13th December 2025
From fish to wine, nearly 150 years of independent trading
Our latest local independent trader is Jorvine Wine Merchants and Tasting Lounge, on Nunnery Lane near the corner of Bishy Road. When we published our book about Nunnery Lane and Clementhorpe in 2021, we traced how our local shops had changed over the last 150 years or so. At that point this shop was the Beauty Bar at no. 119, who this year moved in August to a new location across the river at Markham Crescent off Haxby Road.
In our researches we followed the history of these premises. In 1881 it was fruiterer James Westerby, followed by Robert Jackson, with Alfred Scott taking over around 1913. Then it began a long history from 1929 a fried fish shop, which many people will remember still. It was first Alfred Bell, then Carolina Fisheries (Melsom Bros), with a number of other people taking over later, including Elsie’s, Taylor’s and Mrs Sedgewick. At one point it was Smallwood’s, related to the greengrocery family further along the road. By 1963 it was known as Nunnery Fisheries, lasting through the 1970s. Lynne Marston remembers her first job here in 1970, peeling potatoes every lunch time or evening for half an hour during the school holidays for the princely sum of 20p a week.
Times changed at last and in 1995 it became Ruby Tuesday Hair, which lasted until 2015, when it changed hands to be a hair and beauty salon, the Beauty Bar.
Now we have Jorvine Wine Merchants, founded in 2021 at Fulford by Kris and Jess to share their insights and knowledge of excellent wine. They offer an extensive selection of over 400 wines from around the world, available to buy in the shop, drink in their tasting lounge, or to buy online.
