Written by Tony Elston from Brecon:

"Vernon's father, Jack Clark, was born in Lyonshall Herefordshire in 1881, and arrived in Brecon when his father came to take up an appointment as a gardener at Penoyre House. After school he also went to work for Mrs. McClintock at Penoyre. Whilst there he met, and fell in love with an attractive young maid called Ethel, whom he was later to marry.

He had a natural love of photography and decided this was what he wanted to do for a living. In 1905 he rented a property in Castle Street, and opened a studio. Ethel joined him as receptionist and general factotum. Business was not too brisk in those early days so he had to find a way to supplement his income. If the commissions would not come to him he would go to them.

During the summer months he would travel to such places as Scotland, the Isle of Man, Birkenhead and Edinburgh and worked as a beach photographer. He was an accomplished ventriloquist and puppeteer and would often entertain the children with his two dolls Teddy and Cissy. As he became more well known the commissions increased.

He was the official photographer for Christ College and did a great deal of work for Llandovery and Lampeter colleges.

Postcards were extremely popular at the time and Judges bought a lot of his work, particularly landscapes and views in the mountains. He would set off in the early hours to walk up the Beacons to catch the sunrise. On one occasion at " stop tap" at the Siddons, almost every one in the bar asked if they could join him on his early morning walk. Off he went with his entourage like the "Pied Piper of Hamlyn" It is not known how many reached the top, but a considerable number started out.

He was an early pioneer in more ways than one. He and my father set about generating electricity, Jack using an engine and generator from the back of his shop, and Dad by harnessing the water in the Honddu. In addition to making electricity for their own use, Jack was supplying consumers in Lion St. and Dad in the Struet. Jack bought his first car from my father and they became very close friends.

Whilst all this was going on, Ethel was expanding the shop trade. She was taking on new lines and in particular Basildon Bond, turning out to be a winner. With the increase in trade they moved to bigger premises, 13 High St. In 1915 Vera was born followed by Vernon in 1923.

The shop, in common with most other businesses ticked over during the war. Vernon was doing essential work with the War Agricultural Executive, and was also helping the war effort as a member of Dad's army.

After the war, in the early 1950s, Jack had reached the age of 70 and Vernon - who had been working for the Pearl Assurance Co, and then Elstons - joined the family business. At the same time, Jack decided to "hang up his cameras" and concentrate on picture framing, and so began a new phase in the development of the business.

The years of post war austerity were coming to an end and Vernon and Norma, who had given up her job at Goughs the grocer to join the family, could see an opening for a well stocked gift and Welsh souvenir shop.

The sixties was a decade of gradually increasing turnover. In 1968, Andrew left school and joined the business, which had for some time been selling toys and games in a limited capacity. He appreciated the huge potential that existed so when the adjacent property came on the market in 1979 they bought it.

The children in Brecon must have thought a Genie had been busy with its magic lamp. Never before had they seen so many toys and games displayed under one roof in a sleepy little market town. Suddenly a small family business was competing with the big players.

In 1982 they realised after the birth of Ben, that no one was catering for the needs of young families and anyone wanting to buy a pram or pushchair had to look outside Brecon, so they opened a showroom in High St, and since 2001 nursery products can be purchased from their shop in Lion St. In the meanwhile, a further property in Lion Yard was renovated in 1983, which now houses Welsh gifts, crafts and souvenirs.

The family was delighted when in 1998 Andrew's son Ben became the fourth generation of Clarks to be involved. He had always had an ambition to join the family firm, unlike his uncle Phil who had already made it clear that business was not his "cup of tea".

I wonder if Uncle Jack, as I affectionately knew him, could have foreseen the way his modest little photography studio would blossom into a thriving one hundred year old operation.

I have always believed that a business is only as successful as an industrious and hard working family who can be trusted and relied upon. The word retirement does not enter the vocabulary. Uncle Jack, was still framing pictures up until his death when he was in his nineties and Vernon is still going strong in his eighties.

It could be said they are small fish in a big pond. Is this perhaps the reason for their success? At a time when big is supposedly beautiful it is the smaller operator who offers the personal service, the attention to detail, the customer care, the ability to identify a need, loyalty and honesty.

Whilst working hard, they still had time for community involvement. Jack with his children's entertainment. Vernon with his Town Band and Brecon Corries Football club, and Andrew with Brecon Motor Club and Squash Club. These are all factors which spell success, and in the case of the Clarks, a hundred years of it.

And what of the next hundred years. Will Ben see the changes in his lifetime that his great-grandfather experienced, for he actually saw the first cars on the streets of Britain, when the legal road speed was four miles an hour, and saw the first man to walk on the moon? I wonder?"

Written by Tony Elston from Brecon.