MANY of us like to support small, independent traders - particularly at this time of year in the run up to Christmas.

This week's archive photo takes us back 100 years to inside the shop of just such a trader.

This photo from the city council's Explore archive shows the interior of shop that sold goods made by School of the Blind at King's Manor around 1920.

This provided welcome income for the school and in 1870, income from sales stood at more than £800.

At the time the school opened in 1833 life was harsh for anyone who was blind or partially sighted. If you didn't have money, your only choice was the poor house or an asylum.

But all that changed – in York and our region at least – after October 3 1833 when local dignitaries got together and agreed to open the Yorkshire School for the Education of the Blind, in honour of local philanthropist William Wilberforce, the late MP for Yorkshire.

From this, the Wilberforce Trust was born, and its new school for the blind opened in King's Manor in York. It was pioneering – London's School for the Blind was not established until 1839.

Today, the Wilberforce Trust is still at the forefront of caring and creating opportunities for blind people locally and has built 32 state-of-the-art flats off Tadcaster Road to help people live independently.