In 1874 John James had a grocery tea, wine and spirit shop, on the corner of Terrace Road and North Parade, opposite Watkins’ (who also sold wines and spirits). He sold the site to the London and Provincial Bank (now Barclays) in 1876. He then took over two plots slightly further down the street and built a market hall, at which he sold groceries, wines and spirits. In 1879, James was accused of selling beer without a licence but he claimed that he had one for his old shop and assumed that it covered his new one too. The property was damaged by fire late on Christmas eve, 1880 when those who helped put it out ‘were, to say the least, not as sober as judges,’ but it was soon repaired and to the rear of the shop he built a large public hall. This was destroyed by fire in 1890, and soon after, which the present building was erected. The shop continued to sell wines and spirits and became a pub too, in the style of an American Western Saloon, with spring doors and sawdust on the floor and large barrels of beer behind the counter which supplied tankards, for consumption on the premises, or bottles to take away. It is now occupied by the Spar shop.