J. Johnson & Son - 01978780417

J. Johnson & Son - Traditional Cane Furniture Shop and Basket Makers. Located in Bangor-on-Dee, Wrexham in North Wales. The shop was established in 1880.

J. Johnson & Son is a family business of five generations. Traditional Cane Furniture Shop and Basket Makers.

We have a huge range of wickerwork or basketwork products on display in our showrooms, made in-house by our own basket weaving craftsmen.

If you need information about our stock before visiting, please feel free to give us a call. We will be pleased to answer your questions and provide any advice we can.

We sell replacement cushions for all cane furniture suites.

If you wish to call and see us at the showroom, it will save you time if you bring the original cushions with you to help us to identify them. Whatever cushion you have we can make it. That is the service you get with a family firm with experience.

We also offer Basket Making workshops, for more information please see our website or contact us on 01978 780417.

Our History:

Bangor-on-Dee or to give it its Welsh name Bangor-is-y-coed is a small well balanced village (two churches and two pubs) situated as it implies, alongside the River Dee between Llangollen and Chester. The Dee is renowned for its salmon fishing and it is from this activity that the present business has its beginning. About one hundred and twenty years ago James Johnson and his brother Charlie earned a living coracle fishing, catching or trying to catch salmon. When the catch was poor they would cut a bundle of willows growing alongside the river, take them home and make baskets which they would sell to make money to feed and clothe their families.

Life was hard for the two brothers because James had six children and Charlie had twelve. Coracle fishing was a very efficient way of catching fish and the authorities were concerned about reducing stocks in the river. Permits to fish became increasingly difficult to obtain and the two brothers had to rely more on basket making as a source of income.

One of James' sons also named James joined the army when he was eighteen and was seriously wounded in the 1914-1918 war. At Beckitts Park Hospital in Leeds a bone was removed from his leg to repair his damaged left arm.

Part of the treatment to strengthen his arm was basket making. He became interested in the craft and on leaving hospital served a two year apprenticeship with a firm of basket makers in Leeds. Whilst in hospital he met a local girl, Mabel Marion Arnold whom he married and brought back to Bangor-on-Dee. After working with his father he decided to plant a willow bed rather than rely on the haphazard growths alongside the river.

James and Mabel had a son they named Cyril. Cyril left school at fifteen to work with his father and had more than forty years experience in the craft.

Cyril married Jane and had five children - three daughters and two sons - who have all received training in basket making. Two daughters and a son now work full time in the business. It is a strong family business where everyone gets involved and has sufficient knowledge and skills to continue the tradition.

As the business has grown, much of the willow weaving expertise has been devoted to making items to customers' special requirements, the smaller and less specialised items being purchased from other sources.

Unfortunately Cyril passed away very suddenly in June 1997, so the business is now run by Jane together with her three children. Of the seven grandchildren growing up in the family tradition of basket making, at least two are showing a keen interest in the business, so there is no reason why it shouldn't continue to thrive for the next five generations!

The business has undergone further development and retails quality Conservatory Cane Furniture for which we have gained a reputation for providing quality and service.

The shop and workshop has been extended several times over the years to allow us to display the wide range of baskets and furniture we have on offer. Our cover photo is a painting which shows how the shop used to look around 1975. The children in the foreground are assumed to be three of Cyril and Jane's Children.

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