He enjoyed fish and chips and a beer with his son, but this was not just a ‘beano’. The Levys were retracing the footsteps of their forefathers.
The Levy dealership H Blairman & Sons was founded in Llandudno in north Wales in 1884 after Harris Blairmann came to England from Poland in the late 1870s. (The second ‘n’ was dropped c.1914.)
Levy’s great-grandfather established his first shop at 79 Mostyn Street, which is now a restaurant called Cafe Culture, and held evening auctions on Llandudno pier during summer months.
“It was a boys’ day out,” said Levy. “But my son has taken an interest in our family history and we also went to discover a bit more about our heritage.”
His father George joined Philip Blairman in 1949 and married Philip’s daughter Wendy (Levy’s mother) in 1951. Blairman’s is now run by Martin and his wife Patricia.
Llandudno has a rich heritage of art and antiques. Jewellery and Fabergé dealer Wartski was founded in Bangor, north Wales, in 1865 by Morris Wartski. By 1907, two shops had been established in the then fashionable seaside resort of Llandudno.
