FIRST PERSON - IN one part of Aberystwyth or another, Eira Nelson and her clothes shop, Capricorn Gowns, have been part of the fabric of the town for the last 44 years, but on Friday, 23 September, the shop doors closed for the final time.

Closing down was a bittersweet decision for Eira and her husband Michael, but the couple say they are now looking forward to retirement.

“We’re in our 80s for goodness sake!” Eira exclaimed.

“We’re going to have a rest for now and then we don’t know what we’re going to do, but there’s no rush to decide.”

Had it not been for a chance meeting in the streets of Aberystwyth in the 1970s, Capricorn Gowns might never have existed, as Eira explained.

“The story of how it all began goes like this. I had a guest house in Portland Street and I cooked meals for everyone every night.

“I was walking up the street one night to get some food for that when I saw Beatrice Platt, a lady who owned a clothes shop in Eastgate Street.

“She said she’d had enough and was going to sell it and I said ‘Wait!’, and I bought it without even asking my husband! That’s how it started and this is how it ends, but it had never occurred to me to have a clothes shop until then. If I had thought about it, I probably wouldn’t have done it.”

But Eira, with Michael’s support, gave up the guest house and went in to the clothes shop business, and she has enjoying many happy years serving her customers at the shop’s three homes. Capricorn Gowns was first established on Eastgate Street before moving to Terrace Road opposite W H Smiths.

“We also had a cafe above the shop there,” Eira recalled.

The shop then moved for a final time, further up Terrace Road.

“We moved here 22 years ago, and it was still being built when we bought it,” said Eira.

When I met Eira and Michael, who have been married for 61 years, they were sorting through the final items of clothing they had for sale in the shop and attending to books. Michael did his National Service in the RAF before becoming an accountant, and helped Eira with the accounts for the shop.

“It is sad to be closing,” said Eira, “and I would like to thank all my very loyal customers”. “We’ve had a good time and we’ve been to so many interesting places to buy clothes to sell in the shop. We’ve been to France, Germany, all sorts of places, and we’ve met some famous people when we’ve been buying clothes, celebrities who were part of the fashion shows we went to. I’ve got lots of signed photographs of celebrities, including people like Phil Collins and Ant and Dec.

“We’ve seen lots of changes over the years. Technology has made it harder to sell clothes, and to buy the stock, so although it’s a sad decision, it’s the right decision, but we will miss everyone.”

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