Who are John and Barb?

Found under the wallpaper in our bathroom. Barb and John had just finished scraping off a previous layer of foul yellow and brown paper, making holes in the wall in the process. Why does John specify that he's from Essex? If he is, why was he wallpapering a house in Oxford? Perhaps this was Barb's house, and she invited him up for a weekend to help. Maybe he's just a painter and decorator (though clearly not a very good one) who likes leaving his signature on jobs. Or is his name John Weatherby Essex? Why does he write "phone no" and no phone number? Did Barb (of the more practical, squarish handwriting) say "Why would they need to know your phone number, you daft bugger?" and stop him in his tracks? John and Barb went on to decorate the bathroom entirely in grey and pink. With those colours it must have been some time in the 80s. Where are they now?
Edit: I just walked into the bathroom and there on the wall facing me was another message, faintly done in smudges of white paint and big enough that I hadn't seen it with my nose up close to the wall last night. "LEE", it says, "SEP 94". So maybe Barb and John actually hung the yellow and brown stuff, so god knows how long ago they were. And it's not 80s wallpaper after all. Lee-in-'94, what were you thinking?
Edit 2, midnight: It has just occurred to me that there was probably a Barb in Bognor, and the writer of her name couldn't spell.