1,000-mile trip just for a trim

HE had gone to the same barber since the 1950s. So when Ray James moved 500 miles to the North of Scotland 12 years ago, he saw no need to change.

Now the retired mechanic in his 70s makes the 1,000-mile round trip from Lybster in Caithness to Dudley in the West Midlands four times a year for a trim.

What’s more, he drives all the way in his 53-year-old Morris Minor.

Mr James said: ‘My barber’s name was Dave Oliver. He knew exactly what I wanted, so I never saw any reason to change.

‘He would chat for a good 30 minutes before cutting my hair. That didn’t change when I moved to Scotland. If anything, the chats became a little longer.’

Even though Mr Oliver died four years ago, Mr James still goes to Dudley for his hair cuts – at the salon of Andrew Gearing, whom he met at the funeral.