Paul Harding: 'End of an era'

Village Salon on Fore Street in Kingskerswell

Reporter:

Paul Harding

08 Mar 2024 2:30 PM

Email:

torbayweekly@clearskypublishing.co.uk

Anyone who knows Kingskerswell and in particular Fore Street, will have driven past the Village Salon. As you drive from the main road towards the church you cannot miss it, as it appears seemingly in the middle of the road before the road curves off to the right and past the Co-Op. The salon which caters for all types of cuts and do’s has been a fixture in the village for over 50 years and has been run all that time by Chris Moon and I have been going in there, on and off for 35 years.

If I ever wanted to know what was going on the village, Chris was the man to ask, as at one time or another virtually everyone in the village has visited the place and sat in one of the chairs and shared a story or two with Chris who would have a good old chat whilst he tidied up your barnet. For me it was usually a natter about sport and more recently otters. Otters? Yes I saw one in the stream that runs through the village but Chris remains unconvinced.

When he set up the hairdressers he was a young man with dark hair apparently and I am pleased to advise that he still has a fine head of hair although these days it’s grey. He has been talking about retiring for some time and last Friday he bit the bullet and shut the doors for the last time. This type of business is the lifeblood of small villages and for Kingskerswell this is the end of an era. Now it will be time for other hairdressers in the village, there are a couple, to take up the slack, but I’m not sure they will be prepared to talk about otters!

My final visit was to get a trim before my daughter's marriage in North Devon and I shall miss popping up to the village. Obviously there are many preparations for wedding and for me that involved getting two injections one in my ankle and one in my knee as treatment for my arthritic joints. I would like to say a thank you to the team at Torbay Hospital who made that happen, which definitely helped with my dad dancing at the party the day of the ceremony.

I was particularly interested in the music that was played at the party and before you ask, no I was not employed as DJ, despite being a presenter at Hospital Radio. I am pleased to report that even young people still like some older songs which were sprinkled among some more modern tracks.

Let’s face it you can’t beat Come on Eileen if you want a bop! So it’s the end of an era in Kingskerswell and a new one started in North Devon.

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