Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Lifestyle
Emma Rosemurgey

Britain's oldest hairdresser, 91, has no plans to retire anytime soon

Britain's oldest hairdresser has just celebrated 65 years of working in her own salon, at the tender age of 91, but she has no plans to put down the scissors anytime soon.

Margaret Sherlock opened the doors to Hair by Margret in 1956, and six and a half decades later, she still opens four days a week for her loyal clients, some of whom have been with her for decades.

But, despite having already worked for more years than many people live, Margaret has no plans to stop hairdressing anytime soon, as she fear her customers would have nowhere to go.

Margaret has a great relationship with her clients (SWNS)

"I'm not considering retirement, my customers would be very upset," she explained.

"They wouldn't know where to go if I stopped working. And a lot of the younger hairdressers don't know how to do the styles my customers like."

But, to Margaret her clients are so much more than just customers, and she's developed strong bonds with them over the many years they've worked together.

She opened the salon the day she brought her daughter home from the hospital when she was born (Lancashire Post / SWNS)

"It's been lovely, I've loved every minute. I've always had wonderful customers who I've got on very well with," she said.

"Lots of them have come back year after year so I know them very well and would consider some more like family. They tell me all about their problems."

On Saturday, June 19, Margaret, who originally hailed from Ireland, before moving to Lancashire, marked 65 years since opening up her salon, and celebrated by giving a perm to the first customer she ever served, who is now 90.

But, while many would assume the 91-year-old would be gearing up to have some downtime soon, Margaret's daughter Linda says Sherlock her mum won't stop working until she "physically can't go on".

Margaret worries about what her clients would do if she shut the salon (Lancashire Post / SWNS)

In fact, in 65 years of business, the mum-of-two has only ever shut the salon down once, in 1958 when her son Adrian was born.

"Mum is really busy, what happens is that people will find out about mum's services and come and get their hair done and then they keep on coming," she said.

"It's like a family at the salon, it's great. A lot of mum's customers worry about her retiring but she's wants to keep going until she physically can't go on anymore."

Linda added: "Some people have a glass-half-full attitude to life, but my mum has a glass that's brimming over. Her customers do wonder where she gets it from."

Margaret ran the salon with her husband Frank, until he died aged 80 back in May 2008.

She originally completed a hairdressing apprenticeship in Aughnacloy, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, when she was just 15-years-old, however she later retrained as a nurse as there was little demand for hairdressers at the time.

Then, in 1952 Margaret and her sister moved to Lancashire, where they worked in Eaves Lane Hospital in Chorley. Four years later, after marrying Frank, she gave birth to Linda, and opened the salon in the front room of her house the very same day.

Margaret said: "I only intended to run the salon until Linda went to school but the business grew and Frank joined me in the hairdressing trade, Margaret explained, adding that the family lived upstairs from the salon until 1971.

"When my son Adrian was born in 1962, I decided that I would carry on so that I could be around for both of the children while they grew up."

Linda Sherlock has recently written a book about her mum's remarkable life entitled Shampoo and Set: 75 Years as a Hairdresser.

Do you have a story to share? We want to hear all about it. Email us at yourmirror@mirror.co.uk

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.