Redbridge councillors last week gave the go-ahead to the demolition of one of the most charming and widely loved pieces of Wanstead, the row of very old single storey shops on Woodbine Place.
For many of those upset by the plans to replace the buildings with a two-storey modern block, the reason for being emotional is simple: Wanstead Hairdresser’s. Literally generations of Wanstead boys and men have sat in those chairs for haircuts – Wansteadium has known old men who talked of getting their haircut there in the 1920s.
It’s the experience of the shop, run by Paul Michaelides and his uncle Steve Kyprianou and family before him all the way back to 1959, that has made it such a definitive and beloved Wanstead experience.
Paul does not yet know what will become of his shop or business, yet despite the uncertainty somehow has not lost his appetite for cutting hair and talking to his customers.
When Paul asks them ‘how’s the family?’, the chances are he has cut their hair too. So for this and future generations of Wanstead men, Wansteadium fervently wishes him and co-snipper Ian all the best.
Man hug over.
