14 | February 17, 2014 | cambridge-news.co.uk | Cambridge News
S
What’s not
to love?
Everything.
THE KINDEST CUT: Alexander Atkins
before and after his image-changing
with Garry Chapman
R
ECENTLY there has been a resurgent
hoo-hah in the press about airlines
and holiday companies putting up
their prices during the school hols. Two
parents were fined by magistrates for
taking their children out of school during
term-time, and someone said that it was
cheaper to pay the courts than easyJet
and Eurocamps. As a childfree woman
I remain unmoved by all of this – I long
ago learnt not to take holidays at the
same time as the schools – but I am rather
peeved by the fact that no-one has seen
fit to raise that other manifest unfairness,
which is the proximity of Valentine’s Day
to my birthday.
The great love-fest is, as you know, 14
February, while my birthday is today, 17
February. (If you’re wondering about the
specific number, let me give it to you in
the style of “University Challenge”: which
is the smallest number with exactly ten
divisors, and also the atomic number of
cadmium?) So when it comes to planning
a slap-up meal to celebrate another year
on this planet, what do I find? Prices
jacked up to catch the loved-up, and
menus awash with oysters and champagne
in restaurants decked out in the reddest
napkins, curtains and lighting. Now I’m
as romantic as the next person (which,
as I write this, is my husband, so scale
down your expectations a bit), but after
three decades together we do not really
welcome all the forced stage-setting.
And what of wanting to book a birthday
dinner in the midst of this tidal wave of
sickly sentiment? We can’t take anyone
with us, as all the large tables have been
sawn down into ark-like twos. If we want
the normal, un-loving menu with extra
garlic, we get pitying looks from the
waiters who obviously think that we’re
just a bit past all of that coupling stuff.
This tends to flatten the festive fizz of
the occasion, and often we will end up
bickering, just a bit. You know how it is:
a long-buried grudge is dug up, dusted off
and picked over for new nuggets. You look
across the table and wonder quite how
you ended up like this. And if you want
to sample public disapproval, with people
leaning away from you in concentric
circles, try having a full-scale marital
tiff halfway through the Lovers’ Special
Valentine’s Menu with String Quartet. So
tonight we’re having a takeaway.
Susan’s Gratitude of the Week
BIG thanks to my friend (aged 30) who
tutored her six-year old to say, when
prompted to guess my age, “A little bit
older than mummy”. All efforts much
appreciated.
THE ORIGINAL
SCRUFF: Jon
Chapman,
founder of
Scruffs
Pictures: Keith
Heppell
Visit our fashion and
shopping section at
cambridge-news.co.uk
OMETHING very odd has happened to me. I
am looking forward to having my hair done.
In my experience, a trip to the hairdresser is
like a visit to the dentist: a tedious necessity to
be put off for as long, as and endured as quickly,
as possible. Yet here I am, as excited about
having my hair messed about with as if I were
going all that way (30 miles) to enjoy drinks with
friends.
Which, in truth, I am . . .
I first heard of Scruffs about 10 years ago. I
was needing my hair styled for a publicity shot,
and asked around for the best hairdresser in
Cambridgeshire. I loved the whacky name and
the fact that it was situated in the idiosyncratic
and quirky Mill Road, but there were no
vacancies at short notice and neither of the
owners, brothers Garry and Grant Chapman, was
around when I rang.
But the name lodged in my mind, and when
our daughter Serena got married in Trinity
College last Midsummer and we were let down
by one makeup artist after another, I approached
the newly-located Scruffs in Bridge Street.
Soon I had booked in not just Serena but her
two sister-bridesmaids and me too; then decided
we should try highlights as a treat; then booked
in my husband Shaun, who normally cuts his own
hair over a basin with clippers; then our son Ben
blagged a haircut while Garry – who normally
has up to two months’ waiting list – was in the
middle of cutting my hair.
There was still the biggest challenge of all
though: our other son Alexander had been
growing his hair for two years, to the texture of
a Brillo-pad and colour of a cow pat. He was
adamant that his sister’s wedding was not reason
enough to do away with something that had
taken him so long to cultivate, however revolting
it might be. I didn’t believe anyone would change
his mind, but he agreed to meet Garry anyway...
Jon Chapman, Garry and Grant’s father, didn’t
have an easy start in life. Born in 1945, the result
of a fling between an English girl and an Italian
American airman, by the age of 7 he was in the
care of Barnardo’s. In 1968, after training as
Founded in the Sixti
good, hair salon Scru
Cambridge institutio
ANNE ATKINS pops
in the best of compa
a hairdresser, he opened his own salon
Victoria Road, simply named after him.
easy in them days,” he says humbly. “A
mates mucked in and helped.”
Then it was all dry styling, but Vidal S
was changing everything with his geom
and Jon invested all he had to learn the
techniques in London. He had to treble
to cover the extra time to shampoo, and
half his clientele. “I thought we were go
under.” But, “It was my passion. I knew
wanted to go.”
