Ernest Joyce, who served on the Antarctic expeditions of both Scott and Shackleton, now has a blue plaque on a purpose-made plinth in his home town of Felpham in West Sussex, thanks to Felpham Parish Council and Bognor Regis memorial mason Anton Matthews of The Memorial Stone Centre.

During four expeditions to the Antarctic Joyce was awarded the Albert Medal and the Polar Medal with four bars by the Royal Geographical Society. He remains one of only two people ever to have received the Polar Medal with four bars.

The memorial has been erected in Fishermans Gardens, in part of a historical area of Felpham known as Old Coastguards, where Joyce was born in 1875.

Amateur historian and parish councillor Kevin Watson researched the exploits of Ernest Joyce after Felpham Community College students said they wanted to name their new activity playground after this historical person.

“Once I started to research Ernest Joyce, I realised just what an incredibly courageous man he was,” said Kevin. “I wanted to make sure he was properly recognised as part of Felpham’s heritage.”

While installing the blue plaque in the memorial he had made, Anton Matthews, who also invented the Stone-Safe memorial fixing system, made his own discovery – CT1, a hybrid sealant made by Danish company C-TEC.

He used it to fix the plaque in place and was impressed. It is promoted as an adhesive and sealant to re-place all silicone sealants in construction. It is promted as not shrinking and being resilient to weather, vibration and shock.