THE city of Seville in southern Spain is likely to continue to be associated with hairdressing, because of someone called Pierre Augustin Caron (1732-1799) who wrote plays under the name ‘Beaumarchais’.

This gentleman wrote “The Barber of Seville’, in 1775, and also “The Marriage of Figaro” nine years later, the first made into an opera by Rossini (1792-1868), the latter by Mozart (1756-91).

What has all this got to do with Penarth, one might ask? The link is that, very recently, two men’s hairdressing saloons have opened in Windsor Road, on opposite sides. Taken in conjunction with all the other barbers and ladies hairdressers, there is no shortage of haircutting facilities here, that’s for sure. A website put a figure of 25, which seems extraordinary.

So, alongside the eponymous Barber of Seville, we have the Barbers of Penarth, though it is not the object of the letter to criticise any of them. A number I have patronised from time to time, including one in the Windsor Road Arcade and the one opposite the Conservative Club, both o which provide a good service at a reasonable price. The two new ones seem a little more expensive in contrast.

Michael O’Neill

Railway Terrace

Penarth