Veteran barber Derek Williams is still cutting hair in the same Doncaster shop after 50 years

Back in 1970, from the shops on Doncaster Road they would see the entrance to Markham Main Colliery, with the winding gear visible in the distance, a familiar sight in the town for generations.

The shops too would have looked very different, as time changed.

But anyone returning after 50 years would see one thing remains the same.

Back in 1970, Barber Derek Williams left his job in Balby to set up his own business in that row of shops – and he is still there today running Derek Williams Hairstyling for Men.

Derek marked 50 years since he opened his shop this Monday – and still has no plans to retire, even though he’s now in his late 70s.

In the decades since he first opened he has seen many changes in both hair styles and the village itself – but he has learned to love the place and believes despite the loss of the colliery in the 1990s, it is now busier than ever.

When he first opened, he lived in the flat over the shop, but Derek, originally from Balby, now has his own house elsewhere in the village that he calls home.

He said: “I worked for 13 years at Lockwoods on Balby Road, before I went to Armthorpe. There was an empty shop and I wanted to set up on my own.

"When I look back, I didn’t really think about where it was, or things like parking – but it took off from the word go.

"A lot of my old customers followed me from Balby and are still with me now.

"I worked through the pit strike in the 1980s. I’m near where the entrance to the colliery used to be, and remember the police standing in my doorway when people were throwing things. I also remember times when the road was blocked off.

"The miners were still coming in to get their hair cut throughout the strike though, and it was a memorable time.

"Armthorpe has been good to me, and I don’t regret coming here for a moment.

"I first started out as a barber in 1957 – everyone had a short back and sides in those days. Then the Beatles turned up in the 60s and people started having longer hair.

“Back in those days I entered and won a few hairdressing competitions, and still have the trophies I won.

"I remember my first customer in Armthorpe – it was a milkman who came in at 8.30am. He had it quite long.

"No one wanted to be able to see their ears in those days. And the local headmaster used to send kids from Armthorpe comp here because their hair was too long. They used to come in and say ‘Mr Stevens has sent me for a haircut'. I don't think the parents would stand for it now!”

He has seen styles go full circle now, he believes.

"I never thought I would be cutting hair short again,” he said. “But the really short cuts seem to have come back in now – like in the 50s when I first started.

"I’ve had people having their heads shaved and tennis ball lines put in, and even Leeds fans wanting LUFC cutting into their hair.

"There was a time when you would only be cutting hair that short for charity, when people had it shaved to raise money.”

Derek re-opened after lockdown on July 4. He feels not that much has changed as a result of lockdown. There is more cleaning, but although he works in a mask and overalls, the job is the same, he thinks.

He believes it was the first time he had taken two weeks off for 50 years, as he found himself unable to work for three months.

"The time seemed to fly and I found lots to do,” he said. “I went out on walks every day.

"But I missed work and I don’t want to retire. I enjoy seeing my customers and there are a lot who I have been friends with for 50 years.

"The shops have changed on my parade over the years. I think the only constant is my barbers, and a fish and chip shop, although that has changed hands.

"I think Armthorpe is busier than it used to be, although it’s not a pit village any more, and the pit closing was obviously the biggest change I’ve seen here.

"But I think it’s as good a place as it was 50 years ago, and has picked up over the years since the colliery closed in 1996.

"People said it would become a ghost town – but that’s not happened.”