Cake decorator Claire Fiddler inherited a shop with a history when she moved into new premises in Bilston.
he delighted 35-year-old was handed an old photograph of the shop by her new landlord who found it when he was giving the place a fresh lick of paint.
The grainy black and white photo, which is undated, shows the building in decades past with tram tracks outside and what looks like a coal pit in the foreground.
Claire said: “I think the shop was originally a dairy but it’s hard to tell from the photo because it’s so old but it’s fantastic to have.
“I’m going to hang it in the shop and hope someone will be able to tell me more about it.”
She took over Gordon’s Celebration Cakes in 2001 from Gordon Sargeant, who started the business 20 years ago. Like him, Claire buys in large slabs of cake and then shapes and ices them for a range of special occasions.
The shop has moved from The Orchard, Bilston, to its new base in nearby Lichfield Street. The shop was a dry cleaners for a time but has been derelict for the last 14 years.
Claire hopes to establish herself there and create her own piece of history in the town.
“A woman phoned me up from the bus after I’d done the Christmas window display saying she’d just passed by, saw the number over the shop and wanted to tell me how lovely it looked,” she beamed. “That was really nice.”
Gordon, now retired, still pops in on a Friday to check everything is in order and he can still knock out a great Dennis The Menace cake, Claire said.
* Anyone with information about the picture is asked to call Claire at the shop on 01902 491347.
One Comment
This picture has been around for years and was taken in 1906. It’s in books of old Bilston pictures and you can often buy a postcard of it at collectors’fairs. The writing on it says “Getting coal in the main street at Bilston.” It’s nothing new.
Great way to get publicity for a new shop, though!