The Final Cut!

The longest serving worker  along Goodwood Parade shops on Courtlands Drive in Watford is about to hang up her hairdressing scissors  after sixty one years on the parade, that's sure alot of haircuts, so I caught up with Naomi Coyle to find out how it all started :                 

"When I  was thirteen, I used to work Fridays and Saturdays at the Hairdressers , it was called "Malcoms" back then. When I left school at around thirteen/fourteen  I did my apprenticeship there before leaving for a short while, but then  I came back and the shop had a new owner and name "Richards" and I must've worked there for a good forty years.  When Richard retired and the shop closed  I moved over to the other side of the Parade  where owner Julie Allery had the Hair Tech salon and I've been here ever since"

There has been alot of filming on the Parade over the years and some of you might remember the  Confused.com insurance ad with Brian the robot ?  I believe they were filming in the Chip shop at the time and a few curious spectators went to have a look and grab a photo , handy for Naomi as she was only working next door.  

"You must've seen many changes at the Parade over the years?" I asked her and I wasn't disappointed with her response, in fact it was a wonderful walk down memory lane :

" Yes, I remember there was Wright's shoe shop,  Eileen's wool shop,  Braybrookes tyre shop, and Thorpes the Greengrocers. There was a  bakers, Chilcott cafe on the corner, Osmans supermarket, Harrops the hardware store was on one side of the parade but then moved to the other when a bigger unit became available, the betting shop and newsagents have always been there , I could go on, I've seen so many changes as you can imagine ? Hollytree house retirement flats opposite the parade weren't there, it was all prefabs back then."

As our chat comes to an end I can't help but think the Parade just wont be the same without Naomi , I've known her since I was thirteen and started working in the newsagents just a few doors down from her, she's also my hairdresser. There's not many places you can go to have your hair done, get insulted and cry until your belly hurts but I've been fortunate enough to experience it all these years, as have many others,  a one of a kind, salt of the earth human being who will be sorely missed, She will be at the salon until May and then she's hoping to take a much needed holiday.  I'm sure we all wish her well in her next chapter, whatever that may look like? 

                               

                                                               Til next time

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