Heritage under the hammer

A 160-year-old map of the course of the River Thames, an authoritative booklet of papers on the Manchester Ship Canal and delightful river scenes of leisure activities on both the Wharfe and Wye are among canal and inland waterways subjects recently sold at auction, reports Geoff Courtney.

The map, which went under the hammer at the quarterly email and postal sale held by Brian Moakes’s Paperchase auction house that ran from January 14-30, was a Vacher & Sons’ map drawn for the Rowing Almanack and Oarsman’s Companion. It was published circa 1860 and showed the course of the Thames from the historical landmark of London Stone in the City of London to Oxford. Drawn by FW Bryant, the pocket-sized cloth- bound map, which illustrated locks, bridges, roads and railways, including the Twyford to Henley branchline crossing the river at Wargrave, sold for £40.

The booklet of papers on the Manchester Ship Canal, which featured in the same auction, was published by the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1898 and was the work of Williams, Eliot and MeadeKing. It ran to 88 pages, included a fold- out map, and went under the hammer for £46.

Still on northern waterways, a carriage print featuring leisure craft on Yorkshire’s River Wharfe at Ilkley sold for £15 at a Great Central Railwayana auction on January 12.

It was painted by the acclaimed Derby- born marine and landscape artist Frank Sherwin (1896-1986), who illustrated posters for a number of railway companies. Included in Sherwin’s CV was the rather unusual role of being an advisor to the War Office during the Second World War regarding the camouflage of airfields.

The second river scene, which went under the hammer for £460, was also sold by Great Central Railwayana at its spring auction on March 2. It was a poster by marine artist Gyrth Russell (1892-1970) that was issued by British Railways in 1955 and illustrated the Wye Valley at Yat Gorge featuring swans, leisure craft and a hand-pulled ferry that crossed the river.

Canadian- born Russell was an official First World War artist in northern France who moved to the UK after the conflict and also served in the Second World War.

In the same auction, a Monmouthshire Canal Company 2½-mile post sold for £ 180. All three Great Central Railwayana prices exclude the buyer’s premium of 15% (+ VAT).

PHOTO: PAPERCHASE This circa 1860s map of the course of the River Thames from London to Oxford sold for £40 at auction.

PHOTO: GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAYNA The Wye Valley was the subject of this BR poster by marine artist Gyrth Russell that sold for £460 at auction.

PHOTO: GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAYANA Leisure activities on the River Wharfe at Ilkley are a central theme of a carriageprint by renowned artist Frank Sherwin.