Scottish obituary: Andrew Henderson, farmer and adventurer

Displaying a sense of adventure that marked his “free-spirited” approach to life, Andrew Henderson, who recently passed away, was only twenty when he decided with a friend to travel around the world in a small sports car.

This jaunt saw them set off in 1959 in a bug-eyed Austin Healey Sprite aiming to travel around the world. They made Calcutta in record time after crossing Europe, Turkey, Persia, Pakistan before crossing the border with India. Then, minus his mate, Andrew traveled to Australia where, in order to increase his funds, he worked on some of their large sheep stations. The trip around the world continued via New Zealand and Hawaii and to the United States where he and his new co-pilot crossed the vast country helping out on cattle ranches.

Although the trip did not break any speed records returning home two years after the start, it was claimed that it was the first time a sports car had toured the world. At least that’s what was claimed at a party held at Scott’s bar (now Kenilworth) on Rose Street in Edinburgh to celebrate the event.

It was just one episode in Andrew’s life filled with sporting adventures and business innovations.

He was a ski pioneer in Glenshee. This was at a time when there was only one ski lift and no catering facilities and to add to the obstacles he had to get to the ski slopes in those early days the trip from East Lothian required crossing the Firth of Forth by ferry. Nothing deterred this determined skier as his trips to Glenshee were followed by regular visits to Aviemore at a time when this area was emerging as a ski resort.

Later in life Andrew and his friends would like to ski in Verbier in Switzerland with its more difficult slopes.

He also tried his hand at motor racing at Charterhall in a Lotus V1, the first production car of this renowned company, and then at Ingliston in a Mini Cooper S.

But his enthusiasm for a busy sporting life was perhaps best manifested after he developed a keen interest in sailing. Initially he shared a Dragon ‘Huldra’ based with the Royal Forth Yacht Club as he also raced on larger yachts on the west coast of Scotland.

After switching to Etchells sailing – a three-keelboat that replaced the Dragon as an Olympic-class boat – he broadened his yacht racing ambitions to include successful raids all the way to Cowes.

Andrew quickly understood the first rule for smart and successful skippers; that of choosing the right crew. With that done, he had an incredible success rate winning seven out of seven races at Cowes against the crème de la crème of Europe.

He then embarked on Ocean Racing as a skipper on a larger boat, mainly in the West Indies. He becomes a member of the Royal Ocean Racing Club. In 1979 he and his crew competed in the Fastnet race which ended in disaster for many boats, but Andrew and his crew survived the experience.

With all of his activities and aided by his gregarious nature, Andrew gathered a host of friends, many of whom dated back to his “world tour” decades earlier.

In another development of Andrew’s social calendar, in the mid-1970s he made an impromptu trip to play, with six colleagues, two rounds at Carnoustie a fortnight before the Open Championship.

The Henderson Open as it has come to be known continues to this day with twenty-four competitors playing the open course with 2-3 qualifying courses and an occasional international excursion. The main ingredient for membership, required by Andrew, who was renowned for his own boisterous enthusiasm, was that you had to be a ‘character’.

All of this ignores his innovative and successful approach to his working life where, recognizing that the farming life known to his father would not be sustainable in the future, Andrew started a new business using redundant buildings on the family farm in Spittalrig, Haddington.

As the eldest of seven children born to Mac and Janet, he had acquired many skills and practical knowledge from a German prisoner of war who had remained on the farm long after hostilities had ended.

In the post-war era, there were a large number of laborers and families on the farm and Andrew appreciated the community spirit that reigned during this time, but he also saw the transition of the Clydesdale workhorses labor to tractors and harvesters.

Andrew’s own education began at Rudolf Steiner, Colinton. The philosophy of this school allowed him to develop later in life as a free spirit.

Before coming to Edinburgh Agricultural College he did a year of practical farming with Tommy Dale in Scoughall near North Berwick. In addition to training in agriculture, this training ground sparked his long-standing interest in cars and their operation after receiving a 1920s Morris Cowley as a sweetener to help strike a deal on certain pigs.

Back at the family farm, it didn’t take long for him to start bringing in new ideas. It may not sound significant, but after seeing potatoes come out of narrow ridges and turn green and unsaleable, Andrew persuaded his father to grow his crop in much wider ridges; now common practice in the industry.

After seeing farm machinery increase in size and cost, he hired a contractor to work on the farm and cut and store the crops. This left the sheds on the farm empty. This was not a problem for Andrew as his innovative thinking led him to create Boxit, an archival storage company that was quickly used by many Edinburgh-based companies. Boxit expanded and more storage buildings were built before its recent sale.

With so much in his life, Andrew didn’t get married until he was fifty or, as his friends pointed out, until he met Annette who had come to Edinburgh from Ireland. for training as a nurse.

Together they built a new farmhouse overlooking the Lammermuirs where they raised their two children James and Marina and where they entertained their many friends. Andrew’s wife and children survive him.

With his comprehensive approach to life, Andrew has always fulfilled the proverbial “ruthless minute”.

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