I have information and many personal memories which may be of historical and cultural interest, regarding number 5-7 Church Street, Cardiff, business premises. My father, Mr Graham Goodfellow of Goodfellow and French, was the elite and bespoke Tailor and Robemaker,  documented in National historic assets of Wales (Cadw), Wikipedia and Canfod. glamarchives.gov, National library in Wales, and Royal commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Wales.

Most Saturday's in the early 50s,  I would have coffee with my mother at the Kardomah on Queen Street, and afterwards we would cut through to visit my father in his shop nearby in Church Street.  I have happy memories of exploring the ancient low ceilinged cellars downstairs in my father's shop. The heavy oak wooden doors below were propped open with large tailors' irons.  The staff in the back room, who were employed to do hand stitching were mainly Portuguese, and were always delighted to see me as a child, in particular one Portuguese lady amongst mainly male staff.  The shop was very hushed and refined, with a fitting room in the corner at the rear.  The showroom which lead directly off Church Street was stocked with rare antiques, including giant antique trestle tables, on which  rolls of fine wool cloths were spread out for customers to choose the fabric for their bespoke suits. A Jacobean dresser displayed boxed Pierre Cardin shirts and other Savile Row elegant accessories.

While traditional accessories remained classic, the mid-century silhouette experienced a major shift. In 1950, Savile Row tailors introduced the "new Edwardian" suit.

My father's company was called "Goodfellow and French" - This name might have come from the previous tailor who operated there before the 1950s, who was called Nath French, (as found in historical records documented below - 1813).

My father had a "sleeping" partner called Tommy Burns,  a very interesting eccentric reclusive multi millionaire, who lived in Roose Lench Court, Worcestershire, which was a grade 2 listed mansion, often used for film shoots.  The mansion had its own maze and topiary garden. I met Mr. Burns several times when I was a child and, inerestingly, he owned large standard poodles - these poodles are depicted on the logo in Goodfellow and French suits.

My parents regularly visited Mr. Burns in his mansion in Evesham, which housed valuable antiques, including Ming vases and rare collections of art, which were eventually sold in a legendary Sothebys auction in 1986, some pieces of art being sold to the Getty museum.  Mr Burns was a single man with his own chauffeur driven Rolls-Royce and butler, who was also his Head gardener.

When Mr. Burns passed away in 1985 he left his entire state to his head gardener. The will was heavily contested.  Legal action forced the sale of the contents of Mr. Burns' lifetime collection - a fascinating history in itself.

The rare antiques in my father's shop were donated by Mr. Burns from his collections at Roose Lench Court.  

Inside my father's shop there was a door at the rear, leading to a labyrinth of stairs and landings -  these passageways led to other businesses.

These intererconnecting strange passages and stairways running behind all the premises in Church street were early Victorian, and included a dental practice, hairdresser and even a butchers premises.

Inside my father's Goodfellow and French shop,  two tailors' dummies stood by the great open ironmantled fireplace on the left.  As well as being a "court and clerical" tailor,  sometimes these tailors' dummies would be adorned with spectacular suits commissioned by entertainers performing at the New Theatre, including Cliff Richards, who was performing in Cardiff in the '50's

These suits were in vivid electric blues, and bright greens, with matching dazzling paisley lining, all expertly crafted with hand sewn lapels.
To this day, I meet people who own a suit from Goodfellow and French, and they are proud to show me the logo inside, with the two black poodles.

In the day, many remarked that Goodfellow and French suits were extremely expensive, but they were made to last.  My father's shop was a precursor to "off the Peg" and "Ready to wear" shops, for example Burtons, and eventually Marks and Spencers began selling gentleman's suits

A preservation order was placed on his building (no.5-7 Church Street) in 1975.  Over the years, the buildings on either side of my father's premises were reconstructed and rebuilt, to the extent of causing some damage inside my father's building. Oliver's the shoe shop was situated near his shop and took up the corner onto Saint Mary Street... Massive refurbs in the nearby premises created damage to the walls of no.5-7, causing the old plaster to come loose inside my father's shop.
Also around this time dangerous white asbestos was discovered in the roof of the back room, where the workers were employed to do hand stitching. This asbestos was carefully removed, exposing all the old timbers.

My father passed away in 1974.  His business name was taken over by his manager, Mr Geller Mallet, who asked my permission to use the name Goodfellow.  Mr. Mallett ran his business "Goodfellow and Mallett' tailors in Crwys Road, Cathays, Cardiff.

Judy Goodfellow, u3a