UP CLOSE: A chat with barber Alex

Godalming Nub News aims to support our community, promoting shops, businesses, charities, clubs and sports groups.

We will be profiling some of these businesses and organisations regularly in a feature called 'Up Close in Godalming'.

Today we caught up with Alex Wareing, who runs The Cut Thru barber in Crown Court.

If it's just a silent short back and sides you're after, go to any barber. But if you fancy a chat and perhaps a cheeky beer with one of Godalming's most experienced practitioners of the craft, then a visit to The Cut Thru is in order. If you have had your hair cut in Godalming any time over the last 20 years, chances are you will have encountered Alex Wareing. His business card describes him as a 'gentlemen's hairdresser', but in truth he is more than just that: he is a good listener, interesting conversationalist and keeper of many secrets. Alex has been providing a hairdressing service to the gentlemen of Godalming for two decades: first at The Barbers, where he spent 16 years, then three and a half years at Hairosmith, and now he has set up shop at The Cut Thru in Crown Court, in the premises formerly occupied by The Cellar Cafe. The name, he explains, refers to the fact that many people cut through Crown Court on their way from the car park to the High Street. He opened his doors on the Monday of the August Bank Holiday weekend: coincidentally the day marked the 20th anniversary of his first day as a barber in Godalming. Alex does the cutting, but the shop is a family production: Alex designed the interior, while his wife Nicola upholstered the bench in the waiting area, his father-in-law stained the window frames, and his mother-in-law took his children out to deliver 2,000 leaflets advertising the businesss to homes around town. He also gives a special mention to Nick, his electrician, who 'went above and beyond in getting the shop sorted'. Alex is a well-known figure in Godalming: as his A-board at the edge of Crown Court wryly states, it's a new shop but the same old barber. "I've known children from zero to 20, from 20 to 40," he says. "I have seen people come and people go." Sadly, some of those have died: Alex was asked by the family of one long-standing customer to go to a local hospice to cut his hair - it was the man's special request that Alex should do it as he had known him for so long. He likes a good chat with his customers, if that's what they want - and is the keeper of many secrets confided while he wields the scissors. "I hear some really juicy gossip from people," he laughs. "But I keep it all confidential." "It's a personal thing. You're not just a bloke who cuts hair. People come to you for a catch-up, for a moan." Alex has the shop set up to be completely Covid-compliant: he and his customers wear masks, there is hand sanitiser and a QR code to check in for NHS Track and Trace. He is no longer allowed to leave newspapers and magazines out for his customers to read, and hot drinks are not available due to the necessity of serving them in disposable cups. But he has a small fridge stocked with cold drinks, including the aforementioned beer, which keeps customers happy. "If you have just finished work on a Friday night and you fancy a taste, you can have one," he says, nodding towards the fridge. And it's not a one-way street either: customers often bring in little gifts to brighten his day. On the morning of Nub News's visit a young boy had brought him in a sausage roll from the baker's, as a thank you for cutting his grandad's hair. Another customer thought to send him a postcard while on a trip to Disneyland, and brought him a small gift on his return. To Alex, that's what's important: community, and a good relationship with the people who are his customers. He has done his bit for charity this summer too, shaving off his beard – the result of a wager with a friend in the pub. He promised to lose his beard if Liverpool won the league: the outcome was Alex bare-faced and Chase Shooting Star Hospice £1,220 better off. "It's about giving a bit back," he says. The Cut Thru is open from 9am to 5pm on Mondays, 9am to 6pm from Tuesday to Friday and 8.30am to 4pm on Saturdays. Pop in for a chat – and a great haircut.