By Geoff Courtney
The close-knit world of railwayana is mourning the death of David Lewis, who died on August 2 at the age of 56 after a long battle with cancer.
He is the second auction house principal to pass away in his fifties in a little over a year, following the death 14 months ago of Solent Railwayana’s Nigel Maddock.
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In recent years David, who leaves a widow Helen and two children, Peter and Claire, had run railwayana auctions at Crewe Heritage Centre, but his involvement with the movement stretched back many years.
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Among the many who knew him was Mike Soden, director and auctioneer of Great Central Railwayana. “I knew him as a collector for about 30 years, before he ran any auctions.
“He had a wide and varied range of interests, from nameplates to cashbag labels, and was both a buyer and seller from an early age.”
Hobby to full-time role David, who became a grandfather for the first time just a month before he died, held his first railwayana auction at Stoke in the early-1990s, and after a spell away from these sales resumed them at Crewe eight years ago.
Read more and view more images in Issue 245 of HR – on sale now!
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