AN end of an era is looming for Keighley with news that a business which has traded as a camera shop since the 1950s is to close.

Cavendish Cameras, in Cavendish Street, will shut after March 30. The owner of the shop, Roy Lambert, who runs the store with his wife Anne, is retiring.

Mr Lambert, 85, who previously worked as a primary school teacher for 25 years, said he had bought the shop 11 years ago to manage it as a hobby.

His wife, who had been working as a cook at Airedale Hospital, joined him at the business three years ago. The couple have been married for 35 years and live in Silsden.

Mr Lambert said: “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working here, but when I bought the business in 2008 Internet shopping was starting to make an impact.

“It has got harder and harder and sales have gone down every year for the last three years.

“But the real reason we’re now leaving is we’d like the time to do other things. We’re going to be doing a lot more travelling.”

He explained his knowledge of photography had been self-taught, adding the first camera he ever bought was a 1934 Leica IIIb, which he purchased in Germany while completing his National Service.

He said the shop premises had sold cameras for decades, and was previously called Eric’s, then the Sony Centre, then Keighley Camera and Hi-Fi.

It was re-named Cavendish Cameras in 2005. The shop also sells binoculars, telescopes and spotting scopes.

It transfers VHS tape, audio tape and Cine Film content to DVD and even has a display of old cameras dating back to the early years of photography.

Mr and Mrs Lambert said their shop still offers film and other services for non-digital cameras.

They said some younger photographers were unexpectedly returning to film, possibly because they enjoy the skills required for pre-digital technology.

Mr Lambert said: “The first digital cameras came along in 2002 and they were so expensive.

“Recently a man came in with an old Canon digital DSLR. We sold it for £30, but he’d originally paid £400 for it.

“Customers who know we’re closing have been coming in to wish us good luck.”

Mrs Lambert said: “We’d like to thank everyone who has supported us. We appreciate it and we’ve met some lovely people while we’ve been here.”

Bingley resident Allen Ambridge, who has been a customer of this shop for many years, said he was sad to see it closing.

He said: “It’s one of very few actual traditional photographic shops still around, offering as it does a complete photographic service as against simply processing and digital machine printing.

“The staff at Cavendish Cameras have a background and in-depth knowledge of photography in its broadest form.

“The digital age has a lot to offer, and there are outlets catering for that. But other photographic skills and services are still needed, and they’re now only available in a very limited way.”