‘Keeping people’s stories alive’: New picture framing shop opens on Hartlepool’s Murray Street

Osita Kingsley Nze, 56, has opened his business in Murray Street, in Hartlepool, not long after after Jimmy Gettings, of nearby La Mirage, finished working at the age of 84.

Jimmy, who was widely believed to have been the town’s oldest shopkeeper, first took up picture framing in 1990 and had been preserving people’s mementos for almost 35 years before he announced his retirement in February.

After meeting Kingsley, a keen picture framer himself, Jimmy was able to share his wisdom and know that Murray Street would once again have a shop dedicated to framing mementos and treasures.

Kingsley said: “It is something I have always wanted to do and something I did part-time in Nigeria.

"I framed pictures and gave them as gifts to people, always on a part-time level.

"It is something I have always dreamed of expanding but on a commercial level.”

Kingsley, who is originally from Nigeria, moved to the town back in 2023 after his wife started studying at the University of Sunderland.

He had a number of different jobs in Nigeria, including consultancy work and selling audio visuals to schools and businesses, but is finally doing something he has “always dreamed of”.

Adorathy Picture Framing offers a range of framing services including shadow box, conservation, art, print and custom framing.

Although not in the same premises as Jimmy, Kingsley’s picture framing shop can be found further down the road on Murray Street.

He said: "When I first met Jimmy, he helped introduce me to new people and show me some of the dimensions needed for a new business.”

He continued: “Jimmy is a mentor to me.

"He supports you and wants to see you succeed. That is the kind of figure he is for me.

“He is also about my father’s age so there’s that.”

In the near future, Kingsley hopes to mentor creative arts students to help them “embrace creativity”.

Speaking about his picture framing business, he said: “I’m keeping people’s stories alive.”

For more information about Adorathy Picture Framing, see https://adorathy.co.uk/.