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Legendary barber shop in Inverness up for sale after being in the family for almost seven decades


By Alasdair Fraser

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Denis MacGillivray and wife Joan inside Diggar’s barber shop.
Denis MacGillivray and wife Joan inside Diggar’s barber shop.

To generations of local families and gentlemen, it was a cut above the rest.

After the best part of seven decades though, Diggar’s barber’s in the heart of Inverness has given its last short back and sides.

Owner Denis MacGillivray (71) has decided to hang up the clippers and sell the much-loved city institution after a recent spell of ill health.

The Greig Street business has been in the family for 66 years, having first opened in 1955 under Mr MacGillivray’s father Gilbert, who was nicknamed Diggar for reasons unknown.

The Burma Star-decorated World War II veteran, an avid Caledonian FC fan born a stone’s throw away from the shop in King Street, made it much more than just a place to have a haircut.

It became a social hub, always abuzz with laughter, stories and conversation. Loyal customers, football folk and the local great and good would pop in for a blether whether or not they needed a trim.

Others came in search of their football coupons, with Diggar setting up a successful sideline as the north of Scotland’s main football pools’ agent.

The premises were passed to his son in 1990 after Diggar was diagnosed with cancer. He passed away three years later aged 74.

With the younger Mr MacGillivray and wife Joan now accepting viewings of the old shop, memories came flooding back this week.

Mrs MacGillivray (68) recalled: “After leaving the army, Diggar cut hair at Cameron Barracks before opening his own place.

“The barbers became legendary. He had a backshop where all his cronies went for a cup of tea and a biscuit.

“They talked about the Caley non-stop - he was a mad keen supporter – and a lot of the football officials went there too.”

Son Denis trained as a barber in Aberdeen for nine months through to 1966, joining the business through to 1971 before spells as a bus and HGV driver.

Mr MacGillvray said: “I’ve been lucky to have a lot of loyal folk keep coming back to me for years and years. A lot of customers knew each other well, so the banter and stories would always be good.

“I’m 71 now, so I feel the time is right.”

Among the Diggar folklore, was the time one poor customer passed away on the chair mid-haircut.

Diggar was famously left flustered and blushing on his 70th birthday when fellow Greig Street traders got together and arranged a kiss-o-gram.

There was also drama about 15 years ago when a drink-driver took out the whole of the shop front, including the original cast iron barber’s poles.

Local journalist Bill MacAllister, a close friend of Diggar’s for many years, said: “I would always wander down of an evening to see Diggar and whoever else was in the barber’s for a blether.

“I got countless stories there. The great Caley player Chiccy Allan used to go there, as well as Diggar’s fellow military veterans.

“A lot of people weren’t there for a haircut. They just knew there was always a bit of craic.

“It is very much the end of an era.”

Time for a chat at barber shop


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