CHILDREN at a school in Cam met one of their heroes last week when a polar explorer paid them a surprise visit.

Adventurer Newall Hunter, of Wotton-under-Edge, met the year 3 pupils at Cam Everlands Primary School who had followed his most recent adventure on the web.

In January this year Newall became the first Briton to ski solo to the South Pole from the Messner Start on the Filchner Ice Shelf at the edge of the Antarctic continent.

When deputy head teacher Susan Avis heard about his preparation for the trip last November she decided to follow his exploits on his blog.

It quickly became part of the early morning routine for her class to log on to his website and see how he was doing.

Then, last Friday, they got to meet him in the flesh, as he arrived at the school for a surprise visit to talk about his adventure and offer thanks for their support and interest.

Helped with photographs and equipment he used on the trip Newall described his gruelling 570 mile journey and how he reached the South Pole after spending the festive period pulling two heavy sleds across the polar ice cap.

The children were spellbound by the tales of extreme cold and danger Newall faced, including one regarding a collapse of snow which revealed a gaping crevasse beneath him.

Mrs Avis said: “It is this that brings our lessons to life and shows the children that there is a whole wide world outside Dursley. My dream is for them to look back in future years and to have been inspired by visits like this.

“When we found out that Newall had reached the South Pole we all gave a big cheer and decided to make him a card.”

Newall had been aware that the children were following him.

He said: “When I was on my own and all I could see was ice it was comforting to know that there were people at home who were rooting for me.”

He also described how the trip could be regarded as training towards another expedition which he will take later this year.

2015 is the centenary of Ernest Shackleton’s failed attempt to cross Antarctica which resulted in one of the most heroic, prolonged and successful rescue missions in history and which has become known as one of the great epics of human survival.

In October Newall will join a British and Irish team in an attempt to be the first ever to complete the crossing of Antarctica that Shackleton was prevented from starting.