At over 44,000 images, it rang very true.
Taken and collected by “D Butterfield and G Butland”, the pictures on offer – roughly half photographs and half slides primarily showing locomotives – ranged from the 1940s to the early 2000s catalogued in notebooks and folders. The majority were individually annotated to verso with location, date and other information. Some of the images covered the last days of steam.
Estimated at £800-1200, it took a £5500 hammer price.
From the same collection was a further lot of over 2800 photographs and slides of British buses (sold for £780), and a lot of over 8000 images of the Swiss railways (which made £950).
Although not confirmed by Tennants, the photographers/collectors are thought to be Douglas Butterfield and his lifelong friend Geoff Butland who were keen members of Bradford Railway Circle (Butland was the group’s founder).
When Butterfield died in 2009 the group’s newsletter noted: “Without a doubt, the Swiss railways and the Gotthard line in particular were his favourites.”
The images were consigned by a descendant and they sold to the UK trade in the room.
The photographs and slides taken by Butterfield and Butland were sold with copyright; others including commercially produced examples sold without.
