Meet Brian, 79, one of Grantham's longest serving barbers who has cut the hair of Alex Higgins, Lord Brownlow and Donald Pleasence

A barber who will turn 80 in May is still working in the town after starting out as a teenager.

Brian Towsey, aged 79, has worked in Grantham as a barber for almost 65 years, and is still going strong at his barber shop in Westgate.

Brian has cut the hair of celebrities and even narrowly avoided a sacking as a youngster during his long career.

He has cut hair at The Barber Shop, which he runs with Simon Smith, for around 35 years.

Originally from Bottesford, Brian left school at 15 and was offered an apprenticeship at Foster’s in High Street, where his father used to get his hair cut.

At the time, Brian had a paper round that paid more for less work, but he was told to go to an interview at Foster’s, to which he replied “I don’t want to be a bloody barber!”

Brian was told that he could not be a paper boy all his life. He said: “So that was it, I had to go for my interview.

“I had to work for six months I think it was, to see whether I was suitable to do the apprenticeship, then they signed me up for five years.”

Almost 65 years later, Brian is still working in the town, as is his wife Carol, 75, who is also a hairdresser and still works two days a week.

Brian worked at Foster’s for over 12 years, with one of his jobs being to cut the hair of the boarders at King’s School. He recounted the moment where he was almost sacked for shaving the head of Chris White.

“Chris was a terrific runner. They were raising money to build a swimming pool, so I shaved all his hair off to get money and sponsor

him.

“John Foster was my boss and on the governors board at the King’s School. I nearly got the sack over that, because in those days King’s School was a bit strict, they weren’t allowed to have really short hair like that.

“I used to cut the hair of around 18 to 20 King’s School boys every week.”

After leaving Foster’s, Brian rented a chair at Ian Watson’s barbers on Westgate, where he stayed for over 20 years.

Brian said: “When [Ian] passed away, his daughter wanted to take over. We didn’t know where we stood.”

Brian moved to the new premises in Westgate around 35 years ago, and has remained there ever since.

When asked what has kept him working over the years, Brian said: “Well you meet people, don’t you? You have banter, you meet people. I used to do a consultant for the hospital and he used to say to me, as long as you stand Brian, as long as your fingers can click and cut hair, you do it as long as you can, to keep your brain ticking over.

“I’ve always remembered that and I’m still here.”

Brian admitted that when barber shops were closed during the winter lockdown, it was challenging to live without the social side of being a barber.

He said: “That I didn’t like. You couldn’t do anything. You were stuck in.”

Brian has cut the hair of quite a few famous faces, including Lord Brownlow when he lived at Belton House and world champion snooker player, Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins, while he was in the area to play an exhibition match against Jimmy White at Stoke Rochford.

Brian said: “[Higgins] was doing a celebrity game at Stoke Rochford. He played Jimmy White in a friendly to make money. The hotel rang up on a Saturday afternoon asking if I could do his hair. Decent chap. He was a really nice

guy.”

Brian also cut the hair of actor Donald Pleasence, known for his roles in The Great Escape and the James Bond film You Only Live Twice.

Brian said: “Now he was a nice gentleman. I think he was filming at either Belvoir Castle or Harlaxton Manor at the time. It was quite some years ago probably.

“I also had to shave another famous person so he could play the part of a woman.”

Brian still works most days from 6am until around lunchtime.

He said: “I’m going to carry on as long as I can. I’ll probably die down there!”