THIS week we have a puzzle which we hope our readers will be able to solve.
A reader has sent in a series of photos of a stunning cutlery set he bought at a sale.
In immaculate condition, the set opens out of a striking polished wooden box, emerging in three sections: two drawers and an upright.
It contains dozens of pieces including knives, forks, spoons, carving knives and forks, and ladles. They are made of Sheffield steel, with cream celluloid handles.
The box bears the seller’s label: C Smallwood Diamond Merchants & Jewellers Ltd, 21 North Parade, Bradford.
Does any reader have any information about this shop - when it opened and closed. Maybe someone has a relative who worked there, or has photographs of it. We would love to hear from you.
G Smallwood is among many shops in the city which Bradfordians have loved and lost.
Here are just some of them.
In 2004 one of Bradford's oldest city centre businesses shut after 85 years of trading. Fine china shop H R Jackson, in Darley Street, which also had a popular restaurant often dubbed the 'Betty's of Bradford' - was set up as a family business in 1919.
Closing in 1977 after more than a century welcoming shoppers, Brown Muff & Company closed. It was the flagship of a small chain of department stores based in Yorkshire.
The following year the store re-opened as Rackhams, which became a popular destination, with shoppers loving the variety of goods it offered, as well as its café. Rackhams closed in 1995 and remains much-missed.
Dillons bookseller took over the building in 1996 but shut after a merger with Waterstone's.
Founded in 1908, Busbys went on to become one of the best-known, family-friendly department stores in Yorkshire, with its majestic premises dominating Manningham Lane in Bradford from the 1930s until its closure in 1978. The year after it closed a fire ravaged the then-empty premises.
In 1971, it was goodbye to two well-known Bradford double acts: outfitters Marshall & Snelgrove and next-door neighbour Taylor and Parsons, furnishers and hardware merchants, at the top of Darley Street. Marshall & Snelgrove had been part of the Debenhams group, which also owned Busbys. The closure formed part of a rationalisation plan.
The landmark Sunwin House store also known as The Co-operative Emporium in Godwin Street, opened its doors in 1936. Built in the International Modernist style and heavily influenced by the German architect Erich Mendelsohn. The store went up for sale in November 2004.
After the Godwin Street Lingards was bombed, it relocated to the old Co-op Emporium on the corner of Forster Square and Market Street. Considered as a very modern store for its time. During the Forster Square redevelopment Lingards moved to the corner of Westgate and Godwin Street which was originally occupied by Illingworth and Newbolds.
*If you can provide any information about G Smallwood please email helen.mead@nqyne.co.uk
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