A RARE gift, presented to the landlord of a Wincle pub by Macclesfield's most famous Antarctic explorer Sir Philip Brocklehurst, is to go under the hammer at auction.
A two-inch refracting telescope still in its leather military case was given to the owner of The Ship Inn when the great adventurer visited his favourite local hostelry.
Brocklehurst served under Sir Ernest Shackleton on the two year Antarctic expedition which left Britain in 1907.
He gave the telescope to his long term friend Leslie Wright - who described Sir Philip as 'the nicest person' he ever knew.
The two had known each long before the pub days. They met while Wright served as a butler to Emerald, Lady Cunard.
It was a generous memento since the eye glass, which goes up for grabs at Sotheby's Marine Sale in London on May 29, is expected to fetch up to £800.
A week earlier, next Monday, May 20, Sir Philip's name will be looming again in another Sotheby salesroom - only this time across the Atlantic in New York.
A rare first edition book written by Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton is expected to fetch up to $12,000 (around £8,450).
Entitled "The Heart of the Antarctic" - first published in 1909 - the volume for sale is a limited edition being number 185 out of 350 copies.
It is one of 624 rare books, owned by Californian collection, which are expected to fetch up to $2.74 million (£1.9m).
But what makes it so valuable is that it was signed by every member of Shackleton's shore party including Sir Philip, who lived at Sythamley Park in wallaby territory up in The Roaches area of Macclesfield before switching to his beloved village of Wincle.
He was a colourful character. And only two years ago a biscuit, owned - and bitten - by Sir Philip while on the same Shackleton Antartic expedition fetched a spectacular £4,935 when it came for sale at Christie's in London. Experts expected a top bid of £1,200.
Sir Philip died in 1975 leaving £627,133.
