A MAN has spoken of his ‘incredible’ experience after finding a collection of 100-year old paintings by a Barrow-born artist.

Gary Johnston, who lives in Hayton, Cumbria, found the scrap book at an auction in Carlisle. After winning the lot, Mr Johnston found the book was full of paintings of Barrow, the Lake District and beyond.

Mr Johnston said: “I was at a small local auction. I spotted an old, dusty, grubby looking, thick book with the words 'Newspaper Cuttings' embossed on the front.

“Inside was not, as I was expecting, old newspaper print, but instead three finely painted watercolours. I turned the pages again and again - there were more watercolours - all of them beautiful. There were also old photographs, prints and postcards.

“What I'd stumbled across was a scrapbook of a local artist from Barrow-in-Furness. I haven't finished logging all the pictures yet: there are over 85 pages, packed with postcards, hand drawn pictures, engravings, lino cuts and of course the watercolours. There are over forty of them and they have probably never been seen by anyone else but the artist themself.”

Mr Johnston found the name of the artist among the pictures, a Mary (Minnie) Pratt, whom he has since discovered was born in Barrow in 1880. She lived with her parents on Abbey Road before moving to Fairfield Lane. Minnie was later a teacher at the Barrow School of Art and Science, The pictures in the book are dated from 1889 through to the early 1950's

Minnie Pratt died in Ulverston in 1980 just a few weeks after celebrating her 100th birthday.

Mr Johnston would like to know more about Minnie and urges anyone with information about her to get in contact. He said: “My research into Minnie's scrapbook continues, I would love to know more about her one-hundred-year life. I would also love to see a picture of this amazing lady.”