students about his two most arguably interesting escapades. Students and teachers were amazed to find out that Fiennes is not only the first and only person to have circumnavigated the North and South poles, but that he also discovered a lost city in Oman.

Fiennes detailed to the audience how much effort went into the planning of these adventures; how carefully they had selected the people he would journey with; and above all, how strenuous the actual expedition was.

 Some students got the opportunity to ask the record-breaking adventurer a few questions. One of these students was Erhun Igiebor, a pupil in Year 13. She said, “I heard you mention Ginny, your wife, a lot during your talk and she seems like an amazing woman. I just wanted to ask how important she was to you during your expeditions, and what she meant to you?”

Fiennes had previously told listeners that after moving back to England from South Africa at twelve years of age, he met his childhood sweetheart, Virginia Pepper. The girl-next-door (literally, they were neighbours!) would go on to be his wife and the person he named as the driving force to all his expeditions.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, in response to the question, called Ginny a ‘genius’ and talked about how she coordinated particularly tricky parts of the mission, carefully calculating timings and designing vessels so that Fiennes and his partners could make it out of these audacious journeys alive. 

Ginny was also a disciplinarian, said Fiennes. He said that if ever any of the men were acting out of line, he would send them Ginny’s way and let her give them a slap on the wrist. 

We were all terribly sad to hear that Ginny had passed away in 2004.