Barber Calls Cut On Career
Newcastle Herald
Thursday June 21, 2007
WHEN Robert McLeod started on the shears, there were 22 barber shops in High Street, Maitland.
Now there are two.The 70-year-old barber known as "Mr High Street" will retire this month after 53 years working his family barber shop, which was established by his father and grandfather in 1922.Mr McLeod will close the book on his working life on June 30, when his former apprentice, Dan Barkus, takes over the shop.Mr McLeod comes from a long line of male hairdressers including his grandfather, George, father, Ron, and uncles, Frank, Bruce and Donald.Two aunts also married barbers."Ours was a hairdressing family, through and through," he said.Mr McLeod's daughter, Janelle, has followed her father's footsteps and owns a Maitland hair and beauty salon. One of the many characters to walk through Mr McLeod's doors was an escapee from Sydney's Long Bay Jail."I've had the whole spectrum of clients from leading doctors, politicians, any number of experts on numerous subjects," Mr McLeod said. "If you want to know the answer to a question, wait long enough and you'll get someone in who's an expert in that field." He fears the trade will be lost as barbers retire."They don't teach you enough of the trade like we knew it these days," Mr McLeod said."New apprentices can't specialise in either male or female hair."I know of very few apprentices that can blade shave. It's a shame."
© 2007 Newcastle Herald
