(1903-1941)
Prospect Street, and Hawthorne Avenue, Hull and
Herne Bay Promenade, Kent
Amy was one of my first statue visits and remains one of my favourites. A love her optimistic gaze upwards. The sky is yours Amy.
In Hull city centre, this statue is situated in a small memorial garden with pictures journeying her incredible life.
The statue in Herne Bay was cast alongside the Hull one and is life-size. It carries the same optimistic gaze as her twin in Hawthorne Avenue but here she looks out to sea, where her fatal plane journey ended about 12 miles off the coast of Herne Bay.
I walk round her stature and notice the inspirational words on her attire (had I missed this in Hull?) No matter, I’ve seen it when I needed to.
Born in Hull, Amy achieved many firsts. After qualifying as the first woman in the UK to become an Air Ministry Engineer she was the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia in 1930. The following year she was the first pilot to fly from London to Moscow in one day. Her last long distance flight was in 1936 when she flew a record breaking solo from London to Cape Town.
She died when her plane came down in the Thames Estuary, the details of which remain a mystery. Allegedly flying to deliver the plane to Oxfordshire, her timing and journey were way off course, particularly for a skilled pilot like Amy. Given it was during wartime was she on a secret mission? Was it bad weather? The end is a mystery, but the subject is a legend.
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