Swanage’s longest running barbershop has just celebrated its 30th anniversary, still at its original address and under the same management.
When Sandie’s Barbershop first opened its doors on Swanage High Street in 1995, few thought it would become one of the town’s most enduring small businesses.
Somerleigh House in Swanage High Street is at least 200 years old
At least 200 years old and a listed building
In fact the new business owner Sandie Denty was warned that the barbers was so far out of the town centre that it was bound to fail – which made her even more determined to make a success of it.
But today, she and colleague Lindsey Townsend are still going strong, toasting the strength of the business with prosecco, laughing over their shared experiences and hoping for many more years to come.
The building itself – Somerleigh House – is at least 200 years old and Grade Two listed, with a Georgian shop front and sash windows and, while it has been restored three times, has seen very little change in all those years.
At the turn of the 20th century, at that time A.T. Day’s, it was a busy greengrocers, tobacconist and sweet shop, but when Sandie Denty took it over the shop had definitely seen better days.
Lindsey Townsend and Sandie Denty provide an old fashioned and much loved barbershop experience
“I was determined to prove them wrong!”
Sandie Denty said:
“Someone else had opened the premises as a barbershop in 1995, but it had only been going for a few months and when I took it over it really was a basic shell – there was no toilet, and the only running water was running down the walls.
“I didn’t know much about Swanage at the time, I had just finished a job in Poole when a friend told me about this shop, so I came to have a look and just fell in love with the town.
“The first time I came over here it was raining and blowing a gale, but I stood on the seafront and thought how lovely the town was – and that was it, I never wanted to leave!
“I decided to give the shop a go, but people kept coming in and telling me I would never make a success of a business so far out of the town centre, so I was determined to prove them wrong!”
Pictured around 1900, the barbershop used to be a grocery and fruiterer
“It’s basic, old fashioned barbering”
Sandie added:
“We’ve never done appointments, we don’t do perms or washes, we just cut hair. It’s basic, old fashioned barbering, and that’s what people like about us. The only things that really change are the styles.
“The French crop was huge when I started, a short back and sides with a blunt fringe, but we don’t get asked for those so much now. But the mullet, which was a 1980s craze, has now come back in a shorter version without any perm and the styles seen on Peaky Blinders are popular again.
“Younger barbers are doing trendier fashions, like skin fades – we can do them here, but we tend to use scissors more than clippers as that’s the traditional way of barbering.
“It’s usually pop groups and footballers who drive the fashions, and just recently there are a lot of people on TV who have moustaches – there was the beard fashion and now a lot of men are wearing just moustaches without beards, I think it may be the next thing.”
Balloons for the 25th anniversary in 2020 – and still going strong today!
Original barber’s pole went missing
Her colleague Lindsey Townsend, who joined the shop in 2007, helps keep things running smoothly, especially during the busy summer months when second home owners and tourists stop in for a trim – with one customer even driving to Swanage for the day especially for a Sandie’s haircut.
The shop has seen its fair share of memorable moments, one involving a police call to Sandie, as a Harrow House student had left his passport behind in the shop just before she closed the doors for her annual holiday.
As Sandie was unable to get back to Swanage to sort out the situation, the student had to apply for an emergency passport – and Sandie’s original barber’s pole went missing, although she still has no idea whether or not the two were connected!
In 2006, Sandie’s Barbers was at the centre of a storm over radio licence fees after she was told she had to pay £70 to switch on a transistor radio in the shop.
From 2023, a visitor to Sandie’s Barbershop patiently waited for his owner to have her hair cut
“I had TV cameras coming here”
Sandie Denty said:
“I would bring a little radio into the shop, and though the signal was bad and we couldn’t get much sound, we did use to listen to the news and traffic.
“Then I got a phone call from someone asking if I had a licence to play the radio in here. I knew I had a licence that covered my television at home and I thought that covered a radio too.
“A £70 charge was a lot of money to a small business then, so I refused to pay, but eventually I was threatened with bailiffs to come in here and close me down, all over a radio.
“One of my customers got in touch with the local radio station and the next thing I knew I had television cameras coming here as well – but in the end, I just got rid of the radio, reception was bad and we couldn’t hear much anyway!”
The traditional pole dates back to medieval times, when barbers practised surgery as well – the red and white stripes represent blood and bandages
“I still love what I do”
Sandie added:
“Later, like many small businesses, we faced challenges during Covid lockdowns and when restrictions finally lifted, the queue stretched down the High Street.
“People were so glad to be able to come and see us again, even though we had to wear visors and masks, and restrict the number of people in the shop.
“Everyone had been trying to cut their hair at home and were coming in here with very bad haircuts – some even wore caps outside because they didn’t want people seeing their lockdown style!
“But it did make people realise that cutting hair is a skill and a difficult job which does need a lot of training. I still love what I do, and hope to be cutting hair here for a long time to come!”
Further information
- All the latest news from Sandie’s Barbershop is on Facebook
