The family of a Cardiff Market stall owner, who had worked there for over 70 years, has paid tribute to him after his death. Clifford Jones had worked at CLJ Electrics on the top floor of Cardiff Market since he was 15-years-old before going on to own it.
His family say Clifford, also known as 'Cliff, became a much-loved figure by customers and stall holders alike due to his gentlemanly nature. He sadly died on May 26 2022 aged 85.
His son, Lez Jones, 63, said that his father was "well known throughout the market" and well-liked because he was "a proper gentleman." Clifford - who stood at 5ft2 - started working at the market when he was a teenager, before completing his national service in the Malvern Hills.
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Born in Bristol on November 2, 1936, Clifford moved to Cardiff where he attended school and lived with his grandparents. As a teenager, he began working at an electrical stall, which was then D R Evans. Lez said that the stall was popular for the "eclectic collection of electrical goods" that it sold, including valves that used to be in old television sets.
"If they [customers] had a problem with their TV, more often than not dad would bring them home and repair them. He was very dedicated to his job," Lez said. "He was an electrician as well as a salesperson but he absolutely loved the market."
Indeed, Clifford began working in the market a year before the Queen's coronation and, in an article celebrating his 75th birthday, recalled customers coming in to buy black and white TVs for the event, saying: "The Wenvoe transmitting station was opening just in time for the event and everyone was coming into the market to buy the black-and-white televisions. Things have changed a lot from those days."
When Mr Evans passed away and handed the business over to his son, Clifford was made an offer to buy it for £10,000 with all its contents, and accepted. "It was probably the best thing he ever did in his life because that's all he'd ever known and he absolutely loved working there," Lez said.
Lez said that his father made so much in his first year of running the stall that his accountant advised him to invest in a car. Clifford used the money he'd made to buy a car that came with a free holiday to Spain. "It was the first ever holiday we'd been on abroad," Lez said.
Clifford continued working at his stall right up until Christmas 2021 and had a number of people work with him over his many years at Cardiff Market. One of these employees was Bronwyn Harvey, who says she had "so many good times with him."
"He always had a lesson to tell me, I was always asking him for advice. He talked to me about growing up through the bombings," Bronwyn said, adding that he also told stories about his children when they were younger.
"Those years working with Cliff were the best years. I remember one time I opened the stall and the light display wasn't working and when [Cliff] came in I said the lights weren't working so he set about with his tools looking at each bulb and checking fuses and he spent a good hour doing everything when he turns to me and says, 'Bronwyn, you switched the wrong plug on.'
"He flicked a switch and they all came on. He just shook his head and laughed. For a good few weeks after he would ring in the morning and say, 'Have you flicked the right switch?' He never let me forget it," she said.
Clifford ran the business along with his wife of nearly 50 years, Audrey-Patricia, known as Pat. The two had met in a record shop in Cardiff where Pat worked before they were set up on a date. The couple married in October 1958.
"They managed to bring us up in quite nice style and looked after us well," Lez said. "We were always dancing to music." He continued: "It was just a wonderful marriage. Never a cross word, they got on well together. Their interests, hobbies, everything they did were so similar that they were extremely well-suited."
The two were happily married until Pat's death in 2004 at the age of 64. They had three children including Lez, Susan and youngest daughter, Tracey, as well as eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Lez remembers family holidays to Ilfracombe with his parents and siblings as "happy days."
"All I know is that apart from the family, the market was his life and all the customers loved him," Clifford's eldest daughter, Susan Livermore, said. "He always did his best to help them and if we didn't have what they wanted he'd do his best to get it or point them in the right direction for them to get it. He loved the fancy dress events and always made the effort to participate in them."
His youngest daughter, Tracey Davies, who worked on the stall with for father for a few years, added: "He was simply the best, cared for everyone, and took care of everyone he met. Nothing was too much trouble, the market was his life until practically the end and I'm sure his customers will miss him, as we will every day."
Lez said that those who met his father commented on him being "an old fashioned gentleman" who was "polite and courteous all of the time." He said: "He'd go out of his way to help you, so he did make an awful lot of friends."
Clifford enjoyed getting involved at the various events held at Cardiff Market over the years, including getting dressed up for the Queen's jubilees and for St David's Day.
Just after Christmas last year, Susan took over the business for her father while he was absent due to ill health. However, the family has decided to part with the business and it will be up for sale.
"When you think that dad was 85 and he started there at 15, he got 70 years of working in the same place, never tiring of it," Lez said. "He just loved everything about the market.
"He actually went to work all this time as much for the job as it was for the social part of it - meeting and greeting people and actually being with people, because that's the kind of person he was. Quite a few people would go up and buy nothing, just for a chat."
Lez remembers his dad as "a loving, caring, devoted father who gave us a wonderful life, and worked hard in the early days to put food on our plates and a home of our own." Clifford's funeral will be held at Thornhill Cemetery and Cardiff Crematorium on July 1 at 1.15pm.
