The Kurdish barber of Angel Gate

You can see his shop on the left hand side. When I walked in he was on the phone to his bank and waved for me to sit down as he remonstrated at length to some confused functionary in a distant call centre about the inadequacies of banking apps. 

"They never make life easy for you. All they want is your money. Come and sit down. What do you want? Scissor cut? No problem, it’s very quiet today, I think everyone is depressed after the football last night, but Spain were the better side. We don't have much good football in Kurdistān so I follow Chelsea. Yes it is a troubled region and yes, the earthquake affected everyone including my family as we are Syrian Kurds. You live in Woking? Why are you in Guildford? Stop moving your head, I know you’re trying to help but I will push it around if I need to. You want some product? You look good, you’ve got a problem now I’ve cut your hair you won’t want to go to anybody else. Ok go well. Stay out of the rain. It’s going to be bad later."

It was bad later. Cold and wet. If the Great British Summer were a train they would be announcing its late running, with people expecting it to be cancelled altogether.

Angel Gate by the way is an old part of Guildford with some pretty shops. And a Kurdish barber who pointed out to me that it was only hair salons and coffee shops that kept the high street alive. There’s some truth in that …