A cloud of choking dust flies up as the 120-year-old wooden doors crash open, revealing a crumbling brick dynamite store. The dingy interior is empty except for dust-shrouded, decaying empty boxes marked ‘Blasting Powder’.

This wasn’t George Shalfoon’s secret arsenal, nor was it a risky business venture fraught with danger. George was an astute grocer and general merchant with an eye for the main chance.

Obtaining a dynamite licence and building a hazardous goods store was…

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