Lazenby was once a name synonymous with stained glass in Bradford.

The legacy of the family’s artistic flair is showcased in some of the colourful windows in the district’s buildings.

One of the finest examples are to be seen in some of the windows above Pamma’s homeware shop on Northgate, Bradford. William Lazenby founded his original workshop in part of the building when he founded the Bradford Stained Glass Works in 1884.

Some of the colourful panels bear the inscriptions ‘Australia’, ‘Thrift’, ‘Security’ and ‘Benevolence’.

Valerie Green, William Lazenby’s great grand-daughter, believes her ancestors worked on and assembled them in the upstairs room which still bears the hallmarks of its previous use as a masonic lodge.

One of the windows, an elaborate and colourful memorial inscribed to ‘the Brethren of Bradford District Manchester Unity who gave their lives in the Great War 1914 to 1918’ was created by Abbot & Co of Lancaster, but Valerie believes it may have been assembled and installed by her ancestors.

Valerie is delighted the windows have been retained for the public to see and appreciate. “It’s fabulous people still want to keep it. It is charming, especially in churches,” she says.

Following William’s death, his sons, William and George, continued to run the family business. George moved it to Eldon Place in Bradford but eventually sold it.

William, on returning from the army, settled in Scarborough with his wife. He set up his own stained glass business on the East Coast where two of his sons, Jack and Allan, learned the Lazenby craft.

When Jack retired, Allan moved premises, working with Ernie Hodgson, his father’s longest-serving craftsman.

In 1980, Allan trained up his latest apprentice – his daughter Valerie, who is continuing the Lazenby legacy in Scarborough where she runs the Stained Glass Centre, a workshop, showroom and tearoom.

Valerie recalls the time when double glazing first became popular, leading to many homeowners ripping out their beautiful colourful windows.

By the time Valerie came into the business, there was a revival in stained glass.

“The tide has changed and people are wanting to put traditional things back in as they were originally,” says Valerie, whose work can be seen in churches, restaurants, schools, town halls and hotels throughout the region.

There are other women besides herself working in the trade. Ironically, one of her artists, Wendy Cook, is the grand-daughter of her grandfather’s craftsman, Ernie Hodgson.