A CHURCH social event over 50 years ago provided a Fife woman with more than happy memories—a valuable memento of the evening.

The guest speaker at the Cowdenbeath Baptist Church was famed comic artist Dudley D. Watkins, who willingly agreed to sign the young girl’s autograph book, complete with a sketch of his best-known character, Oor Wullie.

Signed and dated November 7, 1953, the owner has now decided to put the item up for auction.

“It is a personal item cherished over the years and the vendor has always looked upon it fondly, still remembering the evening it was drawn,” Nick Burns, of Perth auctioneers, Lindsay Burns and Company, said

“It is a charming little drawing, quickly done which captures the essence of the comic character.”

Mr Burns said he expects the little drawing to fetch in excess of a couple of hundred pounds. In light of this the seller says she shudders to think of the value of the quick sketches done by Mr Watkins during his talk which would have been thrown away at the end of the evening.

A deeply religious man, Mr Watkins was born in Manchester but his career took off when he moved to Scotland and began illustrating for D. C. Thomson & Co Ltd.

As well as drawing Oor Wullie and the Broons for The Sunday Post he was prolific in his work for The Dandy and The Beano.

Although he died at the drawing board in his Broughty Ferry home in 1969, his popular style lives on with collectors vying keenly for original drawings.

The book will be included in a fine art and antiques sale at Lindsay Burns and Company, King Street, Perth, on December 11.