Helen’s paintings fetch a fortune

NO sign of the recession at Sotheby’s in London this week where two paintings by Lees-born grandmother, Helen Bradley, sold for a total of £85,250, which was £35,350 more than expected.

One Bradley picture — titled: “‘Oh Jane’ said Miss Carter (who wore pink)” — fetched £55,250 and the other, titled: “On Friday Afternoon We Visited Great Aunt Jane”, sold for £30,000.

Before the auction, both works had been expected to sell for around £25,000 each.

Bradley — who started life as Nellie Layfield —was born in Lees on November 20, 1900, and moved to Frederick Street, Oldham, when she was 11.

Educated at Clarksfield School, she only took up painting when she was 65 to show her grandchildren what life was like when she was a child.