I SEE that Hayes Travel have moved from number 25 to number 27 The Hundred.

This prominent building on the corner of Stirling Walk looks as though it was built in the middle of the 19th century.

The shop is first identifiable in the 1861 census when a watchmaker called Joseph Hill had his business there. Slater said that Mrs Hill had a pork butcher’s shop next door with hams ‘in their white linen bags hanging from all over the ceiling’ but this is not reflected in the census returns. Mr Hill was still doing business there in 1891. He died in 1922 at the age of 94.

At some point the business was taken over by a Mr King.

Probably just after the First World War, it passed to John Pryor Nix, whose wife, Gabrielle was Belgian. John Pryor was undoubtedly related to the Nix, jeweller and watchmaker whose shop was on the western side of the Market Place, in the building now occupied by Café Fresh.

Hampshire Chronicle: Mr and Mrs Nix at the entrance to the shop that became theirs. It had been owned by a Mr King.

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Like the previous occupants of the shop, Mr Nix was a jeweller and watchmaker. He and his wife were enthusiasts of the artificial language, Esperanto, and that was how they spoke to each other. Their tombstone in Botley Road cemetery is written in that language and adorned with the green star, the symbol of the language.

They were both active in town affairs. Mr Nix was a prominent member of the local Conservative Association. Over the years he donated cups for a number of local sporting competitions. 

During the war, Mrs Nix played a significant role in the social life of the town. She was particularly noted for her ability to organise baby shows, although childless herself. They were both members of the Comrades’ Club and her name is associated with much of the whist that was played by its members. (The clubhouse was requisitioned by the military, so their whist was played in members’ houses, mostly by women.) She was a member of the management committee of Romsey Hospital.

When the Nix’s had the shop, it still had a garden behind for they won prizes for their cooking apples in the 1939 Comrades’ Annual Flower Show.

I am not sure what happened to the shop after Mr Nix ceased trading sometime after 1945. From November 1974, the premises was occupied by Sports-Mann. After their departure, the bookmaker Ladbrokes moved in from a smaller shop.

Ladbrokes closed relatively recently and the premises have been empty for a while. Now it starts a new chapter with Hayes Travel.