Tributes have been paid to a man who cut the hair of Altonians – and maybe a few Romans – for 40 years.

Geoff Bryant, known around the town simply as ‘Geoff the barber’ from a time when he was the only one in Alton, has died at the age of 79.

In 1973, after a spell driving timber lorries and mechanical diggers, he rented 66 High Street from a lady called Miss Caesar, whose father was a barber, and became the emperor of a barber’s with the majestic title of ‘Julius Caesar’.

But when she died her brother sold the shop, and the new owners asked Geoff to leave in 1988 – so he and his wife Theresa, known as Terry, had an extension built at their home in Plevna Place and he carried on his barbershop business there.

The couple met in 1972 when motorcycle enthusiast Geoff, who had served an apprenticeship as a barber, was in the merchant navy. 

“He sort of pursued me, really. He had his eye on me!”, said Theresa, originally from Saltburn-by-the-Sea in North Yorkshire.

They wed in February 1974 and had their daughter Ezra, who now lives in Petersfield, in 1976. Their son Ben, now living in Birmingham, arrived in 1978. They gave Geoff and Theresa four grandchildren, a boy and a girl for Ezra and two boys for Ben.

Theresa, 74, said: “He was a real family man. He didn’t go down the pub or anything like that, he did everything with the family.

“He had such a good sense of humour and he was a storyteller.”

Geoff had a great interest in planes, especially Spitfires. He and Theresa would go on motorbike rides to Portsdown Hill and Hayling Island, and toured Europe in their camper van.

He was also a man with a talent for carpentry: “He built all my kitchen and wardrobes,” said Theresa. “He loved his workshop.”  

Ezra said Geoff loved animals: “He once rescued a sheep from a canal. He stayed in the bunk beds between me and Ben, then he got up and jumped off in the morning.

“We loved doing daft things like that. It was quite an experience having a sheep on board for a night. He was happy as Larry!”

A keen cyclist, Geoff used to ride to work at Julius Caesar. Ezra said: “He once got a joke speeding ticket on his bike!”

Riding back to work after lunch, Geoff would always be greeted by a queue of people wanting a trim, and even after Julius Caesar closed his reputation remained.

Theresa said: “His customers found out where he was and said ‘we won’t go anywhere else’. It was good here, because all he had to do was get out of bed and open the shop.”

And in a business where the ability to chat is as important as skill with scissors, Geoff’s sense of humour came into its own.

Theresa concluded: “One of the customers said: ‘I don’t come here for a decent haircut, I come here for a laugh’!”