Something 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 a hairdresser, he opened his own salon in the Victoria Road, simply named after him. 'It was easy in them days,' he says humbly. 'A few mates mucked in and helped.'
Then it was all dry styling, but Vidal Sassoon was changing everything with his geometric cuts, and Jon invested all he had to learn the new techniques in London. He had to treble the price to cover the extra time to shampoo, and lost over half his clientele. 'I thought we were going to go under.' But, 'It was my passion. I knew where I wanted to go.'
In 1973 the salon moved to Mill Road 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 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.'
Scruffs is at 68-69 Bridge Street, Cambridge. See scruffs.co.uk or call (01223) 355358.
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