Another touch of Eastbourne bites the dust with closure of irreplaceable hairdressers

In his appreciation of the sadly now closed hairdressers, Chris and Barry’s (Herald letters July 10), John Cheale had it pitch perfect.

I cannot measure up to John’s length of loyalty service but when I moved here 36 years ago, I stumbled upon the business straightaway and was with it until the pandemic had other ideas.

As John rightly implied, one didn’t go there merely for a haircut. I always felt I was visiting ‘my club’. Cups of coffee, newspapers and above all lively chat were the order of the day.

Noticeably too in that all-male atmosphere, the proprietors always attempted to keep the talk civilised.

You never expected to be able to dash in for a quick short-back-and-sides but were advised to allow at least half a morning for the exercise.

Chris was no multi-tasker. Not for that warm, loveable character of Eastbourne did the combination of talking and working operate in parallel.

Many’s the time I would look in the mirror at the clippers lying dormant in his hand and wonder whether they would see action again in the next half hour as he launched into another story, always interesting I may say; the one thing you would never experience in Chris and Barry’s was boredom.

As customers we each had our designated barber and from the start somehow I was assigned to Chris, although the equally efficient Barry dealt with me on odd occasions.

But it meant I got to know Chris much better. He was/is a no-nonsense man of Eastbourne.

Steeped in his music and in arranging concerts for charity, he had endless stories of the theatrical digs hard by in Ashford Road in the old repertory days, and of cutting Dickie Henderson’s hair when the great star appeared for the summer just round the corner at the Royal Hippodrome.

With the demise of the shop, another touch of old Eastbourne bites the dust, and already I find it irreplaceable.