In 1973 the salon moved to Mill Road
Life a
cuttin
Cambridge News | cambridge-news.co.uk | February 17, 2014 | 23
SATISFIED CUSTOMERS:
Anne Atkins and son
Alexander
Picture: Steven Brooks
es by a Barnardo’s Boy done (very)
uffs has gone on to become a
on. Journalist and author
s in for a trim . . . and finds herself
any.
in the
. “It was
A few
Sassoon
metric cuts,
e new
e the price
d lost over
oing to go
w where I
d and a
friend in a pub suggested the name ‘Scruffies”,
which Jon changed to Scruffs. His two sons, 18
months apart in age, were helping by the age of
14, and Garry was full-time as soon as he was
out of GCSEs.
“Proud?” Jon says, looking around him,
glowing. His wife Marilyn still does the
paperwork, Garry’s wife
works for the salon and the
family members get on like
best friends. It is said that
Garry comes in at 7am and
grabs a coffee, while Grant
at the
ng edge
grabs a mop: by 8am, when staff are in and the
doors open, it is a warm and welcoming home.
Now Jon’s two days a week, working on wigs for
women who have had chemotherapy or alopecia,
will soon be one as Garry takes over this side
of the work, and Jon is free to spend his days
cycling or out with his falcons.
Garry asked me what I thought of one of his
clients. “Lovely,” I said truthfully. “She is truly
beautiful.”
“You didn’t notice?” He is as pleased as a
footballer who has just scored. “She hasn’t a hair
on her head: she lost it all after a trauma. That
was one of my wigs.”
To my astonishment Shaun loved his visit as
much as I did. For the same reasons. “Garry’s the
only person who has ever cut my hair the way I
like it.” Almost equally important, “and it’s like
being the member of a friendly, caring club.” It
is hard to tell which of these two aspects Scruffs’
clients enjoy most: the friendly and welcoming
atmosphere, or the superb results.
And what of Alexander? I don’t know how
Garry did it. Could have been the complimentary
drinks he was offered, even at breakfast time.
Could have been the lack of pressure or sensible
options Garry offered him. I suspect it was
simply Garry’s infectiously friendly personality.
Whatever it was – though I say this myself,
and despite his brother Ben’s universally
acknowledged good looks – Alex emerged as the
most handsome chap at his sister’s wedding, by
far...
Even Serena, who didn’t want her brother to
cut his hair just for her wedding, said, “That is
one amazing haircut.”
n Scruffs is at 68-69 Bridge Street, Cambridge.
See scruffs.co.uk or call (01223) 355358.
Short cuts. . .
A few Scruffs highlights
from customers and staff
Jamie Oliver, right, TV chef
“I love Scruffs. I’ve been going
for 20 years, since the old Mill
Road salon. Garry and I have
a good laugh, and he does a
great Barnet job!”
Fernanda Platt, below, aged
67, travels to Scruffs from
Rattlesden, in Suffolk:
“It is my home from home.
I love it. It takes me an hour
when both weather and traffic
are favourable. I used to use a local
hairdressers which was good, but they didn’t listen: I always had to
fiddle with my hair afterwards. So – and I’ve never done this before
– I looked on the internet for the best hairdresser in the UK, read all
the positive comments by satisfied customers, and came.
“When I left I was hugging everyone, I was so happy. And my hair
was a masterpiece: so well cut that it also grew out beautifully,
even though I couldn’t return for a while. There are two reasons
I come. First, I am completely satisfied. Secondly, it’s a social
experience. My husband died the year before I discovered Scruffs,
and this is like going on holiday. I never usually have coffee and I
never, ever eat biscuits, but I have both here. So it’s a holiday with
the benefit of a masterpiece at the end of it.”
Jurgita MacNaughton, below, from Lithuania, brought her three
week old daughter with her. “I’ve been coming for five years. I’m
very particular in my hairdresser: I’ll only use the best. When we
moved to Cambridge I went on the internet. I came across Garry’s
name and found that
he was well respected
in the industry and had
won awards, and I’ve
never looked back. The
service is amazing.
“I used to go to...”
here she names a very
famous and respected
salon “... and there is
no comparison. I don’t
mind experimenting
here, because I know
I’m in good hands. I
don’t want to be asked
what I want. I want
to be told what is in
fashion and what will
suit me.
“ I have two children, and this is my time, my treat. I come every
six to eight weeks, and spend about £150 – £180 each time
(depending on my loyalty discount). My husband isn’t organised
enough to come, because you need to book a couple of months in
advance, but I’m going to bring our two year old for his first cut. I
know he’ll be safe with Garry.
“This works for me, as a mummy: it’s my best treat and my most
relaxing time, and I feel really spoilt. Look, someone from the salon
will nip out and buy lunch for me if I need it.”
Alexander Atkins, self-employed entrepreneur and computer
scientist, 27: “It’s the best hair cut I’ve ever had. And they gave
me a beer. At least, I assume it was good: I don’t have much call to
look in a mirror myself, but my brother and sisters and mother were
all quite excited about it.”
Louise, colour technician: “Scruffs is such a nice place to be
that I come in on my day off, for lunch. We even give out themed
chocolates for Valentine’s and Easter...”
Michal, apprentice: “Frankly, I’d have been nuts not to take this
opportunity. Being taken on as apprentice at Scruffs is as good as
it gets.”