The Final Cut?

Of no interest to hairy Sir Bob, of course, but the question of where to get the old Eastcliff barnet trimmed has yet again raised its ugly, hirsute head.

Regular readers will know that I've consistently eschewed Sweeney Todd's, next to the pie shop down the road, and initially frequented Jamie, the Harbour Barber in Margate's old town. But he packed up some time ago. More recently I discovered New Image in Ramsgate High Street, just up from the NatWest. Run by a couple of enterprising Turkish lads who relocated from Norf Lundun, they offered cut throat shaves, singeing, threading, pattern design work and all the, er, trimmings. But now they appear to have given it the chop and re-relocated back to Norf Lundun.

I guess with all this talk of credit being crunched and assets squeezed, we're likely to find our high street options ever more limited here on Kent's Ramsgate Peninsula. What with Woolies pointing its nipples skywards, the Currys/PC World/Dixons lot reporting losses, and Wilkinsons looking to shed jobs, it won't be long before there are more 'To Let' signs than shop fronts. I hear even the Build Center over at Westwood Chaos has upped sticks and scarpered.

Still, there are some optimistic souls who are starting new ventures, even in this chilly economic climate. There's a new 'girly' shop, for example, on the Margate harbour arm, and 'Mr Ferrari' is opening another branch of his successful Ramsgate caff Rokko in Margate. In fact there seem to be almost as many places opening in the Arsonists' Playground as there are closing. Perhaps with all the fires, the climate's not so chilly over there after all!