Taking high road for quick trim
A trip to the barber's for Ray James means hopping in his 22-year-old Morris Minor and motoring hundreds of miles back from his home in the Scottish Highlands to his favourite hairdressers' in the Black Country.
A trip to the barber's for Ray James means hopping in his 22-year-old Morris Minor and motoring hundreds of miles back from his home in the Scottish Highlands to his favourite hairdressers' in the Black Country.
The 63-year-old former garage owner clocks up more than 1,000 miles on the round-trip which he completes twice a year for his 20-minute haircut in Dudley. Mr James said he first started making the journey after he moved to Scotland and was unable to find a barber he liked.
He said: "It is a long journey but I take my time and do it at my leisure in my Morris Minor which I've had for 22 years.
"I have got used to the hairdresser I go to and I am a creature of habit so I like to come back here. I also fit in a visit to friends at the same time before heading back."
The tradition began in 2004 when Mr James used to come back to hairdresser Dave Oliver in Toll End Road, Tipton, where he had been a customer since a boy, trading a bottle of Scotch for his haircut.
However when Mr Oliver died last year Mr James began visiting his friend Andy Gearing at Wanna Haircut in Sedgley Road, Woodsetton, where he has been going ever since, paying £6.50 for his style as his new barber is not keen on whisky.
Mr Gearing said: "I don't think he is mad at all. Everyone gets used to their own hairdresser and they build up a rapport and a friendship. Ray isn't even the one who comes furthest out of my customers, I have got some who come back from places like Hong Kong, Spain and Portugal to have their haircut here.
"They have generally moved abroad from Dudley and like to come here for their haircuts when they are back seeing their family."
Mr James said his journey costs him around £100 in petrol and takes in 1,095 miles on the round-trip. During his time in Dudley he also visits his dentist.
He said: "I do the trip every six months although on occasions it has gone wrong. I set out the one time and hadn't got very far when a deer ran out and damaged the front of the car. It was OK but the car wasn't so I had to go back and fix it."
Mr James said he moved to Scotland from the West Midlands because he feels safer and enjoys the remote life in the Highlands.
