LS Lowry sketch to be auctioned at Anderson & Garland
Dec 4 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal
IT’S a sob story with a happy ending. More than 50 years ago , John Waldie, then aged six, put a brave face on things after an accident in a hotel in Berwick in Northumberland.
John, now 57 and living near Hexham in Northumberland, held a heavy door open for two ladies and saw stars when it swung back in his face.
But John didn’t cry – and that impressed a fellow guest at the Castle Hotel.
That guest in August 1958 turned out to be the artist LS Lowry, who said: “That’s a brave boy for not crying.”
As a reward, Lowry sketched a street scene on a sheet of hotel notepaper, signed and dated it, and gave it to young John.
Now another reward is on the way for John on Tuesday when the Lowry gift will be sold by Newcastle auctioneers Anderson & Garland. It is expected to fetch more than £4,500.
John had been on holiday in the Berwick hotel with his parents, who lived in Sunderland.
John’s father had fallen into conversation with Lowry, who had a fondness for staying at the Seaburn Hotel in Sunderland, and they chatted about Wearside.
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