Milling has gone on beside the River Hamble at Botley for well over a thousand years, and the restored buildings on the old mill site now house a run of small independent traders. Pizzicato Records is one of them, a single room reached through a white door in Mill House, and it holds a good deal more stock than the footprint suggests.
Background / History
The shop occupies Building 2 at Botley Mills on Mill Hill, a short walk from the centre of Botley village on the eastern side of Southampton. Quality records are bought as well as sold here, a point the window states plainly, and that steady two-way trade is what keeps the racks moving rather than settling into the same stock month after month. Pizzicato has built a following across the Hamble Valley and the eastern side of the city, and opens four days a week, on Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
What You’ll Find
Stock runs broad rather than narrow. Rock and pop from the 1960s, 70s and 80s take up a good share of the racks, alongside a substantial folk section, plus soul, funk, electronic, soundtracks and stage and screen. Albums begin at £1, and the cleanest copies are pulled out of the bargain stock and set aside so you are not obliged to work through everything to find them, with a well-populated £5 tier above that. Seven-inch singles are boxed at five for £1, twelve-inch singles come through steadily, and CDs fill a wall of shelving. Beyond the records there are posters, framed prints, mugs, badges, band T-shirts and jars of retro sweets.
Experience / Atmosphere
The shop reads clearly at a glance: sleeved albums pinned in rows along a dark red wall, black flip racks on castors down the middle of the floor, CDs shelved to one side and a fan running in summer. It is small enough that conversation happens naturally, and the owners are happy to talk about what has just come in or steer you towards something you would not have picked up on your own. Dogs are welcome. Because the turnover is quick, two visits a fortnight apart will turn up quite different racks, which is why regulars treat it as somewhere to drop in on rather than save for a special trip.
Why Visit
- Albums from £1, with the best bargain-bin copies picked out in advance, and a substantial £5 section above that
- A wide second-hand spread taking in 1960s to 1980s rock and pop, folk, soul, funk, electronic, soundtracks and stage
- Boxes of seven-inch singles at five for £1 and a well-stocked wall of CDs
- Posters, framed prints, badges, mugs, T-shirts and retro sweets alongside the vinyl
- Records bought as well as sold, so the stock changes quickly between visits
- Dog friendly, and set on a historic mill site with other independent shops a few steps away
Summary
Pizzicato Records rewards the kind of visit where you are in no particular hurry. Prices are modest, the range is wider than the room would lead you to expect, and the stock moves quickly enough that there is nearly always something new to turn up. Taken together with the rest of Botley Mills, it makes an easy half-day out for anyone within reach of Southampton who enjoys a proper dig.
