In 1760, John Spilsbury, apprenticed to a map maker and engraver in Worcester, set about mounting maps of England onto sheets of thin wood and then cutting around the county boundaries with a fretsaw.

The maps were boxed and sold to children to assemble — and the jigsaw puzzle was born.

Over the next 100 years the cutting aspects of the jigsaw were refined and improved alongside the development of the printing industry.

Jigsaw puzzles, which had been largely used for educating children, now began to interest adults and the subject matter, mainly maps and biblical images, began to be developed into more amusing designs.

Jigsaws had come of age and by the middle of the 19th century, intricate shapes and the ‘whimsy’ were added to hand-cut wooden puzzles for the amusement of Victorian ladies.

These early jigsaws were important and tell the social history of the times; some were risqué, others followed the royal family, maps of the British Empire, the development of steam trains, sporting puzzles, the history of cars and boats and many puzzles for children. The work of painters and designers of the time were widely featured on jigsaw puzzles too.

Wooden jigsaw puzzles grew in popularity throughout the two world wars but by the very late 1930s, new machinery had been invented which allowed for mass production and cardboard began to be used instead of wood.

Jigsaws were now widely available to all, but the early skills and quirky additions, such as the whimsy, disappeared.

Today Wentworth Wooden Puzzles are the only manufacturer of wooden puzzles with whimsies in the UK.

Kevin Wentworth Preston started the business in 1994, setting out to re-create the golden age of puzzles using computer-controlled lasers and more than 700 image puzzles, producing in excess of 150,000 puzzles a year; sold to customers all over the world.

Wentworth is the only company in the UK to make personal wooden puzzles with entertaining whimsies — special pieces cut into shapes which echo the theme of the image, such as an easel, paintbrush, and artists hat in the fine art puzzles, or Christmas trees, snowflake, star and donkey in the Christmas designs.

If it can be printed, then Wentworth can turn it into a puzzle — a wedding proposal, party invitations, Valentine’s Day messages, Mother’s Day drawings, photographs, pictures, anything at all.

Wentworth Personalised Wooden Puzzles start at £23.95 for the 140-piece Midi version. The top-of-the-range Majestic costs £174.95.

Each puzzle is boxed and you can choose between a picture label or one with the words ‘A Wentworth Personal Puzzle’ — imagine the surprise as the recipient puts the pieces together to see a picture of their own family or pet!

For more information visit the website: www.jigsaws.co.uk