Winifred Joyce 'Winnie' Drinkwater made aviation history in 1930 by becoming the youngest aircraft pilot in the world.
She was just 17 and had qualified under the instruction of Captain John Houston at the Scottish Flying School in Renfrew, but had already been an air enthusiast for years.
At the age of 19, she became Scotland’s first woman to be a licensed aircraft engineer, despite the minimum age to officially qualify for the aircraft engineer licence being 21.
After completing her training, she flew what was perhaps the first commercial day return service between Glasgow and London in 1934.
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Her exploits fired the popular imagination and she received admiring letters from all over the planet, some requesting personal flying lessons, others simply addressed to Winnie Drinkwater, England, or Winnie Drinkwater, Air Ace, Scotland.
Now, 27 years after her death in New Zealand at the age of 83, the remarkable achievements of the Scottish aviation pioneer are to be celebrated with a new mural in Glasgow.
Work is underway on the huge new gable end artwork on Paisley Road West in the Cardonald area of the city, where she grew up.
The artwork is the first in a series of interactive murals that will appear in the area focusing on local people in a bid to demonstrate Cardonald’s rich and diverse history.
Interactive QR codes which will depict actors in the roles to bring it to life and will also provide further information on the history of the mural.
Cardonald councillors Alex Wilson, Elaine McSporran, Jim Kavanagh and Matt Kerr have teamed up with Glasgow graffiti artist Dan MC of Spraywellmurals and SWAMP (South West Arts and Music Project) to bring the exciting project to a reality.
The initial phase will include three murals, before the next phase will include further engagement from the community to help with ideas, design and identify the space for the murals.
Speaking about the project when it was announced in January, councillor Wilson said: “We are going to create around five interactive murals in Cardonald which will have a QR code on them that links you to a site with the history behind it. There will also be historical clips acted out by the members of SWAMP.
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“The first project we want to complete is the history surrounding the first ever female pilot – Winnie Drinkwater – who was a Cardonald resident. She was the first woman to fly a commercial plane and went on to become a big aviator.
“We want to get the airport and schools involved in the programme which will be very exciting for the area. Local pupils will then be able to learn about Winnie Drinkwater, who she was and how she was a pioneer for women.”
Graffiti artist Dan MC added: “Especially the fact that the painting will be interactive, so anyone who doesn’t know her story can simply scan the QR code and find out all the information. I haven’t seen an interactive mural being painted in Glasgow before, so this will be the first of its kind, which makes the whole project even more interesting.
“I have a strong connection to the area as I have family from Cardonald and spent a lot of time there as a child. The family doctors are right across the road from where the murals are to be painted and my family members are close by. So you can imagine it is a very interesting project to be involved in and I am extremely excited to get it up and running as soon as possible.”
Winifred Drinkwater 1st woman in world to hold a commercial #pilot's licence. Flew photographers over Loch Ness as they searched for Nessie, did air ambulance work on the Western Isles & flew an air search for a boat of kidnappers b. #OTD 11 April 1913 https://t.co/PDcveT5JUt pic.twitter.com/pqmhFPYrIB
— WES Centenary (@WESCentenary) April 11, 2023
The new mural will join a commemorative sculpture to the aviation pioneer which was erected in Clyde View Park in Renfrew in 2005, near to the - decommissioned - airport which she flew from.
The inscription on the bronze bust reads: “In 1930 Winnie Drinkwater became one of Scotland's youngest private aircraft pilots. She developed her passion as an aviatrix & aeronautical engineer with the Midland and Scottish Air Ferries Company.”
A small graphic also depicts her ready to crank one of the propellers of a three-engined Airspeed Ferry biplane which she piloted.
In an interview with The Herald in 1989, Drinkwater recalled her early fascination with aircraft.
“I thought of everything in terms of landing. I used to land my bed, and make the jam spoon do an imaginary three-point landing on the jam dish. Then, to my utter joy, I found I had brought an aircraft down safely”, she said.
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