YAMDAVE   10 #25 Posted January 2, 2017 What was your Mums name dave? I worked at w&G and Redgates  Her name was Lily Hall, and it must have been about 1960 ish. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
maxiesmum   10 #26 Posted January 2, 2017 Ah I worked there from 1970 till it closed and then transferred to Redgates. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
athy   10 #27 Posted January 4, 2017 I remember going into W&G and gawping at the model railway stock - they were one of the few shops who stocked Trix trains, which is what I had. That would be circa 1962.  Did they also sell records? I can remember a shop closing down their record dept. and selling off lots of singles on rare labels like Island, which as a schoolboy I couldn't afford. Was it W&G, or does my memory deceive me? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Yorkshire 53 Â Â 10 #28 Posted January 6, 2017 I think WG's used to sell Dinkys without boxes during the early post war years due to paper rationing ? Before Marples was rebuilt, it remained a bomb site for many years. Up above it,on the adjoining wall of the WG block, was a large painted sign of a cinema audience if memory serves ; anyone clarify ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
winks   10 #29 Posted January 8, 2017 When I was small my mum used to take me to look in WG's I remember a glass case full of dancing puppets, Pelham I think. When Redgates took over and went down the Moor and my kids were small, I took them to see the toys. Happy days. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Alan Lines   0 #30 Posted February 25, 2019 I have two WW1 Prisoner of War letters written by Ernst Gumpert to Miss Spring c/o Wilson, Gumpert Co. Ltd.  It appears he was interned at Lofthouse Park internment camp  During the War. The letters are very business oriented.  Thanks to the contributors above for solving a mystery for me!  I wonder if if he was interned again during WW2?! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
hillsbro   27 #31 Posted February 25, 2019 Hi Alan Lines - welcome to the Forum! I really don't know if Ernst Gumpert was interned during WW2 - by then he may perhaps have become a naturalised British Subject. The '1939 Register' finds Ernst and Eleanor living at 65 Wilkinson Street with their daughter Janet and Rebecca Wilson, a director of the firm. The 'Miss Spring' to whom you refer may have been Eliza Spring, described in the 1911 census return as a "Shop assistant. Toy dealer". Aged 32 at that time, she lived with her widowed mother and two brothers on Station Road, Darnall. In case it's of interest, here is a link to a scan of the census page. https://i.postimg.cc/3R8BDfbn/1911-Spring.jpg Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
REUBEN 123 Â Â 10 #32 Posted February 25, 2019 My parents used to call Wilson Gumperts the #dolls hospital #. I remember one Christmas when money must have been tight my favourite doll was taken there. I got it back completely renovated, a crack on head seam fixed and a new curly wig fitted. The doll was as good as new again. Mom made some new clothes for it and that was my Christmas present AGAIN. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
ping   11 #33 Posted March 17, 2019 Hi hillsbro, John Arthur Spring was my grandfather (died before I was born). I remember visiting 'auntie' Spring fairly regularly at Wilson Gumperts when she was shop manager. My Dinky toy collection (sadly long gone) was largely accumulated as a result of these visits. Here's a link to a photo showing Lizzie Spring in the garden at the aforementioned Station Road: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1cocuU6aSa6jlSnKoBVT1m-9F8cSDcmrl   Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
hillsbro   27 #34 Posted March 17, 2019 Hi ping - it's nice to have your input, and to see the photo of Lizzie Spring. I see that she lived to the good age of 92 and died in 1971. She would have been an interesting person to talk to! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
maxiesmum   10 #35 Posted May 18, 2019 If it is of any help,  Mr Gumpert was a Doctor . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
maxiesmum   10 #36 Posted May 18, 2019 I worked at Wilson Gumperts in the late 60s.  when Redgates took it over W G was closed and the staff moved to Redgates shop. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...