Lincolnshire Aviation History, Under The Hammer
The trophy cabinet of the late Spitfire test pilot, the late Alex Henshaw MBE (Flying Legend), is to be sold by Woodhall Spa Cricket Club, at Wrights Auctions next sale at Frampton West, Boston on Saturday 17th October.
Woodhall Spa Cricket Club have recently received grant aid from WREN (Waste Recycling Environmental Ltd), to refurbish their pavilion. Proceeds from the sale of the trophy cabinet will go towards disability access and facilities at the refurbished pavilion.
The trophy cabinet was generously given to Woodhall Spa Cricket Club by the Henshaw family from Sandilands, several years ago. The club’s pavilion is undergoing extensive refurbishment, and it has been decided to sell the cabinet.
The cabinet was moved from the Henshaw household by G H Shaw of High Street Lincoln.
Alex Henshaw attended Lincoln Grammar School, and was a well known ‘dare devil’ motorcyclist and pilot, learning to fly at Skegness in 1932.
He won the Kings Cup Air Race in 1938 and made a record breaking solo return flight from England to Cape Town in 1939.
Alex will be forever associated with the Spitfire in which he test flew over 2300 individual planes, between 1940 – 1945. He was well known in the Boston area for his friendship with TT motorcycle ace, Austin Munks of Leverton.
Auctioneer, Martin Wright, a Woodhall Spa CC member, is honoured to have the cabinet which held so many Alec Henshaw’s trophies in his next sale. ‘It will be sad to see the cabinet leave the Pavilion, and hope that it is sold to an organisation that will cherish part of Lincolnshire’s aviation history’.
Mr Wright went on to say; ‘It is difficult to value such a unique lot. As a cabinet alone, it should achieve £300, but because of its provenance, the sky could be the limit !’.
For further details of the auction, please contact Wrights Auctions 01205 351 200.
The cabinet (aobve) and pilot Alex Henshaw MBE.
October 9, 2015 12:00 am