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The family could not locate the keys to this antique square cornered safe at a home in Storth, Cumbria after the death of the owner. We attended and picked the lock open for them so that they could retrieve all of the paperwork and personal possessions.
We were called to open this antique John Port safe at a Church in Openshaw, Manchester. During some renovation work the safe was getting stripped down prior to painting and they could no longer open the safe door. We opened it and found the edges of the door and frame coated in paint and the door would not shut and lock because of this. We stripped away the excess paint and got the door opening and closing nice and smoothly.
This J.Grove & Son safe was acquired by the purchaser of a building in Bredbury, Stockport. Unfortunately it didn’t come with any keys so we were called to open the safe and supply new keys. Once we had picked the locks on the main door we found an internal locked coffer which we also picked open.
The safe plaque reads:
DEFIANCE SAFE WORKS LATE WITH CHUBBS
MANUFACTURED BY J.GROVE & SON BIRMINGHAM ENGLAND
The lock escutcheons read:
GROVE & SON INVINCIBLE LOCK
The keys had been lost to this possibly antique safe at a pub in Hyde, Manchester. The name plate had been removed and we have so far been unable to identify the make of safe. This didn’t stop us from picking the lock open however and making new keys for the owner.
We were called to this safe at a shop in Whiston, Merseyside as the key was stuck and the door would not open. We identified that there was a boltwork failure and managed to open the safe without any further damage. Once opened the boltwork was repaired and the safe put back in to service for years to come.
The owners of this antique Thomas Skidmore safe were cruising around the Caribbean when their son back home in Chorley realised that they had the key and he needed to get access to his passport. The owners had emailed a picture of the key which we could have used to help make a copy if required but it was known that there was a spare key inside the safe. We picked the key lock open so that he could retrieve his passport and lock the safe back up with the key from inside.
Thomas Skidmore manufactured safes from 1850 to 1920 so there is a good chance that this safe is over 100 years old despite it’s very good condition.
This antique J Grove safe at a church in Cumbria would not open as the key could not be inserted into the lock. We quickly diagnosed and corrected the problem leaving the safe in working order.
We were called to a church in Wallasey after thieves had broken in through a stained glass window causing thousands of pounds worth of damage but fortunately got away with nothing of any value. They did however attempt to break in to a couple of safes preventing one of them from being opened with the key and stealing the keys to a smaller safe. The larger safe in the main picture was quickly fixed so that the key could enter the lock and open it up. The smaller safe shown below was picked open and re-keyed so that the stolen keys will no longer operate the lock.
We were also asked to open the lovely old warded rim lock on the church door shown below for which they key had been taken. As professional locksmiths we were pleased to oblige and after making a tool on site to operate the mechanism we opened it without any damage.
The owners of this Milners safe in Warrington had the key but the safe would not open. We opened the safe without any damage and returned it to service.
This J.W.Timms safe from 1951 was open but didn’t have any keys when acquired by the new owner. The back pan was welded in place so a new key was impressioned to save all the grinding and re-welding that would have been required. New keys work nice and smoothly and the old girl can go back in to service for another 60+ years.